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Fenway flub

One of Boston’s most beloved baseball players beaned the Democrat running to fill the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seat after she whiffed on a question about her efforts to win the upcoming special election.

Attorney General Martha Coakley mocked a campaign video created by her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, that showed him engaging in some retail-style politicking at the Green Monster when asked about her own efforts to win the race and a big league pitcher didn’t like that one bit.

The Boston Globe asked Mrs. Coakley about the criticism she has received from various circles for not working hard and she replied, “As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?”

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a Republican who once considered running in that Senate race, said the remark showcased her “elitism and arrogance unbelievably.”

“Has she forgotten who she’s talking to?’ Mr. Schilling wrote on his blog, www.38pitches.com, on Thursday. “What state she’s wanting to represent in the Senate? It’s Massachusetts. You do not make sneering insults about Fenway Park. What’s she going to do next, insult the Red Sox? That’d really just be the cherry on top of a delightful campaign. Fenway Park and the Red Sox are … near sacred to Massachusetts residents, Bostonians in particular. Really, I’m starting to think that she just doesn’t want to get elected or something. Because anyone with half a modicum of sense knows that you do not go into Boston and mess with Fenway Park.”

‘Tossup’

The Rothenberg Political Report labeled the Massachusetts Senate race a “tossup” on Thursday, citing, “Democratic desperation” as a factor.

Republican contender Scott Brown raised more than $1.3 million in a single-day “money bomb” on Monday as his campaign sought many low-dollar online donations.

In response, Democratic candidate Martha Coakley deployed to Washington for a high-dollar fundraiser at the Sonoma wine bar on Capitol Hill and her allies began making urgent solicitations urging supporters to help the Democratic Party retain the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seat. One appeal made by Democratic Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry suggested Mr. Brown was trying to “swift boat” Mrs. Coakley and warned that “Ted Kennedy’s seat” was in jeopardy of being handed to the Republicans.

Another appeal from Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee complained “it seems like every tea partier with an e-mail list helped the Republican Senate candidate in Massachusetts raise $1.3 million this week.”

“But polls show Ted Kennedy’s legacy hanging in the balance,” Mr. Menendez warned.

The Rothenberg Report’s “tossup” announcement noted that despite these efforts Mr. Brown “has ‘won’ the ‘free media’ over the past few days, and if he continues to do so, he will win the election.

But, “Late Democratic efforts to demonize Republican Scott Brown, to make the race into a partisan battle and to use the Kennedy name to drive Democratic voters to the polls could still work,” the report hedged. “But the advertising clutter in the race works against them, and voters often tune out late messages, which can seem desperate.”

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