Coakley Loss Massive Blow and Wakeup Call for Obama, DNC

[stevenleser]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Coakley-Loss-Massive-Blow-by-Steven-Leser-100119-207.html

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January 19, 2010

By Steven Leser

I wrote a few days ago that Martha Coakley was likely to lose, particularly if the Democratic Base did not show up. I was partially right, she was likely to lose. Some of the loss is no doubt due to one of the most inept campaigns ever put on for a US Senate race. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that some of this loss is due to things that Obama and the Democrats as a whole are doing or not doing.

The administration appears out of touch with the people of this country. Its all the more amazing that this is so considering they have one of the best communicators in the history of this country as one of their assets in President Obama. Why the administration hasn't had him out doing a modern retread of fireside chats on at least a semi-weekly basis is incomprehensible to me. It's too late to do something like that right now, it would be seen as a desperation move, but something has to be done immediately.

According to one of my mentors, Chet Whye, the administration has 60 days to turn this thing around or we get blown out in the midterm elections and possibly beyond. I think Chet is right. I'm sure the administration is hunkered down right now trying to figure out how things went south so quickly. Hopefully they will figure that out, and come up with a plan to fix things, because what Massachusetts tells us is that not only have we Democrats lost the middle, we are well on our way to completely losing our own base.

Chet, who runs the Harlem4 organization in Manhattan ruefully points out that even when talking with fellow African Americans about Obama, when they used to say "I'm so glad he is our President!" they now say, "I'm glad he's our President, but"". That is how bad things are right now. For the first African American President to start down the road to losing the African American community, that's unfathomably bad.

The President and his administration have to do two things VERY quickly. They have to reach out to all of America in meaningful not superficial ways and convince them that they are in touch with what is happening in the country. At the same time, they have to solidify and re-energize their base. I have a couple of ideas on how to do that:

1. Bring back the CCC or a modern equivalent and put people back to work by any means necessary.

At this point, no amount of talk is going to convince those people out of work that the administration cares about them. Action is required immediately. Hire people to fix up public parks, roads, bridges, anything. Take a page from FDR and give people jobs.

2. Ditch the current Healthcare bill and pass Medicare for all through Reconciliation.

The problem with both iterations of the current Health Care Bill is that NO ONE, and I mean no one LOVES it. Those of us still in favor of it (at least until recently) have defended it by making excuses for it. Fine, it's better than allowing 40,000 people to die each year and countless others suffer with non-covered pre-existing conditions. That is the best we could say about it. That is no longer good enough.

3. Kill DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell via Executive Order

It is no longer tolerable that the administration has done little to nothing for the LGBT community. You want to shore up the base (not to mention do the right thing)? The Gay community is an important and sizeable piece of the Democratic base. Do this for them and you will see a huge amount of energy come back, I promise you.

4. Bring some top people into the administration who know how to get things done.

I'm sorry Rahm, et. al, I like you as people, I really do. From outside the administration, I cannot tell for sure who isn't getting it done, but there have to be several for things to have gotten this bad so quickly. If I were President Obama, I would offer someone like a James Carville anything and everything to come in and straighten things out.

5. Fix the DNC.

Yeah, remember them? Another organization filled with people that I like a lot. And they are having no effect on anything. They aren't helping to push legislation, they aren't helping to excite the base, they aren't helping elect anyone. This wasn't true a year ago. There is one simple answer here. BRING BACK HOWARD DEAN. Beg him if you have to in order to get him to come back.


The only and I mean ONLY good piece of news about this is that it is a wakeup call. Losing one of Massachusetts' senate seats is an unmistakable signal that things have gone wrong. The President and Democrats in congress must resist the urge to go to the right after this. The Republicans and Tea-Baggers will not reward them if they do. They will only further alienate the Democratic base. Republicans and Tea-Baggers will not vote for centrist moving Democrats. The trend in the Republican Party and Tea Party community is to even primary moderate Republicans for not being Right Wing enough. President Obama and the Democrats have to get back in touch with the people of this country and rally the base. If they don't, we're looking at a real disaster this fall.

[AspenRose]

1. No argument from me.

"Republicans and Tea-Baggers will not vote for centrist moving Democrats."

Truer words were never spoken. Given a choice between a real republican and republican lite, guess who wins?

(See Deeds, Creigh.)

[msongs]

2. sounds good to me but i'm not interested in being bipartisan, just promoting a dems agenda nt

[LearnedHand]

3. (k&r) gods, I hope the Dems do something about what Leser posted

Kick for the faint flicker of hope that hasn't been snuffed completely out.

[izquierdista]

4. If these things are going to happen...

they would have already happened last February and last March. Taking a year to get out of the starting gate means not only are these things not going to happen "very quickly", they are not likely to happen at all.

[IndianaGreen]

5. K&R n/t

:kick:

[ibegurpard]

6. Kicked and Recced

If nothing else PUT PEOPLE TO WORK instead of pouring money into the banks!

[iceman66]

7. K+R!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. I don't think you mentioned Congress much

they are the lawmakers

It is a pity Dean isn't DNC chair

[stevenleser]

13. And you mentioned why right in your response. The DNC is supposed to

fight to keep the congress in check in terms of ideology. We didnt have that at all this past year.

Can you imagine what DNC Chair Howard Dean would have done with Lieberman and Nelson? He would have been all over them.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

30. Why did Howard leave the DNC chair?

[stevenleser]

33. Historically, Presidents install one of their own folks when they get elected. That was a BIG

mistake this time. Particularly since Obama's signature issue was Health Care Reform. With Howard as DNC chair, he would have had a bully pulpit from which to pound on Congressfolk and Senators who were tacking too far right or overcomplicating things.

[bevoette]

9. America...FUCK YEAH!

i like it :)

[wisteria]

10. It wasn't a massive blow, I think we all new it was a good possibility we would lose tonignht. n/t

[stevenleser]

11. I have to respectfully disagree with you.

I mean, I called it in an article a few days ago. I've been preparing for this, and I think it still was huge. It could turn out to be the best thing that happened to us. Depending on where we go from here.

[ChiciB1]

12. Good Post... Listen Up WH AND ALL YOU CONGRESS CRITTERS!

Some of us are REALLY, REALLY so fed up! Go ahead and ignore us, it has only strengthened my resolve to find another Democrat who will stand up for "we the people!"

We worked hard to elect you, and most of you have LEFT US DOWN!! Too many Rahms, too many Baucuses, too many Nelsons, too many Stupaks, too many Blue Dogs! Too much leaning over back wards to please THE OTHER SIDE!

ENOUGH!!

[Jennicut]

14. Totally right on in every way.

The DNC is useless. Rahm is giving not so good advice. But they all learn, after awhile. Clinton had to put Leon Panetta in. Clinton did move to the right after he lost the 1994 elections and while he was reelected in 1996, some things were not good for the country so I hope Obama does not go in that direction.

[stevenleser]

15. Kicked for the Wed. morning crowd

:kick:

[DCBob]

16. Not sure it is a wake up call as much as a reality check..

The GOPers are not dead... yet. And their perverted "message" still resonates with a large chunk of America. Plus the non-stop bashing of Dems and Obama by right-wing media has had an impact. The simple minded/un-informed are easily manipulated by the words "socialism", "big government", "more taxes", "bankrupt the country", etc, especially when they see and hear it 7x24x365.

[treestar]

20. You're the one who is right

Add to that a "base" that gives up within one year and it's always an uphill struggle for Democrats.

Republicans at least know how to hang on and work like the devil year after year after year and take what they can manage to get. They don't stay home because they don't have a right wing paradise within one year.

They do not stay home, nursing their "disappointment." That's how they won this race. They never give up even when they are down.

[Toasterlad]

41. If You Guys Continue To Blame Republicans For Democratic Impotence, You Will Always Lose.

You get that?

Unless Obama makes an immediate dramatic shift to the left, he will be a one term president, and we will have a Republican president til 2020.

It is already almost too late. Anyone who see Massachusetts as anything less than a scale model of exactly what November will look like is out of their minds, or working an agenda. The Democrats have alienated the independents and progressive Dems who put them in office, and those people will NOT show up at the polls in November, and you better hope they don't, because if they do, they'll be voting Republican.

You can sit around and whine about the Democratic base not being blind sheep like the Republican base all you want. You can continue to pretend (or at least promote) that the problems in Washington are due to Republican obstructionism. None of that will help the Democrats in 2010, or 2012.

The facts am these: Obama can't get anything done NOW with an ostensibly Democratic congress. In 2011, barring a miracle, he'll be working with a Republican congress. What are the chances that anything remotely progressive gets passed with a solidly Republican congress and a right of center DINO in the White House?

Bleak.

The majority of people in this country are oblivious to politics. All they give a shit about is putting food on the table, a roof over their heads, and hopefully making enough so that they can go to Disneyworld two weeks every year. Democrats and Republicans alike have to make big noise to get them to notice anything else, and if the noise the Democrats are making sounds pretty much like the noise the Republicans are making, that's not going to work. The economy will get better, because that's what the economy does: it's cyclical. The greedy people behind it NEVER learn their lessons, and they keep making the same mistakes over and over, which is why the stock market keeps rising and crashing over and over. They teach you that in HIGH SCHOOL. And those who think the POTUS is more than tangently involved in why the market rises and why it tanks are completely clueless. But that won't stop a President from taking credit for a recovery...or receiving the blame for a collapse. If the economy isn't "better" by November, those self-absorbed Americans are going to punish everyone in power right now. Worse, if it IS better (unlikely), they'll have the luxury of paying attention to other shit...and finding out that the lack of "Change" isn't restricted to just the economy. Either way, Obama is fucked.

His only chance, and, by extension, the Democrats only chance, is to give the base what they want...which is, coincidentally, what most of the non-political Americans want. Universal health care, and an end to pointless war. He could also pick up some votes by doing what the OP suggests and keep his promises to the gay community, although I doubt that will matter too much to most non-gay Americans (although it would, as the OP also suggests, energize the GLBT community and get them working FOR Obama again).

However, I don't expect any corrections will be made. It's clear just from the spin already being put on the Massachusetts lose that the DNC (and their boosters on this site) is sticking with the old "Republicans! Boo!" strategy.

Politicians are generally slimy, spineless, craven creatures. They're also very, VERY slow learners.

[bertman]

50. You're right, toasterlad. Sad, ain't it?

[Ken Burch]

46. No Republican admin since Nixon has ever disappointed the GOP base

Reagan and both Bushes always gave them everything they wanted and always treated them with full respect. No Republican strategist EVER said "there IS no base".

[robcon]

17. It IS a wake-up call. But the reaction could go either of two ways.

Some Dems will go left, and be true to their convictions.

Just as many will go right to try to capture the Independents who are pissed off.

There's no consensus, and there's no ONE WAY for Dems to regain their footing after this disaster.

edit:spell

[Spheric]

26. How is this possible?

The Democrats are already tripping over some Republicans in their mad dash to the right. For instance, there are some Republicans that are opposed to further limiting reproductive rights for women. As are the majority of Americans.

They are also tripping over the vast majority of the American people, and specifically independents. The American people don't want mandates without cost controls and payoffs to big pharma and insurance giants. Find me the person that wants their personal health decisions being made by some wall street fat cat who profits more by denying them coverage.

This is insanity. And it has nothing to do with right or left. It has to do with right and wrong. That is what they are missing.

[freddie mertz]

18. K & R. But can you imagine THIS White House acting THIS boldly?

Obama said he wanted to be a "transformative" president.

Maybe now is the time to get to work on that.

But I cannot imagine Rahm and economic team being on board with sort of decisive, transformative agenda.

[treestar]

19. The base did show up in spite of the claims of "progressives"

It was the independents that did not vote for her.

As for your 4 demands, the Republicans can now filibuster it all.

I don't know if Medicare can be expanded by reconciliation or not. But whatever, it's not going to be good enough for the progressives.

There is not way to "rally a base" that gives up after one year because they don't have everything they want.

[uponit7771]

21. The wake up call is to not take people for granted

[WyldRogue]

22. Words of wisdom I saw in a fellow DU member's post:

From Martin Luther King:


"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."




For Congress and the President:

"Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right."


Hopefully now Obama begins to realize that his base and the Indies don't support fat-cat bail-outs and status-quo. Maybe now we will see the beginning of a progressive President working for the people, not the special interests, corporations and wall street. Isn't it odd how so many politicians turn away from Main Street so easily when it's our tax dollars trough they are drinking from?? Well, last night was a wake-up call or they will just continue to ignore the signs... only time will tell.

[AspenRose]

24. I listened to that speech Monday morning, and it is so true.

[RBInMaine]

23. Coakley ran a shitty campaign, end of story.

[WyldRogue]

25. So she lost because..

..she just ran a shitty campaign??

Guess all the stuff that lead up to the embarrassing loss had no influence at all (Constant bail-outs for everyone EXCEPT main street? The mangled, watered-down Mandated health INSURANCE reform bill? The backroom dealing that has been going on well after Obama campaign on 'no more backdoor' deals? Remember the Big Pharma deal he cut by dealing behind closed doors?

Coakley's loss was partially her fault but the mood was set all year long with no leadership to be found from the WH on issues important to Main Street and downright capitulation day in and day out. Yes, it is ALL Coakley's fault for seeding such anger... :sarcasm:

[HillWilliam]

27. K&R

I doubt the administration will do the first thing in this list, but hey, here's hopin'.

[mike_c]

28. Carville my ass-- bring in the Doctor....

Howard Dean.

[stevenleser]

34. I agree, but I think he's best used in the DNC right now. It does several things

#1 - He has done it before and would have ZERO come up to speed time. He's ready not just on day one, but on minute one. That's what we need from all the changes to be made, people ready right now. There is serious urgency here.

#2 - As DNC chair he would be independant from the adminstration giving him more freedom of movement.

Don't get me wrong, we need Howard but we also need about 5 critical positions filled. We need LOTS of good people right now.

[AzDar]

29. K & R

[SaveOurDemocracy]

31. K&R

[FourScore]

32. I wish I could rec this a thousand times!!!!

This really says it all.

[totodeinhere]

35. You left out pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq now. n/t

[JDPriestly]

36. I would like to add start indicting people on Wall Street

and in the Bush administration who committed securities and mortgage fraud, who lied to Congress, who tortured or authorized torture and who stole from the American people.

Don't be afraid to point the finger at those responsible for the mess we are in. And if a few Democrats get indicted along with the hoards of criminals, so be it. This is not the time to be "nice" about who done it.

Why shouldn't the American people blame our economic mess on Obama. He has never taken any decisive action to prove he didn't make it. And the American people have short memories.

Remember Monica Lewinsky? Two consenting adults?

The Republicans knew how to cast the moral shadow on the Democrats.

Now, the Obama administration refuses to even enforce real laws. That is why the American people are confused.

If an driver runs a red light in the presence of a police officer, the driver gets a ticket. We have all experienced something like that. We get by with nothing. The Bush administration violated much more serious laws as did Wall Street gamblers and mortgage lenders, and they don't so much as get stopped.

Obama needs to clearly point the finger at those who got our country into this mess. He should have done this as soon as he got into office. It may be too late now.

[icee]

37. We need to do a Sidecar Reconciliation

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/01/19/martha-coakley-and-sidecar-reconciliation-the-public-option-lives-again/

[showpan]

38. Still in denial

that's what I think, most people are still in denial that Obama and A lot of Dems actually support the neocons who don't give a fuck about the common folks of this country. It's as plain as day. They aren't going to "get back in touch" with the people of this country....lol...they don't have to...they own us already. The midterms will only be won by whomever supports the neocons agenda the most. Could be a dem or it could be a puke, it doesn't matter because it's their call not ours.

Show me a candidate that has come out against them. How many votes did they get...?

The people in this country are missing the real wake up call.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

39. They are great point but history seems to show they won't do that...

I'll hold out some vague hope but it's not looking too good.

[Mistwell]

40. How do you kill DOMA through Executive Order?

You can end Don't Ask Don't Tell via executive order. But you cannot end DOMA through an executive order. It's legislation. If a President could just kill legislation that was already passed through Executive order...well, that's pretty close to a dictator, which fortunately is not our system of Government.

Certainly Congress could end DOMA. But, it's still sadly a popular piece of legislation with a majority of the population, and would just risk even further Congressional seats at the mid-terms. It would briefly energize some people, but a lot of those people are the ones already energized.

I am not against that plan, I just don't know if it would work.

[Toasterlad]

43. You Can't.

Not sure why that's in the OP.

While I disagree with you that it's "popular legislation with a majority of the people", I certainly don't think ANYONE in Congress or the White House has the balls to take it on. I believe DOMA will only be overturned by the Supreme Court.

DADT is another matter, and it is reprehensible that gay people are still being discharged under the Obama administration.

[stevenleser]

45. If I were Obama, I would explore the use of an Executive Order or Finding that basically said...

that DOMA violates equal protection of the law and thus is unenforceable by the executive branch. Direct the DOJ to reverse its earlier finding that DOMA is Constitutional.

[Blasphemer]

42. K&R. Sounds good to me. nt

[Greyhound]

44. Considering that the Party has been held back 9 times and the lesson is still not learned,

when is it time to accept that some students cannot learn some lessons?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

47. Dean not Carville.

Otherwise, I agree.

[YvonneCa]

48. #5 Bring Back Howard Dean is right. My #6 is....

...Work WITH TEACHERS to fix public education, instead of trashing them. Teachers want to be on Obama's side.

[DisgustedInMN]

49. Thanks for telling it like it is.

Being one of those that has been unemployed for the longest period of my adult life, your Idea #1 is spot on. I don't have "a couple more years" or even months before I go under. I NEED a decent paying job yesterday. I'm willing to do almost anything, am capable of learning almost anything, but I will admit that I have made the unforgivable mistake of living into my mid 50s and really don't deserve to keep what I've worked all of my life to earn, now that I'm past my prime....

.. but I digress..

:blush:

[bertman]

51. I recced this because I love what you said, Steven, and I like that you offered solutions.

It will be an absolute miracle if the Democrats learn anything from this. The DLC is so obtuse that I'm sure they will try to pass this off as a minor setback and then continue to blow smoke up our collective ass. If you saw Robert Gibbs on Ed Schultz or Countdown you know what I mean.

But I'm Hoping that the HopeMaster will become TheRockObama now that he sees what his Professor Obama has wrought.