Any high level press operative who has ever been sent into a high pressure end-game campaign environment knows one of the first things NOT to do is become a campaign issue yourself.
Mike Meehan, dispatched by the DSCC to “help” Martha Coakley in Massachusetts against Republican Scott Brown, seems to have body-checked a Weekly Standard reporter and then menaced him, for lack of a better word.
Bad move — this will become a much bigger story throughout the day.
Recent media polls showing Coakley up by 8-12 points do not reflect the reality on the ground. As Charlie Cook noted on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, this is basically a toss-up contingent solely upon who shows up to vote in a special election.
The good thing for Coakley is that there’s still time to dump a boatload of negative TV on Brown’s momentum, and they’re making the right message move simply reminding voters he’s a Republican.
Coakley should still win by 1-3 points, but anything goes in a special with a volatile turnout environment.