Coakley keeping low profile in Senate race
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BOSTON - Democrat Martha Coakley is keeping a low public profile in the race for the late Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat.
Republican challenger Scott Brown has been calling nearly daily press conferences, but Coakley, the state's attorney general, has been relying largely on press releases and aides to get her message out - often pre-empting or undercutting Brown.
When Brown announced early Tuesday morning that he would be at a Boston brewery at 2 p.m. to accept the endorsement of an association of independent business owners, Coakley's campaign fired off an email before the event announcing a small business tax-relief plan.
And on Monday, when Brown said the state could curb health costs by not requiring insurance companies to cover services like in vitro fertilization, Coakley's campaign sent another email saying Brown's plan could eliminate coverage for mammograms and prostate cancer screenings.
Brown chided Coakley on Wednesday, saying she's acting as if she's already won the election.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she was actually picking out the drapes because she thinks the race is over, but I can assure her and all of her supporters that this race is far from over," Brown said.
Coakley's campaign said she's not taking anything for granted.
"Martha has been working hard since September meeting with voters and offering real solutions," said campaign spokesman Corey Welford. "She is going to continue to travel this state throughout this campaign to speak with voters about the issues that matter to them."
In one of her first public appearances since two debates early last week, Coakley toured a manufacturing plant Wednesday.
Her low-profile campaign makes sense for someone who won 48 percent of the vote in a four-way Democratic primary and is considered the general election front-runner, said Tobe Berkovitz, a Boston University communications professor and political commentator.
"The goal of any political campaign is to win. You want to do what makes strategic sense," Berkovitz said. "She doesn't need to have a higher profile. It's not like the voters are begging for some face time with these candidates."
Brown is relying in part on another campaign strategy - using his public office to help his campaign.
Twice this week, Brown, the Republican state senator from Wrentham, tried to burnish his credentials as a fiscal conservative by filing bills.
One would give insurers more freedom in crafting policies by mandating they include fewer procedures - something Brown said would reduce costs. A second would establish a temporary sales tax holiday for the weekend of Feb. 13-15.
Brown called the first bill a "symbol" of the differences between him and Coakley. He is opposed to the health care overhaul making its way through Congress. Coakley supports the Senate version.
Voters will hear more from the candidates soon. There are three debates scheduled between the New Year's holiday and the Jan. 19 election.
The debates will include Joseph L. Kennedy, a Libertarian running as an independent. He is not related to the late senator, who died Aug. 25 of a brain tumor.
Brown has pressed Coakley for a one-on-one debate, something she has refused.
Both candidates continue to raise money. Coakley had a fundraiser Wednesday morning, while former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney sent out a fundraising letter for Brown.
"Scott's election would shock the country," Romney wrote. "Wouldn't it be nice to elect a fiscal conservative to Ted Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate?"
