Alex Sink: meet the mirror. You lost because of YOU, and your state party

[Pirate Smile]

(edited for copyright-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

Alex Sink: meet the mirror. You lost because of YOU, and your state party



I wasn’t going to do any more retrospectives on the 2010 election, because I’m already on to the business of how we progressives move forward. But if there’s one thing I hate in politics, it’s people pointing the finger at everyone other than themselves when they lose. President Obama is catching hell from some of his base for capitulating to a barrage of reporters’ demanding that he take responsibility for the beating Democrats took on November 2nd, but at least he manned up. Alex Sink on the other hand, thinks she lost the Florida governor’s race because of … Barack Obama. Madame, please.

Ms. Sink, who lost the Florida governor’s race by 61,966, and a razor-thin 48.87 percent to 47.71 margin to near-felon Rick Scott, turned to the Ronald Reagan Library legacy folks at Politico to vent her spleen, and to point a finger at the White House for her troubles. So let’s dig into her argument, and splash a little truthiness on it.
First up, Sink’s summary judgment, in which we’re seeing the first draft of Florida’s Democratic political machinery’s attempt to alter history in order to evade responsibility for the colossal failure that took place on November 2nd.

-snip-
Ahem.
So, smarty-pants blogger, if it wasn’t the president’s handling of the Gulf oil spill, and it wasn’t “Obamacare,” could Alex Sink’s fortunes have been torched by Obama himself? I mean, Glenn Beck tells me he’s out to destroy the country, state by state…
Indeed, the president’s approval rating in Florida is under water — 45 percent to 54 percent, per the vaunted exit polls. And more voters — 34 percent — said they were voting to send a message of disapproval to the president than to show support — 24 percent. But was that enough to take Miss Alex down? Let’s examine the numbers.
For starters, the largest share of voters — 40 percent — said Obama was a non-factor in their vote this year. What mattered more was who turned out (and who didn’t.)

-snip-
Conclusion (finally)

Unforced errors like that, and textgate, and Sink’s failure for the first two thirds of her campaign to run as a woman (so much so that late in the game, some people still weren’t clear on that), or to capitalize on the pent-up Hillary Clinton support in the state, or to do retail campaigning for month after agonizing month in the early days of the campaign, even though liberal donors and supporters around the state were literally screaming for her presence; or to use Rod Smith (who allegedly exists, though I can’t verify it) or to pick a running mate with a strong point of difference from herself, or to wear some damned lipstick and stop coming across like the town librarian, or to get some TV and debate training, or in short, to do any number of things that could have gotten her those 62,000 votes, scar this campaign from beginning to end.

-snip-

http://blog.reidreport.com/2010/11/alex-sink-meet-the-mirror-you-lost-because-of-you-and-your-state-party/

[AtomicKitten]

1. "Oddly enough ..."

Sink Blames Loss on Obama White House:
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/06/sink-blames-loss-on-obama-white-house/

Oddly enough, Sink doesn’t mention the fact that the DNC and Obama’s organizing wing OFA poured resources into Florida on her behalf to keep her competitive with Scott. Sink also neglects to mention that she had leads in polls in the final days of the election until she got caught cheating in a debate — and then lied about it. That didn’t do anything for her relationship to Florida voters, either.

[flamingdem]

7. Just a note about the cheating at the debate

I watched it and it really was minor. An aide came over to her with a cell phone message and it was a meaningless message and an error but the media blew it up sky high. It was not intentional on her part at all.

I'm sorry she lost, Scott is a nightmare. Clearly she should not dump on OFA, guess she has no plans for running again as a Dem.

[AtomicKitten]

9. Cheating is a harsh commentary, but it really was a dumb mistake:

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/10/26/video-sink-cheats-during-fl-gubernatorial-debate/

After the debate, the Sink campaign released a statement from the candidate announcing that the advisor who sent the message has been removed from the campaign. The advisor was not named in the statement, but a campaign spokesman confirmed it is Brian May, who signed the rules agreement before the debate on behalf of the Sink campaign.

“After the debate tonight, one of my campaign advisors admitted he tried to communicate with me during one of the breaks,” Sink said.

“While he told me it was out of anger with Rick Scott’s repeated distortion of facts, it was a foolish thing to do. It violated a debate agreement and I immediately removed him from the campaign."

[flamingdem]

12. That guy was the idiot though, but not Sink

.. the Republican pushing media went haywire with it, it was a top story on CNN and MSNBC. That was over the top and damaged her by painting her as a cheater, ridiculous since she was up against a real criminal who pleaded the fifth 75 times!

I wish she'd focus on how she was unfairly smeared with that rather than blame OFA.

[Brandlon]

17. She not only got caught cheating, but

she also got caught lying.

She went on Hardball and explained what happened, but it wasn't the truth. CNN had all the visual and audio of the debate on hand and they told exactly what happened. The make-up artist approached Sink and stated that she there was a message from her staff. So she knew it wasn't from her daughter. Also, CNN exposed the two sentences of text that were there.

Too bad, because she was leading in the race, but by a narrow margin, and most people agree that this was the turning point.

The cheat and then the lie. I thought she was going to win so I was surprised that this happened.

First the cheat. Posted above.

Then the lie on Hardball - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIInIV6uPgs

CNN exposing the lie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_NDEs2WSnE

[ClarkUSA]

2. What a lying whiner. The DNC and OFA poured resources into Florida. Here are the facts.

"Oddly enough, Sink doesn’t mention the fact that the DNC and Obama’s organizing wing OFA poured resources into Florida on her behalf to keep her competitive with Scott. Sink also neglects to mention that she had leads in polls in the final days of the election until she got caught cheating in a debate — and then lied about it. That didn’t do anything for her relationship to Florida voters, either."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=511884&mesg_id=512154

[karynnj]

3. Nice article - but you are violating copywrite law by posting that much

One thing that seemed to hurt for was her STUPID reading her blackberry in the break of the debate - against the rules - and then offering completely silly excuses. (Also the call was from her campaign - so they were stupid and unethical too. Until then most people thought she would win.

She sure can't have been doing that much campaigning if some did not know she was a woman - but let's kill this idiotic idea that women running is likely to get Hillary supporters - it is a disservice to Hillary.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. please edit down to 4 paragraphs. thanks nt

[golfguru]

5. Cut her a little slack

After putting a Herculean effort in the election not to mention giving up her previous position has to be very painful. Most losing candidates never say they are themselves to blame for the loss. It is always somebody or something else.

In the end it is always the candidate herself who is most responsible for the loss. Good example is the election in Massachusetts for senator. Brown was a very good campaigner while Coakley just coasted, expecting easy win.

[ProSense]

6. Interesting.

From the Politico snip: "doesn’t appreciate the political damage done by healthcare reform "

From the OP: "To be sure, exit polls showed that four in 10 Floridians disapprove of healthcare reform."

Exit polls:

On the question of President Barack Obama's job performance, 54 percent said they disapproved, while 45 percent approved. On Obama's signature health care law, a majority want it either expanded (30 percent) or left as it is (19 percent). About 44 percent of voters said it should be repealed.

link

[HockeyMom]

8. Rick Scott Naples "Businessman"

who has lived here all of 7 years. WHAT has he done for Naples? What is the economy like in Naples? The unemployment rate here is 12%. What INDUSTRY is there here? SEASON!!!!!! Naples EXISTS for SEASON; as in low wage, SERVICE jobs. There is NO industry here. Health care is probably second to the snowbirds economy. Watch local news and all you see are this doctor and that doctor advertising there "services". Are THOSE the jobs Scott plans to bring to Floreduh? Duh? Well, with my new school district insurance with a $3,000 deductible I will be on my deathbed before I see a doctor for any routine care. How many times do SNOWBIRDS visit doctors while down here for the winter?

Cluessless people in Florida. I am outta here in June. BTW, I am 62 and it would be my worst nightmare to have to spend my "golden years" in this horrible, SWELTERING state.

[BlueJazz]

11. I agree....also.. The real reason She lost the race is because 48 percent of..

..Floridians are about as smart as a beach towel and would rather elect a Criminal than a Democrat.

[madmax]

21. Good rant.. Florida is very unpredictable, to say the least. nt

[Pab Sungenis]

10. It also didn't help that she ran away from the Democrats' accomplishments

by pushing for health-care repeal and the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

[Phx_Dem]

13. Seriously. If anyone wants to know why she lost, simply read her

pathetic statement trying to blame everyone else for her own loss. WHich, by the way, makes no sense at all. I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen to me on health care and the BP spill, so I lost. WTF?

Now, I'm kinda glad you lost.

[FBaggins]

14. The REAL reason she lost

is up to anyone's judgement because the race was so tight. You can come up with 20 reasons why Gore lost (IF you think he lost) because it was so close that any little thing could have made the difference.

One thing that certainly played a role was Democratic support for Charlie Crist... which caused that race to cease to even be competitive so some Dems didn't even show up.

There are also moderate republicans who would not have turned out in a Rubio-Meek race - and thus wouldn't have been there to vote against Sink.

[JCMach1]

15. the Florida Democratic Party is useless in the best of circumstances

she should have known that. For example, if Bill Nelson runs again, he will completely setup his own structure for re-election outside of the FDP.

[Awsi Dooger]

16. Florida Democratic operations now remind me of Nevada in 2006 and prior

I split time between the two states. Nevada Democrats used to chase impossible votes in the cow counties. Dina Titus bemoaned that after her 4 point loss to buffoon Jim Gibbons in the 2006 gov race. That cycle taught Democrats to sophisticate and expand GOTV in areas where votes actually were, and friendly ones.

Voter out reach in Nevada now is actually annoying in its persistence, but no denying the results. Even Titus nearly survived in NV-3, losing by 1 point with some projections placing the likelihood 5 or higher. The rag Las Vegas Review Journal predicted Heck by 10.

I was in Miami most of this fall. I saw my dad's mail every time I visited. He's as liberal as they come and received very little contact. Mostly he mentioned frequent calls from right wing surveys, and his joy in keeping them on the line and disagreeing with every slanted question.

Many factors worked against Sink but I'm convinced she would have prevailed minus the CNN debacle.

If MSNBC had ignored Christine O'Donnell and that guaranteed outcome long enough to take a proper focus on Rick Scott, Sink may have been able to afford the debate gaffe. I couldn't believe Scott was allowed to stay under the radar nationally.

Most unforced error of this cycle, and not by a small margin.

[JCMach1]

18. I am afraid you are right about the phone incident... in such a tight race it may have made a

difference...

[Scurrilous]

19. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Mass]

20. The mudslinging on both sides is surely going to help us.

:sarcasm:

Everybody has its part of blame in losses like that, and it is very petty of people (candidates or supporters) to refuse to acknowledge their part (and definitively not useful).