| Boston Herald Jan. 17--President Barack Obama, in Boston today to stop the bleeding as Democrats struggle to keep the once-safe Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy, stole a line from Republican Scott Brown and called it "the people's seat", even as he cautioned voters to "look under the hood" of Brown's truck. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS Obama, stumping for Democrat Martha Coakley's faltering campaign in a hastily arranged appearance at Northeastern University, urged Massachusetts on Tuesday to vote for her as a champion of working people. Crowds snaked for blocks down Huntington Avenue this afternoon for a chance to see the president in his 11th-hour mission to rescue Coakley's beleagued U.S. Senate campaign -- and his own health care reform package. A Democratic win in tomorrow's special election is seen as insurance for his own health-care initiative, which depends on her to provide a 60th filibuster-proof vote in the Senate. Obama took the stage to rousing applause, saying, "It's good to be back in Boston. I love this town. I spent three years here stuck in a library trying to graduate." "Even though I've got to say I was gonna wear my White Sox jacket today", he joked. Then it was onto business. "I've come to talk about one thing. I've come to talk about Tuesday. On Tuesday you have the unique and special responsibility to fill the Senate seat you sent Ted Kennedy to fill for nearly 47 years", he said. "I am here to tell you the person for that job is your Attorney General Martha Coakley." Weighing in on the whose-seat-is-it controversy, Obama said, "There's been a lot said in this race about how it's not Ted Kennedy's seat, it's the people's seat. Let me tell you the first person who would agree with that is Ted Kennedy." Obama portrayed Coakley as an advocate for working families who knows the struggles they face. "You heard her. She was raised in North Adams", Obama said. "She became a lawyer not to cash in but to give working people a fair shake. She became a lawyer to fight for working families like the one she grew up in. "And that's what she's done. Look at her record. As a prosecutor she took on cases most of us don't want think about. Putting murderers and child abusers away. As attorney general she took on predatory lenders. She went after big insurance companies that misled people into buying coverage only to deny it when they got sick. She want after polluters who put you and your family at risk." "That's the kind of leader people of Massachusetts need more now than ever", Obama said. His speech was interrupted by protesters. A source close to the campaign said three protesters who briefly disrupted Obama's speech were from California. One was a young child, and all three were escorted out by authorities. Obama never once uttered Brown's name, and admitted that he wasn't too familiar with him. "I've heard about some of the ads that Martha's opponent's running", Obama said. "He's driving his truck around the Commonwealth. He said he gets you. That he'll fight for you. That he'll be an independent voice. I don't know him. I don't know his record. I don't know whether he's been fighting for you up until now. But here's what I do know. I want a senator who's independent too ... and here's what I know: Martha will do so. She's got a track record of doing so. I know there are things in which she and I disagree. She doesn't just call herself independent. She has the character to be independent. I hear her opponent is calling himself independent. But you have to look under the hood." Obama recited Coakley's common refrain that, "As a legislature he (Brown) voted with Republicans 96 percent of the time." "It's hard to suggest he's going to be significantly independent from the Republican agenda", Obama said. In the end, however, it's all about the 60th vote. "What Martha's opponent is preaching we've already tried and it didn't work", Obama said. "Understand what's at stake here Massachusetts. It's whether we're going backward or forward. If you were fired up in the last election I need you more fired up in this election." Coakley, taking the stage before Obama, was her usual buttoned-down self, flipping through notes even as she thanked members of the congressional delegation and dignitaries, before she added in an offhand way: "I almost forgot. There's someone else who dropped by this afternoon, and you know who it is." Taking a serious note, Coakley said, "We all know that this economy is stuck in an incredible recession. People are angry at the policies of the past that frankly rewarded the wealthy and left main street behind. I think that's wrong and we have to fix that." "People deserve to be angry but we can't let that anger get in the way of remembering where it came from", she said. Earlier, as dignitaries arrived at the Cabot Center, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, when asked whether Coakley's recent dip in the polls was related to sentiments about President Obama, quipped, "President Obama is not Martha Coakley in drag." Polls have shown national support for Obama and his health care initiative dropping, which some pundits and pollsters have linked to Coakley's own woes in Massachusetts, along with a failure to campaign aggressively. But Frank attributed Coakley's recent troubles to the race becoming "a personality contest bereft of the issues." "As it became clear to people that he could win, it was transformed from a personality contest to a race about the issues", Frank told reporters inside the Cabot Center. Frank said he sensed Coakley's campaign was beginning to take off again, and that her operation realized its own complacency "about 10 days ago." "Because she allowed it to be a personality contest, he (Brown) very sensibly from his standpoint didn't talk a lot about the issues", Frank said. "As the issues have come forward, she had improved." Nearby, former Democratic Senate hopeful Steve Pagliuca, a venture capitalist who lost to Coakley in the primary, was stumping for her. He said the economy -- not Coakley herself -- was most to blame for her campaign woes. "People are frustrated about the lack of progress in the economy", Pagliuca said. "This is really about frustration." The Coakley campaign estimated 1,500 people packed the gym, while another 2,500 ralliers were ushered into the school's student center to view the event. More than 1,000 people had to be turned away at the door, where students and others had been lined up since 4 a.m. Mayor Thomas M. Menino was unusually off-the-cuff and fired-up as he addressed the crowd in his warmup remarks. "This campaign ... is about moving the country forward not running backward", Menino said. "We have a candidate for U.S. Senate who says no. He hasn't even been there yet. What's he talkin' about?" Added Menino, "This is about jobs. It's about human values. It's about education. It's about urban areas surviving during these economic times." Gov. Deval Patrick took to the stage next. "I don't know about you, but I have had enough of right wing hypocrite", Patrick yelled to the crowd. "That, to me, is why we need Martha Coakley. We need Martha Coakey because we need an agenda that is not about power, but about people." U.S. Rep. Edward Markey had harsh words for Brown. "Independent Republican? That's an oxy-moron", he said. "We're all waiting for Wednesday morning when we have Martha Coakley joining us down there. Scott Brown. He's a lot like George Bush. He says he's a uniter, not a divider. Well, congratulations, Scott Brown, you have united the Democratic party in Massachusetts." U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, who lost to Coakley in the primary, took on a more plainspoken tone, saying in his usually rough-around-the-edges way that he wanted to address those viewing the newscasts -- not those already voting for Coakley. "We are having a tough election. There's lots of different reasons. In my opinion, we're having a tough election for one basic simple reason: People are angry. People are angry. Guess what? I'm pretty damn angry myself. "I'm angry because we don't have health care for all", he said. "I'm angry because we seem to be stuck in wars all around this world. I'm angry because every child doesn't have an equal opportunity at education. I'm not sure the people in Washington really get the message we sent them in November. These things are not jokes. They're not political punch lines. They're real issues that affect us." Sen. John Kerry said, "We are ready to bring this victory home on Tuesday", as he attempted to blame the country's economic woes solely on the administration of former President George W. Bush. "All of us feel anger about what's happened. People have lost jobs, lost their savings lost their health insurance", he said. "But let's remember where that anger should be directed." Kerry later added, "I got news for you Scott, George Bush drove a truck, too, and look where he got us ... The last thing we need is for someone to go to Washington and drive that truck into George Bush's economic ditch." The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's widow Vicki delivered an emotional pep-talk to the crowd. "Teddy has always said elections are about the future. That has never been more true. It's about our children's future. It's about the future of generations to come. Martha Coakley understands that", she said. "Martha Coakley's life has been marked by her march for progress. She's on our side. She understands the struggles of working families. She worked her way through college. She took care of her sick parents." Coakley spent the lead-up to Obama's visit with a packed schedule, beginning in Dorchester at 6:45 a.m. with a prayer service for earthquake victims in Haiti. She then traveled to Brockton's Stonebridge Cafe, meeting up with the city's mayor, Linda Balzotti and other dignitaries before heading on to Hyannis, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's beloved hometown. After a rally at Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub on Main Street, attended by the late senator's great nephew Joseph Kennedy III, she was northbound for Quincy, where supporters were manning the phones for her. As she tried to inject some badly needed momentum into her campaign, some supporters privately groused that her campaign waited until only the last minute to ask for help, one local political operative told the Herald.
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