Lessons for Obama and the Democrats
Attorney General Martha Coakley’s deficiencies as a Senate candidate don’t really explain the magnitude of what swept over her and the Democratic Party on Tuesday. Yes, Republican victor Scott Brown ran a vastly superior campaign, but that doesn’t explain it either.
Instead, what we saw was an outpouring of populist anger. And after a year of futile attempts to reach out to Republicans with compromised bills to stimulate the economy and reform health care, President Obama finds himself on the wrong side of that anger. The lesson he and Democrats need to learn is to embrace the anger rather than trying to defuse it. Otherwise, he’ll end up like Bill Clinton in 1994.
Or so I argue in the Guardian.
Photo (cc) by Mark Sardella and republished here under a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.
Nobody is sitting on a bigger bundle of cash than Brown. The money was pouring in at the end- probably still is- even after there was no TV time left to be bought. Probably has a couple of mil head start on 2012.
@BillH: Just as an example, I detest Bill Delahunt’s politics but I like the guy. One of his daughters is a good friend, despite my politics. When I’m on the South Shore or the Cape and bump into Bill, it’s on a first name basis and then he asks about my family, by name. That means something. On the rare occasion that I call Washington, he responds, even if we disagree. I have held my nose and voted for my friend over inferior Republican candidates in the past.
Now, Bob Hedlund and Joe Malone consider a run against Delahunt. Both are far more aligned with my politics, but do I vote against the guy who knows my name? Delahunt has worked hard to make me feel that I have a voice down there, even though I can’t remember the last time he voted the way I want on a major issue.
Fish: You vote for who would be the best representative of your views, regardless of friendship, or in your case, acquaintance. Several of my close friends, and close acquaintances, I can only characterize as right wingers for their political views. They seem to be nice, caring people, but their political views escape me. I would vote against them in a flash. That includes a refusal to donate to their campaigns, unlike Steve Pagliuca who donated to Mitt Romney during his campaigns.