A lesson Martha Coakley learned too late

[del]

“All politics is local” was Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase. And for years now many Democrats, especially in Massachusetts, have tried to ride the strength of this feel-good slogan into elected office, repeating it ad nauseam.

The problem is that most people actually believe that Tip O’Neill was giving advice on how to govern. Actually, it was only advice on how to campaign.

In 1936, Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council. He campaigned everywhere except in the neighborhood where he was born and raised simply because he assumed that he already had those votes in the bag.

After O’Neill lost the race, he reviewed the vote totals by precinct and discovered that he had actually done worse in his own neighborhood. “People like to be asked,” a neighbor lady explained to him.

O’Neill never made that mistake again, and he never lost another election.

 

[xotoxi]

“All politics is local” was Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase. And for years now many Democrats, especially in Massachusetts, have tried to ride the strength of this feel-good slogan into elected office, repeating it ad nauseam.

The problem is that most people actually believe that Tip O’Neill was giving advice on how to govern. Actually, it was only advice on how to campaign.

In 1936, Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council. He campaigned everywhere except in the neighborhood where he was born and raised simply because he assumed that he already had those votes in the bag.

After O’Neill lost the race, he reviewed the vote totals by precinct and discovered that he had actually done worse in his own neighborhood. “People like to be asked,” a neighbor lady explained to him.

O’Neill never made that mistake again, and he never lost another election.

Are you saying that if Coakley had campaigned in Tip O'Neill's neighborhood, she would have won?

 

[del]

“All politics is local” was Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase. And for years now many Democrats, especially in Massachusetts, have tried to ride the strength of this feel-good slogan into elected office, repeating it ad nauseam.

The problem is that most people actually believe that Tip O’Neill was giving advice on how to govern. Actually, it was only advice on how to campaign.

In 1936, Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council. He campaigned everywhere except in the neighborhood where he was born and raised simply because he assumed that he already had those votes in the bag.

After O’Neill lost the race, he reviewed the vote totals by precinct and discovered that he had actually done worse in his own neighborhood. “People like to be asked,” a neighbor lady explained to him.

O’Neill never made that mistake again, and he never lost another election.

Are you saying that if Coakley had campaigned in Tip O'Neill's neighborhood, she would have won?

no, i'm saying she should move to cambridge and run for city council.

 

[xotoxi]

“All politics is local” was Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase. And for years now many Democrats, especially in Massachusetts, have tried to ride the strength of this feel-good slogan into elected office, repeating it ad nauseam.

The problem is that most people actually believe that Tip O’Neill was giving advice on how to govern. Actually, it was only advice on how to campaign.

In 1936, Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council. He campaigned everywhere except in the neighborhood where he was born and raised simply because he assumed that he already had those votes in the bag.

After O’Neill lost the race, he reviewed the vote totals by precinct and discovered that he had actually done worse in his own neighborhood. “People like to be asked,” a neighbor lady explained to him.

O’Neill never made that mistake again, and he never lost another election.

Are you saying that if Coakley had campaigned in Tip O'Neill's neighborhood, she would have won?

no, i'm saying she should move to cambridge and run for city council.

But she wasn't born there.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Boy,the Liberals really are throwing this poor woman under the bus. I don't think i've ever seen a party throw one of their own under the bus this way. I actually feel bad for the woman. She ran a poor campaign but don't underestimate what a great campaign Scott Brown ran. He ran some of the best campaign ads i have ever seen. They really were pretty moving. All the Liberals could come up with was making fun of the guy's truck. So go ahead and throw Coakley under the bus but give Scott Brown the credit he deserves as well.

 

[del]

Boy,the Liberals really are throwing this poor woman under the bus. I don't think i've ever seen a party throw one of their own under the bus this way. I actually feel bad for the woman. She ran a poor campaign but don't underestimate what a great campaign Scott Brown ran. He ran some of the best campaign ads i have ever seen. They really were pretty moving. All the Liberals could come up with was making fun of the guy's truck. So go ahead and throw Coakley under the bus but give Scott Brown the credit he deserves as well.

i did better than give him credit; i gave him time and my vote. my point is that martha felt that campaigning in the flesh was beneath her and that's the main reason she lost.

sure, health care, obama etc played into it, but bottom line is she ran an absolutely horrible campaign.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Let's not try to say Scott Brown won only because Coakley ran a poor campaign. Let's call it what it really was - a message to Washington and hopefully a new beginning towards responsible politics by the Congressmen.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

 

[Some Guy]

If Obama-care doesn't pass now, it'll be Coakley's fault. Not Obama's, Reid's, Pelosi's... nope, because they are all perfect.

 

[del]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

there's no doubt scott ran an excellent campaign. my point is that martha blew it by acting like it was a given that she'd be elected. as tip pointed out, people like to be asked and she didn't ask until it was waaaaay too late.

 

[Xenophon]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

there's no doubt scott ran an excellent campaign. my point is that martha blew it by acting like it was a given that she'd be elected. as tip pointed out, people like to be asked and she didn't ask until it was waaaaay too late.

I'd like to point out that she would have lost anyway.

For all her gaffs, things didn't really go south for her until barry & friends started the healthcare follies.

It appears every loss is now never about barry but always about some error by the loser.

 

[xsited1]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iddquwGpXM0]YouTube - Different People, Same Message[/ame]

 

[Annie]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

there's no doubt scott ran an excellent campaign. my point is that martha blew it by acting like it was a given that she'd be elected. as tip pointed out, people like to be asked and she didn't ask until it was waaaaay too late.

I'd like to point out that she would have lost anyway.

For all her gaffs, things didn't really go south for her until barry & friends started the healthcare follies.

It appears every loss is now never about barry but always about some error by the loser.

I have to agree. Her campaign got caught up in the Christmas follies, when they thought they could push healthcare through before New Year's. The back room deals were just too much. If she had come out against the deals, while still pushing for health care, might have been a different story. Of course, that wasn't her 'only problem.'

 

[del]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

there's no doubt scott ran an excellent campaign. my point is that martha blew it by acting like it was a given that she'd be elected. as tip pointed out, people like to be asked and she didn't ask until it was waaaaay too late.

I'd like to point out that she would have lost anyway.

For all her gaffs, things didn't really go south for her until barry & friends started the healthcare follies.

It appears every loss is now never about barry but always about some error by the loser.

there's no question she ran the worst campaign i've ever seen, but health care was a huge reason brown won. just about every coakley attack ad that the out of staters ran started with "scott brown has sworn to be the 41st vote against health care" and i swear that got out more votes for brown than almost anything else.

thanks, SEIU

for the first time in my adult life i'm proud to say i'm from massachusett(e)s.

 

[drsmith1072]

“All politics is local” was Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase. And for years now many Democrats, especially in Massachusetts, have tried to ride the strength of this feel-good slogan into elected office, repeating it ad nauseam.

The problem is that most people actually believe that Tip O’Neill was giving advice on how to govern. Actually, it was only advice on how to campaign.

In 1936, Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council. He campaigned everywhere except in the neighborhood where he was born and raised simply because he assumed that he already had those votes in the bag.

After O’Neill lost the race, he reviewed the vote totals by precinct and discovered that he had actually done worse in his own neighborhood. “People like to be asked,” a neighbor lady explained to him.

O’Neill never made that mistake again, and he never lost another election.

Nice cut and paste. However, it seems to me that her problem wasn't her campaign style. Instead it was that she hadn't really campaigned since she won the primary. In her absense her opponent defined her and himself. Then with no voice to counter that representation until the last week before the election most voters stuck with that definition and voted based on that.

The problem was that she thought she had it in the bag and stood there as her opponent threw punch after punch while making fun of standing in front of fenway park and actually campaigning. She didn't seem to realize she was behind and start trying to fight back until it was too late.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I really did like the ads he ran. Very few campaign ads can move me. A couple of his ads managed to move me. I agree that Coakley did run a lame campaign but Scott Brown also ran a brilliant campaign. A Liberal running for that seat shouldn't have had to run a brilliant campaign to win. It should have been a gimme. The Liberal running a bad campaign does not guarantee the Conservative Republican would win that seat. It's definitely more than that. Hey just my take anyway.

there's no doubt scott ran an excellent campaign. my point is that martha blew it by acting like it was a given that she'd be elected. as tip pointed out, people like to be asked and she didn't ask until it was waaaaay too late.

I think it's that good old Democratic attitude that blew up in her face. It just doesn't seem to be working like it has in the past.

 

[Zander]

Coakley lost when Obama showed up and started making fun of Brown's truck. She was on thin ice anyway, but once Obama stepped onto the ice with his gigantic ego it was all over......

Martha's a decent woman. She won her last election with 73% of the vote.

 

[drsmith1072]

Coakley lost when Obama showed up and started making fun of Brown's truck. She was on thin ice anyway, but once Obama stepped onto the ice with his gigantic ego it was all over......

Martha's a decent woman. She won her last election with 73% of the vote.

Really?? According to the polls, wasn't she already behind BEFORE obama showed up?? How can you honestly blame obama for her loss when she was behind BEFORE he got there?

Do you blame obama for the earthquake in haiti too?? LOL

 

[Zander]

Coakley lost when Obama showed up and started making fun of Brown's truck. She was on thin ice anyway, but once Obama stepped onto the ice with his gigantic ego it was all over......

Martha's a decent woman. She won her last election with 73% of the vote.

Really?? According to the polls, wasn't she already behind BEFORE obama showed up?? How can you honestly blame obama for her loss when she was behind BEFORE he got there?

Do you blame obama for the earthquake in haiti too?? LOL

Did Obama visit Haiti and campaign for an earthquake? I don't blame Obama entirely, but I do blame his policies. This election was a referendum on his agenda and the voters of Massachusetts have rejected it, soundly.

Obama visited Massachusetts and campaigned for Coakley two days before the election. Coakley fell even further behind in the polls immediately afterward. He did the same in New Jersey, visiting 3 times and campaigning for Corzine, and twice in Virginia for Deeds. Both candidates lost ground after his visits.

Obama is personally popular but his policies aren't. He actually has negative coattails. It is amazing.

 

[drsmith1072]

Coakley lost when Obama showed up and started making fun of Brown's truck. She was on thin ice anyway, but once Obama stepped onto the ice with his gigantic ego it was all over......

Martha's a decent woman. She won her last election with 73% of the vote.

Really?? According to the polls, wasn't she already behind BEFORE obama showed up?? How can you honestly blame obama for her loss when she was behind BEFORE he got there?

Do you blame obama for the earthquake in haiti too?? LOL

Did Obama visit Haiti and campaign for an earthquake? I don't blame Obama entirely, but I do blame his policies. This election was a referendum on his agenda and the voters of Massachusetts have rejected it, soundly.

Obama visited Massachusetts and campaigned for Coakley two days before the election. Coakley fell even further behind in the polls immediately afterward. He did the same in New Jersey, visiting 3 times and campaigning for Corzine, and twice in Virginia for Deeds. Both candidates lost ground after his visits.

Obama is personally popular but his policies aren't. He actually has negative coattails. It is amazing.

The earthquake, coakley's campaign, had already caused the destruction and then obama comes in to offer assistance and you blame him for the aftershocks, coakley losing because she ran a horrible campaign and made herself appear "out of touch" and "elitist"

Furthermore, can you show a real link between obama's visit and her decline or are your assumptions all you have to offer. Couldn't her continued slide merely be a continuation of the trend that her ineptitude had already caused??

Oh and you did blame obama entirely and I quote, "Coakley lost when Obama showed up and started making fun of Brown's truck." You blamed HIM not his policies but nice attempt to spin. lol