Brown didn't "win" that election. Coakley LOST it.

[RBInMaine]

She and her team pissed it away, and the blame and buck stops right there. For a special election she got 46% of the vote and won the liberal "base" which turned out in decent numbers for an off-cycle vote. So this argument that the "base" didn't come out....blah blah blah....because of Rahm Emanuel and too much corporatism....blah blah blah....and all that is horsehockey. Here is why Coakley lost, plain and simple:

1) She didn't define herself, the election, and her opponent: BAD campaign.

2) She didn't get out and press the flesh all over the state with enthusiasm: BAD campaign.

3) She had no real coherent theme, or narrative, to MOTIVATE people to WANT to vote for her: BAD campaign.

4) She took it entirely for granted: BAD campaign.

5) She was flat and impersonal: BAD campaign.

6) She sat on her hands while Brown campaigned: BAD campaign.

7) She gaffed incessantly: BAD campaign.

8) She totally misread an electorate full of economic angst: BAD campaign.

9) She failed to appeal BEYOND the "base" which MUST be done to win statewide elections:BAD campaign.

10) She ran a BAD campaign.

No others to blame. No sour grapes. We live and we learn and we go on. I donated to her three times and phonebanked for her from out of state. She is a good person and a good Attorney General. But she is a very, very BAD campaigner.

[marylanddem]

1. Sorry. Brown won.

[RBInMaine]

3. Yes, because Coakley ran a BAD campaign. THAT is the point.

[ShortnFiery]

2. Yes, God Bless Rationalization.

:eyes:

[robcon]

4. Brown won.

Coakley made mistakes, but there is no doubt that Independents in MA went for Brown.

[RBInMaine]

5. Exactly what I said. She COULD have won though with a non-CRAPPY campaign.

[WyldRogue]

9. My friend in MA told me..

...that a lot of Dems just were not fired up for Coakley and found it hypocritical that Obama wanted them to get fired up and vote for his candidate when his Administration itself made everyone feel irrelevant for almost a year. It was the 'got to have bipartisan' mantra that lost a lot of people.

Some are waiting to hear WHY it was so important to have the party that screwed the country have a say so in policies that were SUPPOSED to HELP people?

All I know is the Democratic Party dropped the ball bigtime and lost the bluest seat imaginable.

1/3 is Coakley's fault, 1/3 is the Democratic Party's fault and 1/3 of the Democratic Leadership's fault (Obama, Pelosi, Reid) We had no leaders, just capitulation machines that allowed the GOP to turn things back on the Democratic Party. The smokescreen must come down and the blinders have to be removed. If the Democratic Leadership doesn't want to take charge and lead, then like the saying goes, they need to step out of the way.

As a side note: I found it disgusting that Brown ran as the 'agent of change'. Guess he made a ton of intelligent folk look like dumb-asses.

The GOP may have won the battle but can they win the war? Come on Dem Leadership!! Roll up your god damn sleeves and make us proud by working to help the little people and by not giving any more quarter to a party that is playing everyone for fools.

[Laelth]

10. +1

Blaming independents is the surest way for us to not learn from our mistakes.

Firing up the base (and actually doing something for the base when in power) is the way to win elections.

More here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Laelth/41

:dem:

-Laelth

[RBInMaine]

12. HOGWASH ! She and her people sat on their asses. Stop the childish buck passing.

[WyldRogue]

14. Buck passing??

Wow. I did not stop the buck at any 1 person, it went all the way to all parties responsible. You are passing the buck to just 1 entity while ignoring the fact that the others were just at fault. It's childish to NOT take responsibility and all 3 I have stated are doing the blame game towards each other and so my buck goes to 3 entities, yours to only 1. So I am passing the buck all around, you're making it stop in 1 place...

Hows this for you:

From Martin Luther King

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

For Congress and the President

Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.

Maybe now we can wage the good fight IF the Democratic Leadership will fight.

[uponit7771]

21. That's what happens if you go on vacation during a special election!!

[treestar]

6. He made 66 appearances while she made 19!

She deserves never to hold elected office again.

[dkf]

7. Coakley should have ran on kicking congress butt on jobs

[Kdillard]

8. That is pretty much what the polls showed and exactly what I have gathered from information

Surrounding her campaign.

[depakid]

11. There's a whole lot more to it than that

and if the Democratic leadership doesn't get a clue- and soon, they're in for a repeat performance in November on a much larger scale.

[RBInMaine]

13. BULLSHIT ! Quit passing the buck. She fucked it up. Period.

[WyldRogue]

15. See how easy it is..

... to just hold one entity to blame while allowing the rest to have a free pass?

[Irish_shark]

16. Um. When you lose, your opponent wins

Just saying.

[KingFlorez]

17. Right, any fool can win a seat when running against a crappy candidate

It isn't exactly impressive.

[Tailormyst]

18. She also switched positions on HCR after the primary

That turned alot of people towards Brown.

[Jersey Devil]

19. Well, you're in the trees but you can't see the forest

Kinda like Obama and Harry:


"Where is the damned forest? Them trees are blocking everything!"

[uponit7771]

20. ******COAKLEY LITERALLY WENT ON VACATION DURING A SPECIAL ELECTION WITHOUT DAILY TRACKING!!*****

[WyldRogue]

23. Then why didn't...

.... THE BIG INTELLIGENT DEMOCRATIC LEADERS,POLLSTERS,STRATEGISTS,EC ETC ETC SOUND THE ALARM?

Nope, EVERYONE dropped the ball on this special election. Took the seat for granted and that they could parade Obama in MA (it felt embarrassing to me to see Obama used like that) to 'get people fired up and flock to vote for more of the same (not my reasoning but friends' feelings in MA). A lot of people did not go out yesterday to vote because they were not 'fired up'. The teabaggers were and it showed in the polls. The tipping points were the Indie votes which sadly, the Dem Leaderships also ignored.

The buck STOPS on everyone from the top (admin) all the way down to We the People. However, there are some on this board laying blame in singular terms? :shrug:

[Jersey Devil]

22. Too many people wearing blinders in this string

If Obama and the Dem Congress produced something tangible after one year (jobs, deficit reduction, health care reform, end of any of our wars, you pick it) then Harry the Horse could have won in MA as a Democrat even if he/she thought Pedro Martinez was a Yankee.

But they did nothing, unless you are counting attempted rim jobs on worthless douchebags like Lieberman, Baucus, Ben Nelson or Snowe as accomplishments.

[Kingofalldems]

24. How long does he get to serve?

[QC]

25. Does that mean Brown won't get to vote in the Senate? n/t