Tuesday morning roundup.

I have a feeling this is going to be a big day for candidate news, so I am firing off the links without much of an intro today.

--A series of candidate focused articles continues in today's Globe, as Jonathan Saltzman profiles Martha Coakley.  The piece discusses her career path, the Big Dig case, and what many friends and family members viewed as her political destiny.  Some interesting tidbits: Martha Coakley loves Broadway musicals, and pens witty poems for employees when they leave her office.  Now that's something I didn't know.  Maybe she will write a poem for me when this election is over.

--Nearly three months after his passing, WBUR's Curt Nickisch wonders how Ted Kennedy's shadow has impacted the race for his seat in the Senate.

--In a speech at Harvard yesterday during which he outlined a new approach for Afghanistan, Alan Khazei called for a definitive timetable for removal of U.S. troops, according to the Boston Globe's Matt Viser. Khazei also told Viser that Martha Coakley has "been all over the place" on Afghanistan, a charge her campaign denied.

--It was probably only a matter of time before Steve Pagliuca's record at Bain Capital came under serious attack, but today the Boston Herald's Jessica Van Sack reports that Steve Pagliuca profited $2 million from a health care merger gone bad in the mid 90's, leading to a lawsuit and a $22 million settlement. Also in today's Herald, Hillary Chabot interviewed a laid-off worker from KB Toys, another failed Bain investment. Pagliuca spokesman Will Keyser tells the Herald, "the record of successes he’s [Pagliuca] been involved in far outnumber the failures."

When I asked Pagliuca about Bain's record in my email interview posted last week, he noted:

"I’m not going to pretend that we have a perfect record. We have not been successful in every investment.  But we get it right far more often than not, and I’d be happy to match my record of job creation against any of my opponents in this race."

--The Boston Globe's Alex Beam takes a look at the celebrity star power that has come into play during an endorsement season that has seen everyone from Elisabeth Shue to the Human Torch pick sides.

--Mike Capuano took some swings at Coakley in the Metro West Daily news.  Caps notes that Coakley hasn't agreed to proposed debates on December 1 and December 2 (her campaign responded that she has already agreed to participate in a televised forum on WGBH, Monday, November 23, at 7:00 p.m.), and that she is having others represent her across the state, while he is going everywhere.

--Three of the Democratic candidates (all except Coakley) have also agreed to appear at a candidates forum in Lincoln, MA on Saturday, November 21, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Third Middlesex Senatorial District Democrats, the Fourth Middlesex Senatorial District Democrats and the Greater Lowell Area Democrats, and hosted by the Lincoln Democratic Committee.

--In an interview with the Cape Cod Times, Martha Coakley expressed her support for Cape Wind, noted that she has not approached the Kennedy family for support in the race, and touched on other issues including health care.

--Scott Brown is the subject of NECN's most recent "Meet the Candidates" segment.  I haven't had a chance to watch any of these yet except for Coakley's.  I will try and take some time this weekend to watch them all for new information.



--Last but not least, WBUR's Monica Brady-Myerov did a piece on this blog today.