Deeds Coakley was just a terrible candidate and committed political malpractice.
Deeds Coakley was given bad advice.
Deeds Coakley didn’t take the help the President offered until it was too late.
Deeds Coakley didn’t ask for advice from the people who really know Virginia Massachusetts.
McDonnell Brown was simply the better campaigner.
Don’t overinterpret the results.
It’s not a referendum on the President.
The defeat won’t stop us from doing what’s right for the people.
Sound familiar?
Most of the charges made about the campaigns are generally accurate.
But these interpretations tend to omit one major point:
Public reaction to the Congress and to the issue positions of the Obama administration is making Democrats vulnerable across the nation, even in Blue strongholds.
In 2o10, Democrats cannot rely on the “natural lean” of the voters to win elections, even in Massachusetts.
Democratic candidates in the states have to negotiate a far more precarious terrain, one that has become increasingly unstable because of the public response to activities in Washington.
The results in New Jersey, Virginia, and now Massachusetts indicate that the Democrats have yet to figure out how to win on the altered political landscape.
Blaming Deeds, Coakley, whomever doesn’t solve the problem.
The Republicans may have peaked too soon. The Democrats may actually wake up after losing two governorships and one US Senate seat (Teddy Kennedy’s old seat to boot). There have also been some high level decisions not to seek reelection in 2010.
What can the Democrats do to save themselves in 2010?
1. Drop health care. Just let it fizzle out. Then, pretend it never happened. If pushed into a corner - declare the whole event just a senatorial caucus, nothing more. Just a study project. Act surprised if anyone makes a big deal out of it.
2. Take up financial regulation. Focus on the fat cats from Wall Street - you know, Obama’s biggest campaign contributers. Make them the villains of this poor economy. Trump up some charges against somebody. Get them on the news doing the perp walk.
3. Withdraw the troops from Iraq. Just pull them out. Claim that you have ended “Bush’s illegal war”. Try not to mention Afghanistan. Then, after the mid term elections, send the troops back into Iraq.
4. Shut down Gitmo. Use this as a bargaining chip. Normalize relations and demand a 10 year exclusive for the United States to sell Cuba everything it imports. Call it a jobs program.
5. Print more money and rebuild Port Au Prince with the freshly printed bucks. Demand that they buy everything they import from the United States for the next 25 years in lieu of interest on the rebuilding loan. Call it a jobs program.
6. Expedite the approval process for new nuclear plants. Declare that you have solved the carbon problem without new taxes or raising the cost of electricity. Tell your wholly owned subsidiaries - GM and Chrysler to manufacture only electric cars. Put a 400% tax on gasoline. Declare that we have solved the problem of importing Middle East coal. Sell off the stakes in GM and Chrysler at a huge profit (based on their electric car business). Declare yourselves to be brilliant financial operators.
7. Sell Alaska to the Chinese. Sell Maine to the Canadians. Use the proceeds to pay down the debt. Break out the old 48 star flags. They looked better than the 50 star flags anyway. Have Michelle wear a 48 star flag dress to celebrate this giant step forward in flag fashion.
“The people have spoken, the bastards!”
California State Senate candidate Dick Tuck, in his 1966 concession speech. BKD
yep, the National Dems lost that Senate race in MA..
people are really, really angry. people in Kenbridge get it–why don’t those “smart” people in Washington?
Laughed out loud when I read this, Bob.
Democrats now fear and Republicans hope that the Massachusetts result may be a harbinger of what happened in 1994, when Bill Clinton was massively rebuffed in the mid-term Congressional elections, during his second year in the White House. Will November 2010 be a repetition of 1994? It would be unwise to put too much money on that possibility.
Appreciate your pointing out the obvious, Bob. Blame the candidate. Blame the weather. Blame the dog. This seems to be a growing pattern of the D leadership.
And no, the upcoming 2010 election is not going to be a repeat of 1994 or 2008. Why! Because we unaffilliated voters are sick to death of sending our representatives to Washington who once there, forget they serve the people and not the private clubs.
The sooner D’s and R’s stop ridiculing those of us in the center who happen to think the entire healthcare debacle stinks to high heaven, the trillions spent via TARP, Chitmulus Package only to line Obama’s donors pockets and so much more is why nearly 70% of unaffilliated voters supported Scott. Hell, even 23% of the D’s did as well!
Last night’s win is a turning point in the middle’s fight to kick the lifer’s out of office and to rid ourselves of one party rule. This is just the beginning…
I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes talking with Creigh Deeds last night at a very laid back reception for the GA. He was relaxed and seemed to be still decompressing from the campaign trail. I was reminded, while we visited, that Creigh is a very decent person who speaks from the heart and seems quit “over” having to play the the part of candidate Deeds (BS artist). Yea Deeds made plenty of campaign mis-steps and no he should never have mentioned “increased taxes” but he at least said something he believed in. The campaign political playbook continues to seem like a stage for a story teller and not a political activist. Embellishment, exaggeration, imagination are good for the candidate but all must be put aside once the title of candidate changes to elected official. At least the make believe stuff needs to go away. After listening to Governor McDonnell’s speech to the GA last night I was clear that this was the last speech of the honeymoon. Gov, McDonnell plans to fund education and fund the Virginia film office and create jobs. He will bring real change to Virginia and pretend that offshore drilling will boost the economy on his watch all the while addressing transportation etc. This is where candidate McDonnell will have to convince the GA that he can move from telling a story to finding the money to put gas in his tank. Talking to the ex-candidate was refreshing.