Dodd: Thought of Scott Brown blocking health reform 'sickens'

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that it "sickens" him that Massachusetts GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown could block healthcare reform if elected.

Dodd, a longtime friend and ally of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), blasted the Republican candidate to permanently fill Kennedy's seat over Brown's stance against the health bill before Congress.

"Health care was the cause of my friend Ted Kennedy's life," Dodd said in a fundraising letter for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). 

"So it sickens me that the Republican running to take Ted's place is vowing to be the 41st vote to kill health care reform," Dodd added.

Brown has made health reform a centerpiece of his underdog Senate campaign. If elected and sworn in quickly enough, Brown could give Republicans 41 seats in the Senate, conceivably enough to sustain a filibuster against the health bill if the GOP sticks together.

"This seat represents more than Ted's progressive legacy. This seat is the tipping point between a Senate that can pass President Obama's agenda, and one frozen into inaction by Republican obstruction," Dodd said. "Scott Brown is the face of that obstruction, and that's why we must help Martha."