The blue dogs sided with the Republican to extend the war that I am totally against. They won and we're still in Iraq.

Blue dogs have insisted on scrapping any semblance of HCR.  So now we're stuck with a bill that no one likes.

Blue dogs have even written pro life legislation into the bill. Womans rights has been a cornerstone of the Democratic party for over 40 years and yet we're supposed to abandon this because of a handful of Republican wantabee?.

Unity to principles and ideals that the Democratic party USED to stand for is what I support.  If the candidate doesn't support those principles and ideals, I don't support them.  "Parties" can go fvck themselves.

    ► Sex Offender Reform - Sen. Brown is widely known as the state's leading advocate for reforming the sex offender management system in Massachusetts.  He has sponsored a number of bills, including the Sex Offender Omnibus Bill which was a comprehensive reform package that addresses numerous discrepancies in the system.  Since that bill was introduced in 2005, several elements have become law separately.

    ► Repealing the Statue of Limitations for Sexual Abuse - Sen. Brown proposes repealing the statute of limitations on prosecuting perpetrators of sexual abuse. Currently, these crimes can only be prosecuted within a defined timetable, robbing many victims of an opportunity to seek justice through the criminal system. It often takes years for victims to come forward and speak with authorities.  While it is difficult to pursue a case decades after an incident occurs, these victims should have access to the full judicial process. The decision should be left with prosecutors as to whether enough evidence exists to warrant criminal charges. Sexual offenders should not escape justice simply because an arbitrary number of years have passed.

    ► Closing the Youthful Offender Loophole - Currently many offenders under age 18 slip through the cracks of the sex offender registration system. Judges currently have the discretion to decide whether or not an offender must register. Too often judges let offenders avoid the Sex Offender Registry Board even when they are found guilty of serious sexual offenses. Sen. Brown filed legislation to require all offenders convicted of qualifying sexual offenses to register with the Sex Offender Registry Board. This legislation was prominently featured in a Fox 25 News investigative report.

    ►Jessica's Bill - Sen. Brown led the effort in the Senate for passage of Jessica's Law (legislation to strengthen sex offender laws, named for Jessica Lunsford, a child who was raped and murdered in FL). A watered down version of Jessica's Law passed in July 2008, which is a step in the right direction but there is still more work to do to protect our children from predators.

    ►Haleigh's Bill - This legislation protects victims from those who have been charged with their abuse or neglect. Sen. Brown filed "Haleigh's Bill" in response to the tragedy of the Haleigh Poutre case in Westfield in 2005. Haleigh had been hospitalized as the result of alleged abuse at the hands of her adoptive mother and stepfather. While on life support, Haleigh's stepfather attempted to obtain guardianship of his stepdaughter even though he was suspected of the abuse. This bill prohibits an individual from being appointed a guardian or medical proxy if they have been charged with assault and battery, or neglect of the incapacitated. Sen. Brown was successful in applying Haleigh's Bill to restrict guardianship through an amendment to the Child Protection Bill of 2008.  He filed An Act Relative to Health Care Proxies for the 2009-2010 Legislative Session to apply those same restrictions to health care proxies.  

    ►Strengthening Public Safety - Sen. Brown remains committed to improving all aspects of public safety.  For the current session he's filed bills to reform the Commonwealth's Criminal Offender Register Information System (CORI) and study the effectiveness of a drug dealer registry for the state.  He also filed bill to increase penalties for possessing marijuana in a vehicles so that it is applied like an open container law for alcohol, and make sure that any illegal alien sex offenders are accurately reported to federal authorities.

But short of some miracle (Ted K. being resurrected, or the emergence in the last week of the election of some amazing 3rd party candidate - and sorry but the Libertarian Kennedy doesn't cut it), it's either going to be Brown or Coakley representing my state. And I would prefer that it's Coakley, as distasteful as many of her views are to me.  Brown would be just too awful to bear imo.

Like I said, I don't vote in MA, but to balance things out a bit, here's some of the other side:

During her term as District Attorney, Coakley was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Massachusetts School of Law and the Frank J. Murray Inn of Court.

In November 2000, the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts honored Coakley with its Leila J. Robinson Award for her contributions to the field of law. In June 2002--the year she was President of the Massachusetts District Attorney's Association--the YWCA Boston selected her as a member of its Academy of Women Achievers Class of 2002.

...

In 2004, she received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Management in Government. She also received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Massachusetts Democratic Party in 2006. A former president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, she has served on the Board of Directors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc.

SNIP

In May 2007, Coakley testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature in support of the passage of a "buffer zone" law that created a 35-foot buffer around entrances and driveways of reproductive health care facilities that offer abortion services.The law was signed into effect by Governor Deval Patrick on November 13, 2007 and challenged by opponents.

After the law was struck down by a federal court judge, Coakley successfully defended the law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on July 8, 2008.

In September 2008, Coakley worked with Apple Inc. and the National Federation of the Blind to have Apple redesign the popular iTunes software, so it complies with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act.

On February 5, 2009, Coakley led an 18 state coalition, as well as the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York and the City Solicitor of Baltimore, urging the Environmental Protection Agency to take action in response to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. Though the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA did have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, the Agency had yet to make an official decision on whether it believes that greenhouse gas emissions pose dangers to public health or welfare.

Coakley inherited litigation of the fatal 2006 Big Dig ceiling collapse from outgoing Attorney General Tom Reilly in 2007. On March 26, 2009 she settled the final lawsuit pertaining to the incident. Through eight lawsuits attached to the incident, Coakley's office recovered $610.625 million on behalf of the State of Massachusetts.

On July 8, 2009, Coakley filed a suit, challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. The suit claims that Congress "overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people." Massachusetts is the first state to challenge the legislation.

In 2009, Coakley won settlements of $60 million from Goldman Sachs and $10 million from Fremont Investment & Loan for their abuse of subprime loans and lending.

As for the idea that she deliberately kept a man she knew to be innocent in prison to further her political ambitions-- that's complete and total cr*p on every count.  She believed (wrongly IMHO) he was a terrible child abuser; she did not have decision-making power to keep him in jail, just to recommend; and she did not widely publicize her recommendation, so it's hardly evidence it had anything to do with political ambitions.

Coakley was the first state AG to sue the Catholic Church over child abuse, and for most people here, she is one of us. She's a loyal Democrat who was one of the few superdelegates to stick with the will of her state's voters (who voted for HRC by 15%) in Denver.

If we lose Coakley, we don't just lose a vote in the Senate, we lose an authentic Democrat, the sort who is in exceptionally short supply. Granted, that may be a low bar, but the alternative position is that we allow the GOP to defeat every like-minded Dem from Franken to Mikulsky, from Brad Sherman to Anthony Weiner. We'll lose votes in Nov, but let's be smart about who comprises the resulting team.

If we want to pick races for the GOP to take out our side, can't we come up with a few hundred people who are higher up the list of priorities?

She did not support Obama until he was officially the nominee after the convention.

You think McCain-Palin would have done "real health care reform," a homeowners bailout, financial reform and an end to mountaintop coal mining, etc.?

Within Mass., she's always pushed very hard for women's rights, reproductive rights, programs to help women and children (and esp. victims of abuse), she went after big Pharma and fraudulent bank practices, and sued to get DOMA reversed.  Jeralyn doesn't like her because she's a prosecutor.  But the options in the primary would have been no better.  The next most serious contender, Capuano, already voted for hcr before the primary election.  

And he was the party's candidate -- Pelosi showed up to stump briefly for him, conveniently the day or two after he voted for the House hc bill. (whereas Coakley was a huge supporter of Hillary during the primaries -- one of the few who refused to give away her states votes for Clinton at the convention -- and the Big Dog campaigned for her in the primaries and is campaigning for her this week).