Washington 60 Seconds: Coakley Should Do WHAT With a Curling Iron?

Good morning, Capitolists! It may be a holiday on the calendar, but all politicos know -- for better or worse -- politics never takes a day off.

Here's what's making news in Washington and a little place called Massachusetts, the state that seems to have the fate of the Obama agenda, health care reform and the future of the Democratic Party in its hot little hands.

* Getting Ugly in the Bay State. If you must look north to watch the latest on the Massachusetts Senate race, avert the children's eyes. The must-must-must-win race to replace Ted Kennedy has taken a turn so nasty, we hesitate to repeat it. But in the interest of keeping Caps up to speed, we'll just say Democrats are breathlessly circulating THIS video, accusing Scott Brown of smiling when a Brown supporter yelled that someone should "shove a curling iron" somewhere Martha Coakley certainly wouldn't want it. Republicans call the charge "bunk," and Ben Smith at Politico reports that Brown's camp says he didn't hear what was said. Stay classy, Bay State.

* George W. Bush Not Loving the Limelight. An interesting clip from yesterday's "Meet the Press" shows that former President Bush may be back in action to help respond to the disaster in Haiti, but he's not enjoying all aspects of it. Bush said to the show's host, David Gregory, "I must confess I really -- I miss you as a person but I don't miss the spotlight."

* Glimmer of Hope for Dems on Abortion Impasse? The Washington Times writes about the impasse between pro-choice and pro-life Democrats over differences in abortion funding language in the health care bill. The sometimes intractable Rep. Bart Stupak offered this unusually hopeful observation on the matter: "We'll get it worked out. We worked it out last time, too." Stupak also predicted that the bill will not go down over the issue.

* Clinton to Haiti. Former President Bill Clinton travels to Haiti today, days after his wife (the secretary of state) went to the devastated country. The Clintons have a long history with Haiti. The Washington Post writes that the Clintons first traveled to the country in 1975 after their wedding, and that it has had "a lifelong allure" for them ever since.

* Shameless Promotion. Have you been reading Walter Shapiro's dispatches about watching cable news television for 12 hours a day while his leg heals from surgery? Walter is an old-school gentleman journalist, whose observations of Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann (a.k.a. his "long national nightmare") are truly priceless. It's "Rear Window" meets "Hannity's America," and is required reading HERE.

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