Rats Flee Sinking Ship: Dems Comparing Coakley to Deeds

Such loyalty these people have. Hey, it's not Obama's policies that are unpopular, it's all Coakley's fault.

Four days out from the special elections and they're ready to throw the hapless Coakley under the bus.

Here in Massachusetts, as well as in Washington, a growing sense of gloom is setting in among Democrats about the fortunes of Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley. "I have heard that in the last two days the bottom has fallen out of her poll numbers," says one well-connected Democratic strategist. In her own polling, Coakley is said to be around five points behind Republican Scott Brown. "If she's not six or eight ahead going into the election, all the intensity is on the other side in terms of turnout," the Democrat says. "So right now, she is destined to lose."

Intensifying the gloom, the Democrat says, is the fact that the same polls showing Coakley falling behind also show President Obama with a healthy approval rating in the state. "With Obama at 60 percent in Massachusetts, this shouldn't be happening, but it is," the Democrat says.

Given those numbers, some Democrats, eager to distance Obama from any electoral failure, are beginning to compare Coakley to Creigh Deeds, the losing Democratic candidate in the Virginia governor's race last year. Deeds ran such a lackluster campaign, Democrats say, that his defeat could be solely attributed to his own shortcomings, and should not be seen as a referendum on President Obama's policies or those of the national Democratic party.

The same sort of thinking is emerging in Massachusetts. "This is a Creigh Deeds situation," the Democrat says. "I don't think it says that the Obama agenda is a problem. I think it says, 1) that she's a terrible candidate, 2) that she ran a terrible campaign, 3) that the climate is difficult but she should have been able to overcome it, and 4) that Democrats beware -- you better run good campaigns, or you're going to lose."

Nothing is ever Obama's fault. Such a God-like figure is above reproach. It's just a coincidence the day he filmed a commercial for her she totally cratered in the polls, riding a wave of anti-ObamaCare sentiment.

The Democrats are now pulling out all the stops, leading with The Swimmer card, of course.

Meanwhile, here's the howler of the day: Some Boston Globe hack is lamenting that Scott Brown hasn't shown the courage to be in the Senate.

Martha Coakley, the state Attorney General, watches as one of her goons throws a reporter to the ground and pretends it didn't happen. I guess that's courage. Supposedly it would be "courageous" for Brown to show up in Washington and then vote with the Democrats.

Has this guy even paid the slightest bit of attention to the campaign?

Instapundit links. Thanks!