"Hitching His Wagon to Obama’s Star: a Republican Senator"

Hitching His Wagon to Obama’s Star: a Republican Senator

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE at the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/us/politics/senator-scott-p-brown-turns-to-obama-for-campaign-help.html?_r=2&hp;

"SNIP.......................................

President Obama is appearing in yet another television commercial in the Massachusetts Senate race. This time, it was not produced by the Democratic candidate, Elizabeth Warren, but by the Republican, Senator Scott P. Brown.

The advertisement, which was scheduled to start running on Saturday, shows Mr. Obama praising Mr. Brown for sponsoring a bill to end insider trading in Congress. As Mr. Obama signs the measure into law, he thanks Mr. Brown, saying, “Good job.”

With the political conventions over and the Labor Day parades behind them, Mr. Brown and Ms. Warren are entering a new phase of their intensely fought race, the most expensive Senate contest in the country and one of a handful that will determine which party controls the chamber next year. The race is distinctive in another way: in this state, Mr. Obama is so popular that candidates from both parties are trying to hitch their wagons to his star.

That approach would be unusual enough for a Democrat in a year in which many feel the need to distance themselves from the administration, but it is virtually unfathomable for a Republican. That both candidates are trying to leverage their ties to Mr. Obama underscores how popular the president is here and how unpopular his rival, Mitt Romney, is, even though he once served as the state’s governor. Mr. Obama is expected to carry Massachusetts overwhelmingly in November.

.......................................SNIP"