Coakley campaign adviser points at the Nelson deal as the beginning of their problems,

[Mass]

This was probably leaked earlier than planned because of Axelrod admiring the Brown campaign today, as if we needed that, and is the usual circular finger pointing, with people to CYA but this part of the argument concerning Nelson is in line with what we hear here: Why should we pay taxes for other states to get what we have.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/Coakley_adviser_memo_DC_Dems_faled_Coakley.html?showall

...
The Coakley adviser's memo:

National Dems Failed to Aid Coakley Until Too Late

— Coakley campaign provided national Democrats with all poll results since early December

— Coakley campaign noted concerns about "apathy" and failure of national Democrats to contribute early in December. Coakley campaign noted fundraising concerns throughout December and requested national Democratic help.

— DNC and other Dem organizations did not engage until the week before the election, much too late to aid Coakley operation


Brown Capitalized on Concerns About National Democrats

...

— Coakley's lead dropped significantly after the Senate passed health care reform shortly before Christmas and after the Christmas Eve "bombing" incident. Polling showed significant concerns with the actions of Senator Nelson to hold out for a better deal. Senator Nelson's actions specifically hurt Coakley who was forced to backtrack on her opposition to the abortion restriction amendment.

...


...

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Ya think? eom

[BeyondGeography]

2. She's going to lose in the Battle of Blame; the list of her missteps is long

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/01/19/how-coakley-blew-it-in-massachusetts-.aspx

[Mass]

5. Probably, because the WH and the DSCC have a lot more money and access, but

she is not the only one in fault here. All I am saying is that this criticism is probably very correct.

[elocs]

3. The excuses begin. But remember when you point a finger,

3 are pointing back at you. If Coakley is looking for a legitimate excuse, a mirror would be in order.

[Winterblues]

28. I am sure the Big banks paying Huge bonuses had absolutely nothing to do with anything..

This is the killer. It makes Democrats look like they are more for the Big Bankers than for the common man and I am beginning to believe that is a fact.

[elocs]

31. Yes, giving hundreds of billion$ to big banks. Who woulve thunk it would have pissed off people?

That strategy is an election killer and it makes Democrats look dumber than a bag of hammers for being so out of touch with the regular people, many of whom ordinarily vote Democratic. I think this will be only the beginning.

[JVS]

4. DUH! Nelson is a pigfucker

[marylanddem]

6. She's losing because progressive Democrats are pissed at the atrocity of a

health care "reform" that forces people to buy insurance. And makes a liar of someone we trusted. She's losing because we are sickened at the corporate culture Obama has embraced. I think it will be good if the health care package fails, it's a joke.

[invictus]

8. +1

[cali]

10. so they're voting for Brown?

they're evidently not sitting it out. polls show that he has over twice as many independent voters as she does, and that's in a state where the majority of voters are independent. It looks more like a "Reagan dem" moment than progressive backlash. people wanting jobs- which he's focused on and she hasn't, and lower taxes.

[marylanddem]

14. could be

If I lived in Massachusetts I think I'd probably sit it out, but the opportunity to send a "fuck you" to the corporate dems would be kind of hard to resist. I'm sure Brown is as snakey as other republicans but mostly all the Maryland dems I know are disgusted with Obama.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[marylanddem]

21. Wow, what a clever retort - I didn't realize how superior Vermont dems

were, thanks for informing me.

[Deep13]

27. Well, they did pick Sanders, and Dean. nt

[cali]

29. neither did I until you pointed out what assholes the MD dems you know are.

[BootinUp]

You must have voted for Nader, no?

brilliant strategy.

I'm a little tired of whining "progressives" who don't seem to understand the basics.

[marylanddem]

15. Hell no I didn't vote for Nader.

[jaxx]

11. I'm glad to see you taking ownership of this.

The prospect of killing a long term dem seat must be a heady experience.

[marylanddem]

17. Oh puhleeeze. Yr breaking my heart.

[FLAprogressive]

13. And they're pissed that their fellow Dems nominated yet another machine candidate

[marylanddem]

18. Yep. Good old Dem machine politics.

[cali]

7. Coakley: 19 campaign stops since the primary. Brown: 66

says something, don't you think?

[Mass]

9. Sure, and all the rest. Sorry, but while her campaign was poor, it is not the only issue.

I have no clue whether the other claims (about the DSCC not helping) are true, but I can tell you that the one concerning Nelson is very real.

I find it sad this is coming out today and we could have waited a little longer for the CYA (though it seems to me that many Dems started last week, and this was not too useful either), but I was very PO at Axelrod congratulating Brown this morning as well. Some of us were still trying to help her. May be he could have waited until tomorrow to claim his admiration.

[BeyondGeography]

16. That pisses me off to no end

Tough time for any D to run. The other side gets its right and our candidate is a no-show. Perfect storm.

[blogslut]

12. Why look.

Ben Smith and the Politico pissing in the soup.

[monmouth]

19. Tim Kaine should have been on top of this. He's a disappointment..n/t

[rudy23]

24. Oh, he's on top of it. Why would the Dems want to win in '10?

Losing means:

*Being able to pass corporate legislation and keep donations rolling in (with R's as an excuse)
*No more exhausting "60 votes required" rhetoric
*Obama does not have to figure out 3d Chess moves to satisfy his base and his donors at the same time
*"Bipartisanship" can be achieved with less expectations from Progressives

Winning means:
*A bunch of liberals will expect the Democratic Party to stand up to Corporate lobbyists & the Military Industrial Complex.

Either they will win a bloody hard-fought victory there, and kiss their donations goodbye...
Or, they will lose, and look either incompetent, or compromised. What motivation do they have for taking on that fight for the next few years? Because they care?

[monmouth]

26. All points well taken..n/t

[wisteria]

22. She has not lost yet. And, I think Axelrod's comments could have waited. Gosh. n/t

[notesdev]

23. Bad enough we lost the seat

now these morons are going to compound the problem by finger pointing and casting blame.

This evasion of responsibility is a far cry from Truman's "the buck stops here" and is a large part of why we're in this mess in the first place.

[Deep13]

25. Jesus Christ! The polls are still open and turnout has been large.

Can we see if the patient will pull through before beginning the autopsy?

[politicasista]

30. Not giving up hope, but wonder what the campaign

did to reach out to African-American voters?

We shouldn't trust the Times, but one of the bloggers reported that turnout in the AA voting precincts is low, which isn't a good sign. A Jack & Jill Politics blogger reported that he voted, though he said that turnout was the "lowest I can ever remember." (Though he may have voted early in the morning?), but from reading The Bay State Banner (an AA newspaper), they didn't seem thrilled with her?

Wonder if it's missing Uncle Ted has cause them to sit out? Sounds like AA were loyal to him and the Kennedy family. They wouldn't be voting GOP out of protest, considering that Obama still has a strong approval rating among AA.