Is Barney Frank in Trouble?

Let's face it. If a 15-term incumbent in the bluest of blue states is bringing in Bill Clinton to campaign for him it can only mean one thing--he's worried about his re-election. How sweet would it be to have Barney Frank get the boot from Congress?

The last U.S. president or presidential candidate to visit the Silver City, Crowley said, was Jimmy Carter in 1976, who was then running against incumbent Gerald Ford.

Other past presidents to have visited and spoken in Taunton include Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Crowley said his assistant Todd Castro, who was once a U.S. Capitol Police officer, has been working with the Secret Service and local officials to coordinate a plan to stage the event.

Crowley said Frank deserved the rally for all he’s done to help provide funding through the years for various projects in Taunton.

Examples cited by the mayor were programs for seniors, funds for the city-owned Taunton Nursing Home and federal money for the Route 138 road improvement project.

“It’s a testament to his nature and the energy he’s expended on our behalf,” Crowley said.

But some local Republican candidates said the upcoming rally is a sign that Democratic incumbents, including Frank, are feeling the heat this election cycle.

“They’ll need all the help they can get this year,” said Shaunna

O’Connell, the Republican candidate from Taunton, who is running against state Rep. James Fagan, D-Taunton.

O’Connell said voters will “not be fooled by election year antics.”

As for the former president’s prestige and influence, she said the bottom line is that the electorate “are not voting for Clinton.”

Taunton City Councilman David Pottier, the Republican candidate challenging long-term state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, said the Frank rally is indicative of Democratic trepidation heading into November.

“I find it interesting that they’re calling out the big guns,” Pottier said. “Obviously they’re afraid [because] they can’t run on the record of the last several years.”

If Frank is worried about true blue Massachusetts, then the time’s certainly are a changin’,” he said, paraphrasing the famous Bob Dylan song.

“I appreciate the historical significance of Clinton coming to town, but this smacks of desperation,” Pottier added.

Sean Bielat, the Republican vying for Frank’s job, said it’s notable that Frank and Clinton will appear together in Taunton, where U.S. Sen. Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley by a 15-point spread.

“I think Barney is concerned about the middle of his district and is trying to shore up support,” Bielat said. “I’m extremely flattered that Bill Clinton is coming.”

Frank dismissed such thinking as “nonsense.”

“I asked Bill Clinton for his help a couple of months ago. It’s no different than a TV ad — it’s all part of a campaign,” said Frank, who is also Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Frank is taking on a Marine with a platform of slashing military spending.

Despite what he described as Frank's financial advantage, "There's a lot of concern with the direction of the country. There's a lot of concern with Barney Frank's involvement with Fannie and Freddie and the real estate collapse. There's a lot of concern with just, 'Hey, we need some turnover,'" Bielat said.

"I actually think there's a lot more support for our campaign than people might, at first, expect," he said.

Asked for his own level of confidence about a race against Bielat, Frank said he wanted to focus on the issues.

Among them, he said, is the need to raise taxes on the very wealthy and to "reduce America's worldwide military footprint as a way to reduce the deficit."

Here's Bielat's campaign site. This Marine would be an American hero if he could knock off the odious Frank.

Update: Via Sissy Willis on Twitter, there's also this site from Bielat. Watch Bawney gag on his own words.