Dep't. of Bad Timing: Obama Advisers Think Coakley Will Lose

By GottaLaff

UPDATE #2 from Kos diarist:

Update: I am removing the word lie from the title because now that I have an actual transcript of what he said this morning vs. the twitter updates he is really walking-back an exaggeration not a lie.

Here is the transcript:

HENRY: In terms of that fear, I was told very reliably that a couple of the president's top advisers have told senior Democrats they think Coakley's going to lose.

Now, there may be some hyperbole in that. It may be about scaring the base, you know, turnout, if she's going down. But the way I'm hearing it is that there is real genuine fear inside the White House that she is going to lose. That's going to have dramatic implications, not just on health care but beyond.

In my opinion, the 2nd bolded section makes it sound like he heard those rumors directly, but the 1st bolded section is more along the lines of the twitter clarification.

So, I am apologizing to Ed for accusing him of lying. I think he is peddling unreliable rumors to help the GOP, but I have no proof he is lying.

And I apologize to the community for not being more accurate in my original diary. I am very embarrassed.

Please go here for more.

UPDATE (H/t: SeattleDan):

Ed Henryis now "clarifying" his lies on twitter:

@BLESSEDROSS to be clear, obama advisers themselves did NOT tell me Coakley will lose. CNN is reporting the obama advisers told other Dems

Ed is getting hammered for reporting unsourced rumors.

UPDATE: A fellow tweeter said this was misinformation given out by CNN's Ed Henry. Anyone have more?

The post below could help to explain this:

White House looks at bypassing another Senate health care vote if Democrats lose Massachusetts seat.

Just as President Obama gives a rousing speech, and just as there are rumbles of Brown's momentum leveling off, and just as there is an uptick in Coakley support, we get this:

Multiple advisers to President Obama "have privately told party officials that they believe" Martha Coakley (D) is going to lose Tuesday's special election to fill the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, several sources told CNN.

"The sources added that the advisers are still hopeful that Obama's visit to Massachusetts on Sunday -- coupled with a late push by Democratic activists -- could help Coakley pull out a narrow victory in an increasingly tight race against Scott Brown (R). However, the presidential advisers have grown increasingly pessimistic in the last three days about Coakley's chances after a series of missteps by the candidate, sources said."

And they let that leak out? Not exactly helpful to their candidate.