Barack Obama’s back is to the wall this week. There’s irony occurring on many fronts. For one, the state which has served as the beacon for his multitude of campaign promises on healthcare reform — Massachusetts — is the battleground for a struggling Democratic candidate all too willing to carry the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s reform mantle into the next decade in the face of fierce Republican opposition at the hands of an opportunist who just wants to nix any Democrat’s vote on reform on a national level.

Also, the nailbiter of a race for Kennedy’s senate seat is just the latest election contest to test Obama’s campaigning mettle. Up until now, he has not been particularly effective for either former NJ Senator-turned-Governor John Corzine (who lost his seat last year) or former VA Gov. Tim Kaine, who lost as well. Finally, this entire push and effort for Obama’s party to elect the Mass. Dem candidate is now widely seen as a referendum on the healthcare debate — as sentiment in which Massachusetts’ troubles with reform are driving a wave of conservative populist sentiment against Obama and his campaign for healthcare reform on a national level.

Democrats have major reason to be concerned. At risk is not only the entire meaning of the final vote on healthcare reform, but also the precedent this entire episode sets on 2010 as a predictor of Obama’s ability to lead the party out from under increasing Republican fervor for domestic policy alternatives on issues other than healthcare, not to mention a smoldering Afghanistan policy. | LINK

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