Obama may give combative response to Democrat’s Senate defeat in Massachusetts

WASHINGTON - If the Democrats lose Tuesday’s special Senate election in Massachusetts, close advisers say President Barack Obama plans to hit back with a combative response.

Politico quoted a senior administration official, as saying: “It more reinforces the conviction to fight hard.”

A defeat for Martha Coakley for the seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy would be embarrassing for the party - and potentially debilitating, since Democrats will lose their filibuster-proof, 60-vote hold on the Senate.

A potential casualty could be the health care bill that was to be the crowning achievement of the president’s first year in office.

“The response will not be to do incremental things and try to salvage a few seats in the fall,” a presidential adviser said.

He added: “The best political route also happens to be the boldest rhetorical route, which is to go out and fight and let the chips fall where they may. We can say, ‘At least we fought for these things, and the Republicans said no.’”

Whatever words Obama chooses, however, will have trouble masking the substantive reality.

An upset by Republican Scott Brown would be covered in many quarters as a repudiation of Obama, especially after Obama’s last-ditch campaign appearance with Coakley 36 hours before the polls opened.

The president’s advisers plan to spin it as a validation of the underdog arguments that fueled Obama’s insurgent candidacy.(ANI)