President Obama will campaign in Massachusetts for Martha Coakley on Sunday, White House and Democratic Party sources tell TPMDC.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is set to announce the news at today’s press briefing, This past Monday, Gibbs had said that there were no plans to visit Massachusetts.
The polls have been all over the place on this election, but are in general agreement in the sense that the turnout model matters very seriously. If younger voters and more committed Democrats turn out, Coakley will win. If older and less Democratic voters make up a greater part of the electorate, Republican nominee Scott Brown will win. Obama’s involvement could potentially make the difference for Coakley in turning out his natural support base — and if it doesn’t, expect a lot of talk in the press about how Obama couldn’t win the race.
Late Update: As expected, Gibbs announced that Obama will stop in Boston Sunday after a visit to a Washington D.C. church earlier in the day.
Gibbs also took a swipe at Brown using the latest Democratic party talking points, and said Obama “sees a pretty clear distinction” between Coakley who he views as a fighter for Massachusetts and “a candidate on the other side who feels comfortable fighting for the insurance industry and big banks.”
Asked about Coakley’s tanking poll numbers, Gibbs said Obama was “happy to have a campaign on whether you’re for the status quo, protecting insurance company profits, bank company profits.”
Reporters pressed Gibbs on what it would mean for Obama and his health care agenda should Coakley lose. “I don’t think Scott Brown is going to win on Tuesday,” was his reply, later adding “We’re not on the ballot.”
He said Obama thinks it will be a “productive” campaign stop.
A Democratic source tells us the Coakley campaign made the request for Obama to make the stop, and Gibbs said there had been “no plans” for the visit earlier in the week because the president hadn’t yet been invited.
