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In one of my favorite election scenes from the West Wing, Josh Lyman, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff finds himself going crazy in a polling place after his friends and colleagues have played a joke on him. Convinced of certain victory for his boss, Josh encounters numerous voters who tell him all the things they like about the President - but when they tell him how what column or box they checked in the booth, it becomes clear they didn't actually vote for the person who's policies they really align with. That - in a nutshell - is how I feel right now.Yes. Once again, Republicans and conservatives have mounted a sleek and simplistic campaign aimed at convincing people that they are the party that really cares about the interests of working people and those being hit hard by the economy. Yet, this time, they have managed unprecedented success in our wonderfully liberal state of Massachusetts. Simply amazing. And once again the reasons behind this are two-fold. First, there is the competent, yet milk-toast Democratic candidate who simply failed to connect with the electorate in any meaningful way. Second, we are in the midst of a national momentum swing away from the love fest that swept President Obama into office.
And please keep in mind as you read on, that the use of my West Wing episode extends throughout this post. Just like Josh, I feel like going up to every voter and screaming "NO! NO! If that's what you REALLY believe, you have to get back in that booth and vote again!"
As for the core reasons behind this insanity, the first is the one that I really didn't think would matter. Martha Coakley, as much as I like and respect her for her work as Attorney General, did not have to do much to win the Democratic primary. In fact, I thought she was going to have the easiest ride to the Senate there had ever been. After she declared early - it seemed her work was done. For the primary at least, all she had to do was play it safe and the polls seemed to indicate it was in the bag. To be honest, I was for Mike Capuano initially. I thought he had the experience, the legislative skill set, and the civil rights bona-fides that I liked. Martha was a bit to law-and-order for my taste. But for some reason, Mike's campaign set him up to run for Congress again instead of the Senate. Instead of coming out with an "I'm the front runner actually" strategy, he came out playing catch up. Instead of an approach that showed the public a little more of the "Senatorial" side of Mike, they (or maybe he) ran out the underdog, scrappy fighter card, that only ever developed into a defensiveness that the public associated with small time, local politics and not the big stage. Martha stayed quiet and dignified, and never really went out and talked to the people. So in a special election no one really paid attention to, she won in a landslide, without having to do or say much of anything. This is not to say that raising a ton of money is nothing. But the one thing it is not is grassroots. It’s talking to the influentials and hoping they come through for you. Adrien Walker wrote about some of this in the Globe last week in his article "Coakley's Rocky Run."
Now as for this Obama hangover we are in - manufactured in large part by the strings the Republicans know how to pull so well - it really is truly astounding. In the midterm elections during Clinton's first term, the public actually had reason to wonder a bit about the boy. From Hilary’s way to prominent role in policy, to Gays in the military on the first day in office, it was no wonder people began to wonder about him. From the beginning, it was clear the Republicans would have plenty of ammunition to use against Democrats in the mid-term elections. In Obama's case however, THERE IS NO AMMUNITION! This President has done NOTHING to warrant such a harsh backlash. To be frank, he is the victim of the American short memory gene and the fact that many of them woke up on February 1st and realized we actually had elected a black man named Barak Hussein Obama to the presidency. For any of you familiar with internet dating sites, its like when you click that box to wink at someone, and then about 30 seconds later, you take another look and realize maybe you didn't really like them enough to actually go out with them - now that you think about it. We were so proud of ourselves for electing a black progressive, we totally forgot how tenuous that support would actually be when push came to shove. It is as if no one really even needed a reason to change their minds. It was the vote that was the impulse, a moment of weakness - and then - the hangover. We did what? And that, unfortunately, is what the conservatives are working with and what we are living with now.
As for the facts, well, the market is experiencing its greatest turnaround in history. If that isn't because of his policies, it surely didn't hurt that he bit the bullet and bailed out the banks who really just COULD NOT FAIL. Had they failed, the ripple effect of job loss and market loss would have been profound. If you think things are bad now in the job arena - you couldn't even imagine what it would be like if those bailouts had not taken place. And the other thing I don't understand is that these bailouts were being planned long before he took office. Yet in Home Depot's all over the country you have people murmuring in the aisles, "And how about those bailouts for big business! I don't get a bailout!" You can either blame Obama or not, but pick one. Either its his fault and you don't like him for it or its not and you can't blame him for it. But Republicans want it both ways - and because people are in fact pretty ignorant of these finer details - they are of course winning the day. Let’s not even get started on the fact that Obama is crafting a tax on the bonuses certain corporations have the nerve to still give out. Why is that not getting him ANY points and why is Brown's lack of support for that "taking from the rich" not burying him in this election? The simple reason, as always, is that that Democrats are horrible at explaining themselves, even when they do the things the people want. For Brown, it’s just another tax he doesn't support - and people are loving that right now.
Shall we go down the Health Care aisle while we are at it? The public actually has been crying out for Health Care Reform for quite some time. But the Republican success at lying to and deceiving the public into being scared of any significant health care reform will have to go down in History as one of the best "Cheshire Cat" moments ever. The drug companies and the wealthy will have everything they have always had, and once again, the poor and underserved will get nothing close to what we could have given them. And yes - you will still have to worry iabout whether your Doctor is "in-network". But none of that matters right? We beat that commie, pinko Obama and his efforts to have the Government take over Medicare. Jeesh! Sometimes I think we really do deserve the government we have. Democracy is a contact sport people! If you are just going to sit on the bench - or worse - send in the Phillips Andover and Harvard grads - or the Sarah Palins - to play for you, then you deserve exactly the results you get.
It really is amazing. I mean, you could say that maybe Obama's speech to the Muslim world ruffled some feathers. But seriously, we ousted Bush because of years of not playing nice in the world and because of a detached arrogance that we DID NOT LIKE ANYMORE! Obama was immediately engaged and savvy, yet all we heard was "I don't know about that Obama .. He's just doin’ too much stuff ..." No specifics, just a gut feeling. And that's where it all began to fall apart.
So here we are with an election in Massachusetts that is way closer than it should be. People who have no idea what Scott Brown really will do (or even can do) as a Senator, have simply been convinced that with the economy this bad, maybe we can't afford our liberal values and what people like Martha Coakley stand for. Take a quick read of Yvonne Abraham's piece, "Bown's Failure" for just a taste of what I am talking about. This man is CLEARLY AGAINST access to contraception and FOR LIMITING a woman's access to abortion. At a time when city and state's are bursting at the seams to meet their obligations for social services and little things like UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, this bozo wants to cut taxes. And if you have seen any other way he plans on creating jobs OTHER THAN TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS, I'm all ears. Believe me, taxes are not the reason that businesses are failing and people are getting laid off. Times like these compel even the most dogmatic to veer away from what they have always believed and that IS what most informed Americans realize. Mr. Brown however is doing his best Herbert Hoover impression and acting as if these are normal times. They are not.
But if we believe the mantra "It’s the economy stupid" it may be time for the Democrats to realize that no matter what the intellectual argument, Republicans will always score big points for the Tax Cut strategy when people are hurting. It worked for Bush when he ran against Gore (remember the Newsweek cover with Bush handing out money) Except people will forget that his tax cut gave millions back to the wealthy and hardly anything to the lower classes. And I'm sure the first thing the wealth did with that money was think of brand new ways they could employ the unemployed - after the bonuses had been paid and the third yacht had been renovated of course.
And that my friends is where we are right now. And it really is simple. If you believe in fewer restriction on a woman's right to chose DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN. If you believe in maintaining your civil rights, DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN. If you believe that there may actually be a more intelligent way to fight terrorism DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN. If you believe in supporting those less fortunate that yourself - and that government does have some role to play in that area DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN. If you want to see those obscene corporate bonuses (not their salaries, their bonuses) used to help bay back the bailout money DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN. If you really have a conscience, DO NOT VOTE FOR BROWN.
MARTHA COAKLEY FOR US SENATE! PLEASE!
YOU'RE FROM MASSACHUSETTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
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