"No! No! You're making that up! That can't be right! Tell me she didn't say that!"

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/24/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html

May 24, 2010

Bonus Quote of the Day

"No! No! You're making that up! That can't be right! Tell me she didn't say that!"

-- President Obama, quoted in Jonathan Alter's The Promise, after being told that Martha Coakley (D) dismissed standing outside Fenway Park and shaking hands in the cold. Obama later called it "one of the great gaffes in modern American politics.'"

[Ian David]

1. Coakley showed-up unannounced in Brockton at a small coffee shop...

... and met the 19 mostly disinterested patrons who just happened to be there at the time.

Heckuva campaign, Martha.

[Jennicut]

2. She was clearly disinterested. I don't get it.

[Forkboy]

3. I read that the other night.

She ran the worst campaign I've ever seen in my life...and I've seen some bad ones.

[rasputin1952]

7. It was bad...

but the worst I've ever seen was McCain/Palin. Coakly didn't put any effort into hers at all...McCain put a lot into his...and really blew it...:D

[Forkboy]

9. Good point!

:rofl:

[Cha]

15. There's that..

and on a much grander scale.

Gotta wonder who was giving Martha Coakley advice?

I guess mcpalin was calling their own bad shots?

[Froward69]

4. lesson there is

the Candidate needs to be genuinely interested in the office they would be occupying. Never, ever think The election is sewn up..

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. or they need someone to coach them

I don't think W gave a shit about being president. It was more like a kid being forced to take ballet because her mom never got the chane

[Mass]

5. This just shows people are stupid. Standing outside Fenway Park may be a staple of American politics

but she would have been a much better senator than the other idiot. But this would have meant that the reporters who covered the campaign cared more about issues than style. (Not that she did a good campaign, she did not. But even an idiot should have known Brown was not suitable for the job).

This said, this is not the reason she lost. But it is always easier to bash the candidate than to assess the problem.

[Forkboy]

8. It's not the reason she lost, just an insight into the mindset she had.

Or at least seemed to have. She ran a horrible campaign that seemed to be completely disconnected from the every day people of the State. This is just but one example.

While she was saying stuff like this, Brown was out there doing any meet and greet he could get to. It's Politics 101, and Coakley never grasped that. She assumed she had this locked up as the Dem running for Kennedy's seat, and that kind if hubris will almost always bite you in the ass. It was like in the primaries when Hillary Clinton's campaign really had no plans for anything past Super Tuesday. And like Hillary, by the time Coakley realized she was in an actual race it was too late. Brown was making campaign stops at about a 4 to 1 ratio over her down the stretch. There's a ton of people out there that simply aren't that informed, due to stupidity or a busy life, and when they see someone who can talk well, and do so to them in person, it will sway people quite often, as Brown has proven. These are the people to tap into. Obama did it very effectively. So did Brown, sadly. Coakley didn't.

For the most part, I've liked her over the years, and I thought she would have been a interesting Senator, but that was one ugly campaign (no offense to the foot soldiers who busted their ass for her).

[rasputin1952]

11. That's precisely the situation...

she thought she was just going to be handed the seat; she looked at the election as a "formality"...political suicide if there ever was a case for it.

Rule #1...treat everyone as if they were the most important person on the planet; she showed no respect for anyone.

In the mean time, Brown is merely warming the seat, the R's don't like some of his votes, and the D's are ticked because he's an R...come November, he should be out...:hi:

[Forkboy]

16. "come November, he should be out"

From your keyboard to God's ears! :)

[Mass]

17. Not if the Globe and other papers continue to show him as the only person doing something in the

person in the state. BTW, his reelection will be in 2012.

[Arkana]

10. Let's be fair--Scott Brown is a sleazeball who ran a great campaign.

Martha Coakley was a good, honest Democrat and a fantastic AG who ran a shitty campaign and thought she had the seat locked up.

People just felt like she didn't really care about getting their votes--hell, my overwhelmingly Democratic town went 2-1 for Senator Softcore. That's how little effort her field teams were putting in--no road signs, no bumper stickers, etc.

[rasputin1952]

12. Her "campaign" is a template for how NOT, to do things...

in politics.

As I said above though, Brown is merely a seat warmer...:hi:

[Mass]

18. No, he is there until 2012, and the media are continually reporting on him as if

he was doing great things.

[rasputin1952]

19. My bad...

thought it was this cycle...still, better than a full 6 years. By then, things will change, he'll still be a dud, he won't get the same press...:hi:

[uponit7771]

13. Coakly LITERALLY went on vacation during a special election WITHOUT tracking numbers....that was...

..damn

[uponit7771]

14. Where was the DNC?!

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. They should have never allowed that pathetic DLC tool run for Teddy's seat.

I've never set foot in Boston and even I know better than to diss the Red Sox or Fenway Park when I'm talking to Massholes. :evilgrin:

[Arkana]

21. For the last time, it was NOT Martha Coakley's politics that lost her the race.

She's an absolutely stellar AG and farther left than the vast majority of Washington Dems. She's about as un-DLC as you can get.

It was her utter inability to conduct a competent campaign that undid her.

[Sebastian Doyle]

22. About as un-DLC as you can get?

Funny how they don't seem to agree with you.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Martha+Coakley++site:dlc.org&hl=en&lr=&prmd=ln&filter=0

[Arkana]

23. Your own links don't prove shit.

All they prove is that the DLC had articles about Martha Coakley on their website.

And the "tough on crime" thing comes from being a former prosecutor. I am so sick to death of hearing "THE DLC, MAAAAAANNNNN" waved about here like it's an answer for everything. They are a badly-funded, dying organization that has next to no influence left in the Democratic Party. Hell, they didn't even have enough money to have their last convention.

[Sebastian Doyle]

24. The DLC doesn't invite Liberals to speak at their events

Only those Republicans in sheep's clothing "new democrats" who agree with their agenda.

[Arkana]

25. Coakley was a DA when the articles in question were published

and all they were were articles in a magazine.

And EVEN IF the DLC claims her as their own, have you ever stopped to take a look at her positions on the issues? Really?

--She opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Patriot Act
--Supports a federal repeal of DADT and as MA AG actually sued the federal government over DOMA
--Supported a strong public option in the health care bill (I guess since she didn't advocate single payer she wasn't pure enough)
--Opposed the Stupak language in the HCR bill (believes that health care plans should be required to cover abortion)

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Martha_Coakley.htm

Yes, she's a bit hawkish on terrorism, but most Democrats are.

So even if the DLC puts her name in their member rolls, she's about as un-New Democrat as you can get.

[karynnj]

32. Question who belonged to the DLC at one point? Howard Dean OR Martha Coakley

You are one of those who constantly pushes this "DLC" stuff, yet you pick and chose. I think you use "DLC" to describe any Democrat, who for any reason - including personality does not inspire you.

[PassingFair]

29. That "badly funded, dying organization" is running this country the rest of the way...

into the ground.

[backscatter712]

26. Agree. It was her completely incompetent and lackluster campaign that killed her.

Hardly anyone knew about her politics at all because she didn't do much campaigning, preferring to go on vacation right as her polls were falling in the toilet.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

27. I heard Jonathan on Stephanie Miller's show last week describe what happened.

According to Axelrod's account of the event, Obama actually grabbed Axelrod's shirt and shook him, saying something like "no, no, no. she didn't say that. she's going to lose!"

[Number23]

28. She apparently went out of her way to overlook the black community there as well

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=258&topic_id=9545

Seems to me like ol' girl WANTED to lose...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. She was a total mess!! A total, complete and utter mess!!!!!!! n/t

[ima_sinnic]

31. I guess Obama should have offered Scott Brown a job (nt)