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Reporter Down*: Coakley Claims Ignorance, Sheehan Somewhat Apologizes; Yet Another Stumble

By Phil

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Update:

* Thanks to @LadyImpactOhio for giving this story such an apropos name.

It is time for the Bay State Attorney General to follow the first rule of digging a hole — stop digging. More commentary at the end of this update.

For starters, I’d like to refer my readers to the following most excellent picture via RedState which really encapsulates what everyone is going to remember about this incident well into the future:

We’ll continue by using HotAir’s synopsis of today’s events and I’ll fill in the details:

Anatomy of a spin job gone bad. First, McCormack gets shoved ? on video, with a photo showing Coakley standing right there. The Democrats? Senate campaign arm then issues a statement calling it, surreally, some sort of Republican ?dirty trick.?

Yes, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said the following:

“It is no surprise that Washington Republicans are trying to use every dirty trick they have to throw the Coakley campaign off their stride, but we are determined to end this campaign talking about the issues that matter to voters, like creating jobs and lowering middle class taxes,” said [DSCC spokesman Eric] Schultz in a written statement. …

“Asking tough questions is one thing, but acting like John McCormack did tonight shows a complete lack of decency. This self-described reporter repeatedly screamed questions while our candidate was doing what she is supposed to be doing: speaking with voters (remember, those who will decide this election?). And then this ‘reporter’ followed the candidate to her car, continuing to carry on in a manner that would make the National Enquirer blush,” fumed Scozzafava’s spokesman after the incident. [UPDATE: The audio subsequently seemed to show that McCormack had been fairly polite.]

HotAir continues:

The AP duly answers the call of the home team by putting out a whitewashed account of what happened, insisting that McCormack merely stumbled before being helped to his feet by the kindly Democrat looming over him. Then it?s Coakley?s turn to insist that she?s ?not privy to the facts? of what happened despite the photo showing her looking right at McCormack as he hit the ground. [emphasis original]

In fact, The Boston Herald reported the following regarding the State Attorney General:

Coakley said she is not ?privy? to the facts surrounding the incident involving reporter John McCormack last night, who wrote about the episode outside the Sonoma restaurant in Washington, D.C. in an online dispatch titled: ?We Report, We Get Pushed.? The Wall Street Journal reported the Coakley fund-raiser at the Sonoma restaurant in Washington, D.C. was put on by health care industry lobbyists.

?I know there were people following, including two from the Brown campaign who have been very aggressive in their stalking,? Coakley told reporters during an appearance at Kit Clark Senior Services in Dorchester. ?I?m not sure what happened. I know something occurred, but I?m not privy to the facts. I?m sure it will come out, but I?m not aware of that.?

McCormack told the Herald he met Coakley Jan. 5 after a radio debate at theWTKK (96.9-FM) studios, where he asked her four questions.

?She knew that there was a reporter who asked her a question. We had met before. I asked her four questions. She saw me get knocked to the ground and kept walking,? said McCormack. ?I wouldn?t say I was surprised. … She?s decided she?s entitled to the seat without answering questions on issues that are of national importance.?

McCormack said there is a 10-inch rip on the right leg of his suit pants and a tiny bruise on his right leg from the incident. …

Coakley complained she?s been followed by Brown operatives.

?I do know that the Scott Brown stalkers who have followed me around and the people at that press conference … were incredibly aggressive about trying to get in my face,? Coakley said. ?I didn?t see what happened so I can?t say.?

Continuing with HotAir:

Finally, inevitably, with all spin angles crushed by the documentary evidence, the obligatory apology is issued.

Last evening I was a little too aggressive in the confusion of trying to help the Attorney General get to her car and catch a flight.

I clearly did not intend to cause John McCormack to trip and fall over that low fence. As the video shows and he confirms in his blog, I stopped to help him up and make sure he was OK.

I talked with Mr. McCormack this afternoon and apologized for my part.

Well, kinda-sorta. The Herald reported the following:

Michael Meehan, the Coakley campaign volunteer involved in the scufffle, told the Herald he did not push McCormack. He said he was escorting Coakley to her car outside the restaurant when she encountered a scrum of reporters and Republican operatives.

?I did not push him,? said Meehan, who is president of Blue Line Strategic Communications in Washington, D.C. He said he is volunteering for Coakley and has 25 years of experience as a Senate press aide. (He has released a statement and apology.)

Meehan said he helped McCormack up after he tripped over a low fence in front a book store near the restaurant and asked him if he was OK. He added McCormack was not wearing a press credential and refused to identify himself when Meehan asked who he was.

?He wouldn?t tell me who he was and he wouldn?t tell me who he works for,? said Meehan. ?Reporters get to ask questions. That?s totally legit. Republican operatives can?t chase a candidate down the street.?

Meehan said he let McCormack pass after he displayed his press credential. He added he?s left two messages for Meehan and wants to apologize for ?my part in his fall.?

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The bottom line to all of this — as is pointed out in the actual video, referenced below — is that it doesn’t matter who recorded the video, and Ms. Coakley had every reason to know that Mr. McCormack was a reporter legitimately asking questions (wouldn’t you want to know whether or not the State Attorney General stands by her statement from the debate (entire debate video linked at the bottom of this posting) that Afghanistan is free of terrorists? I know I certainly would). Mr. Sheehan was fully aware of what was going on and is simply trying to blame those rascally, evil Republicans for daring to record the entire scenario (incidentally, nobody’s fessed up, yet, to taking ownership of the video).

Also, as RedState points out:

By the way, Michael Meehan has been nominated by Obama to sit on the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Will the press tolerate a man who assails members of the press sitting on the Broadcast Board of Governors?

Probably. The reporter wasn?t on the press?s team.

But we’re not done yet.

As if she couldn’t possibly add further insult to injury, LegalInsurrection reports that I See No “Reporter Down” ™ Martha Coakley makes a not-so-subtle stab at Fenway Park fans:

Coakley bristles at the suggestion that, with so little time left, in an election with such high stakes, she is being too passive.

?As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands??? she fires back, in an apparent reference to a Brown online video of him doing just that.

Why, yes, candidates interested in winning actually do such things. In fact, here’s the referenced YouTube video showing Lt. Col. Scott Brown “standing outside Fenway Park, in the cold, shaking hands:”

Prof. Jacobson opines:

Coakley’s slap shot at Fenway fans was the talk of the popular local Howie Carr radio show in Boston today. Carr is a Brown supporter, and Coakley’s refusal to greet the fans outside Fenway was a focus of the show.

Maybe Coakley forgot how near and dear Fenway was to Ted Kennedy, who threw out the first pitch last season in what everyone knew would be his last opening day. Or the Tribute to Kennedy in August at Fenway.

Insulting Fenway fans. Now that’s a plan.

In order for Brown to win, a lot of things had to fall into place. Just saying.

And to top it all off, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — yes, the Dem money pot in the House — is now sending money into Massachusetts — huh?!?:

Why would House Democrats be spending their precious resources on someone running for the United States Senate? Because they know it would destroy Nancy Pelosi?s agenda to have Scott Brown in the Senate.

It also has federal campaign finance implications. It?s going to be interesting to see how the expenditure is disclosed.

This is rather unheard of. Couple it with the news that the DNC and DSCC are sending senior staff to Massachusetts to salvage the Coakley campaign and you can imagine just how worried Barack Obama is. He remembers what happened in 1993 and 1994 to Bill Clinton and he doesn?t want to have that happen to him.

If Scott Brown keeps Coakley down to a narrow victory ? never mind Brown winning in a state that really does not like Republicans ? it will send shockwaves throughout Washington, DC and probably expedite a wave of retirements and party flipping. Should Brown happen to win? To quote Moe, ?DOOM.?

In concluding this update, while it is true that some in the liberal section of the blogosphere think that the national attention that has been drawn to this race hurts State Senator Scott Brown, such attention does, in fact — and as I’ve just shown — cut both ways.

It’s pretty clear to most observers that State Attorney General Marsha Coakley is not exactly the best candidate that the Democrats could have fielded for this seat. After watching the final debate with Scott Brown, she has shown that she is not willing to give a straightforward answer on much.  Then again, with the “Ted Kennedy seat” term of endearment (it’s the People’s seat), it is likely that she and her supporters thought that this was going to be a shoe-in for practically any Democrat.

So, when the race goes national, the microscope includes her in its view, so every misstep that she makes is similarly magnified for everyone to see.

It’s going to be a very close race; let’s just hope that, at the conclusion of it, should the Lt. Col. win, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is correct about delaying any certification being a “conspiracy theory.” If it’s not, then the circus has only begun, and it won’t be pretty in the slightest for the Democrats.

See my highlighted coverage under the Category, MA Senate.

—-

Apparently, Massachusetts State Attorney General Marsha Coakley, a Democrat, is really, really, really running scared, for sure.

As HotAir.com reports, a Coakley associate (more on who this is likely to be in a moment) literally shoved The Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack simply because he was attempting to ask the State Attorney General a question on a public sidewalk regarding her suggestion that there are no longer terrorists in Afghanistan (partial transcript below the video):

The Weekly Standard:

TWS: Attorney General Coakley, you said last night that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan--that they’re all in Yemen and Pakistan. Do you stand by that remark?

COAKLEY: I’m sorry, did someone else have a question?

GRIFF JENKINS, Fox News: I did. Why are you in Washington tonight?

COAKLEY: We planned an event after the primary that would be a unity event in Washington. We’re also in the middle of a very intense campaign [...]

After Coakley finished her answer, she began walking away from the restaurant, and I walked behind her asking why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fundraiser. She didn?t reply.

As I walked down the street, a man who appeared to be associated with the Coakley campaign pushed me into a freestanding metal railing. I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street.

He asked if I was with the media, and I told him I work for THE WEEKLY STANDARD. When I asked him who he worked for he replied, ?I work for me.? He demanded to see my credentials, and even though it was a public street, I showed them to him.

As LegalInsurrection notes, the following photo is one that may change the election (do notice that the Attorney General remains completely mum while knowing that it was a reporter trying to ask her questions):

So, who was that guy? According to RedState.com, it may be media consultant Michael Meehan, on loan to the Coakley campaign from the DSCC:

AmericanPower provides a thorough listing of story pings across the blogosphere:

* Cold Fury, “Hey, Dems: In America, Politics are what we do INSTEAD of fighting in the streets; we call it ?The Rule of Law?.”

* Flopping Aces, “Washington DC Health Care Lobbyists Throw A Fundraiser For Coakley.”

* Ed Driscoll, “The Ominous Parallels.”

* The Hill, “Dems, Labor Pour Cash Into Kennedy Seat.”

…[SNIP]…

* Jules Crittenden, “Martha vs. The Ladies Gardening Club.”

* Melissa Clouthier, “Scott Brown And The Republican Big Tent.”

* Michelle Malkin, “Martha Coakley: The voice for Fat Cats and Corruptocrats.”

* Nice Deb, “Boston Political Analyst Declares Scott Brown Winner of Monday Night?s Debate.”

* The Other McCain, “Is Martha Coakley Even Sleazier Than Tila Tequila? BUMPED: Reporter Hassled.”

* Reaganite Republican, “Brown Within TWO POINTS in New Rasmussen Poll!“

* Snooper Report, “Scott Brown Making History … So Is That Fruitloop Coakley.”

There is a saying that goes something like, “desperate times call for desperate measures;” however, your right to act stops at the tip of my nose. So, too, for Mr. McCormack.

-Phil

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Photo courtesy KansasCity.com

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on January 13, 2010 (boomark / email).