Today: The Massachusetts Special Senate Election
Today is the special election for Senate in Massachusetts. Republican Scott Brown is widely viewed as the frontrunner to pick up the Senate seat formerly held for 47 years by Democratic icon Ted Kennedy — which would deprive Democrats of their 60-seat supermajority –Â with Democrat Martha Coakley hoping for the state’s Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts to put her over the finish line. The polls will close at 8 p.m. ET.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9 a.m. ET. Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will hold a discussion with sixth grade students at 10 a.m. ET, at the Graham Road Elementary School in Virginia, and Obama will deliver remarks at 10:25 a.m. ET on the “Race to the Top” program. Obama will meet at 11:30 a.m. ET with Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), in the Oval Office. He will have lunch with Vice President Biden at 12:30 p.m. ET. He will receive the economic daily briefing at 1:30 p.m. ET, and meet at 4:25 p.m. ET with senior advisers.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden had a breakfast meeting earlier this morning with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the Naval Observatory. He will attend the presidential daily briefing at 9 a.m. ET. He will chair a regular meeting of senior officials to assess progress in Iraq, at 11 a.m. ET. He will have lunch with President Obama at 12:30 p.m. ET. He will spend the remainder of the day meeting with senior advisers at the White House.
Gates: Taliban Reconciliation Unlikely
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates downplayed the possibility of reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan. “Just speaking personally, I’d be very surprised to see a reconciliation with Mullah Omar,” Gates told reporters. He explained: “I think it’s our view that until the Taliban leadership sees a change in the momentum and begins to see that they are not going to win, that the likelihood of reconciliation at senior levels is not terribly great.”
For Gates’s Aides, No More Fatigues At Work
The New York Times reports that Secretary of Defense has told his military aides to no longer wear combat fatigues to work at the Pentagon, a protocol that had been in use since 9/11, and instead wear military business uniforms. “The secretary understands and appreciates why that change was made after 9/11,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. “But I think that now, more than eight years later, it’s more important to him that people — both civilian and military — are dressed in a way that is consistent with the fact that this building is the headquarters of the United States military in our nation’s capital city.”
Cantor’s Campaign To Sway House Dems Moves Slowly
Roll Call reports that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s effort to persuade dozens of targeted Democrats to switch their votes away from health care reform has not enjoyed much progress. “Eric Cantor thinks I live in Pennsylvania, if that shows you how close we are,” said Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH), who was misidentified in Cantor’s memo as a Pennsylvania Congressman.
GOP Win In Massachusetts Could Make Harold Ford Senate Bid In New York More Likely
The New York Post reports that the Massachusetts Senate race’s outcome could have an effect on New York, where former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) is considering a challenge to appointed Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. An anonymous Ford ally said: “If Coakley loses, or wins by less than five, it increases the likelihood that he gets in.”
