Four hours before polls close, Coakley advisor blames White House; Update: DNC official goes nuclear on Coakley camp

I didn’t buy the whispers this morning about a 10-point lead, I didn’t buy the anecdotal reports of Dem GOTV workers being “stunned” by support for Brown within their own base, and I didn’t even really buy the significance of Scotty B trending above 80 on InTrade.

But as a strong signal that things are going badly for “Marcia,” I’ll buy this.

The [Coakley] adviser, who cited internal polling numbers to make the case, emails that, “There’s more to the story than [Coakley's poor campaign]. If Martha is guilty of taking the race for granted, so is the White House, and the DNC.”

The adviser pointed to internal polling to argue that Coakley held a wide — 20 point — lead on December 19, and that the damage she took between that survey and a January 5 Rasmussen poll putting the race at 9 points came from the national scene: The Senate vote on Health Care, with the controversy over Ben Nelson’s deal for Nebraska, and the Christmas Day bombing…

A White House official emails: “It’s a little mind-boggling to see political consultants spin the election before the election is even over. There’s only one reason to do that.”

Indeed, although between (a) Rahm whispering to people about how she and the DSCC ruined everything, (b) Gibbs whining at today’s presser that The One is “not pleased” with how she ran her campaign, and (c) Axelrod wondering aloud in front of reporters this morning why she didn’t ask for national help sooner, this ain’t exactly a preemptive strike from Team Coakley. There must be an awful lot of buzzards circling in those internal polls if they’re seeing them them all the way from the White House. AP pessimism meter check: Unplugged — with the obligatory caveat that if Coakley does somehow pull this out, the disappointment will now be so cataclysmic that we’re all going to need grief counseling.

Follow the Politico link up top for a list of ways that The One’s policies hurt her, starting with growing awareness that voters are going to get slammed in the pocketbook by ObamaCare and cap and trade. Under other circumstances, even as a lackluster candidate, she could have taken Brown apart. She could have been another Barbara Boxer instead of a bum, which is what she is, let’s face it. But in this climate, forced to defend Hopenchange, what happens? Brown gets a trip to D.C. and she gets a one-way ticket to palookaville. It wasn’t her, Barry. It was you.

Update: It’s going to be one awkward scene on the dais if she pulls this out. An anonymous Democratic Party official unloads:

The campaign failed to recognize this threat, failed to keep Coakley on the campaign trail, failed to create a negative narrative about Brown, failed to stay on the air in December while he was running a brilliant campaign. It’s wishful thinking from a pollster, candidate and campaign team that were caught napping and are going to allow one of the worst debacles in American political history to happen on their watch that they are at the 11th hour are going to blame others.

Before the DNC and DSCC got involved there was barely a single piece of paper on what the narrative is on Brown. The candidate in this race and the campaign have been involved in the worst case of political malpractice in memory and they aren’t going to be able to spin themselves out of this with a memo full of lies.

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