Coakley Pollster Defends Campaign Against White House

[IndianaGreen]

Coakley Pollster Defends Campaign Against White House

The blame game is fully underway. A top pollster to Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley told HuffPost on Tuesday that the White House, in attempting to blame the Coakley campaign for a potential defeat today in Massachusetts, underestimates the wave of populist fury among Massachusetts voters.

Pollster Celinda Lake said Coakley was hampered by the failure of the White House and Congress to confront Wall Street. That failure, she said, means that Democrats are being blamed by angry independent voters worried about the state of the economy.

"If Scott Brown wins tonight he'll win because he became the change-oriented candidate. Voters are still voting for the change they voted for in 2008, but they want to see it. And right now they think they've got economic policies for Washington that are delivering more for banks than Main Street."

Asked about reported criticism from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Lake said she had seen the stories. "I think it's a circling squad to protect the White House. I don't think it's very useful," she said, mixing a metaphor while getting across a clear message.

Lake said that the problem for Democrats is that voters are blaming them for the nation's poor economic conditions. "2010 is fast turning out to be a blame election and I think that either we are going to characterize who deserves the blame - whether that's banks and lobbyists and people who still want to hold on to national Republican economic strategies - or we're going to get the blame. And that's a very different tone than, often, the administration is comfortable with," she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/19/coakley-pollster-defends_n_428600.html

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

1. Nice that the WH would dump on her before the polls even close

I'm sure it was an awful campaign but jeez!

[cali]

5. after she flung a truckload of shit at them- blaming them for just about everything.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

7. Her nasty email was not the first salvo.

She made the mistake of replying in writing to a whisper campaign.

But the WH has been telling everyone in town she was going to lose for several days now.

That, more than the polls, was what gave the media carte blanche to tee off on her chances in a way I've seldom seen.

Neither side is blameless but there is something to be said for not pre-spinning defeat days out.

[Thrill]

2. Never changes with Democrats.

Eat their own

[frazzled]

3. Not the strategy of a campaign that knows it's winning on election day

Just saying.

I feel lucky my neighborhood association scheduled its first-of-the-year happy hour at a local restaurant. I think I'll go get plastered instead of staying home watching the returns and yakkety-yak.

[ChiciB1]

4. I Think That If And When Any Democrat Loses Any Race... This Is Going

to be the modus operandi! It started several days ago, or even a week ago. It's being talked up on all of MSM!!

No way it can be ALL HER FAULT! Sure, she made some flubs, but all candidates do! I've got to stop for tonight, my stress level is way too high and I'm tired of hearing how horribly AWFUL many of us are just because we don't want to walk in lock step with what is being shoved down our gullets!!

[Drunken Irishman]

6. How isn't it her fault? She was leading by double digits last week.

The political climate has not changed ONE bit since she won the primary. It's the same toxic environment we've seen for a few months now.

Yet voters were going to elect her rather easily.

Her lead only began to shrink when she sat on that lead.

She played prevent defense and if you're familiar with football, the joke is that the only thing prevent defense does is prevent victory.

She allowed Brown to set the narrative and it backfired badly. He was the charismatic candidate on the stump and she was doing absolutely nothing for a week. Then when things started going south, she finally began acting like a candidate who's up for election.

Too little too late if you ask me.

[WI_DEM]

8. Yet they sure wanted Obama to come and cut a commercial with him after the visit.