Massachusetts - Lessons Learned & Spreading BS
Yesterday's election in Massachusetts will do two things: First it will drive home the lessons I list below and give the professional Bullshit spreaders plenty to to talk/lie about. First the lessons:
1. Successful candidates campaign!!!
The successful candidate will campaign while voters are deciding who the fuck to vote for! Martha Coakley won the MA Dem Primary and then dropped out of sight. Between the end of the primary and yesterday she held 19 campaign events. Scott Brown her Republican opponent held 66 campaign events! Do the math. Coakley assumed the seat was hers - it was; hers to loose and she did. Brown ran all over the state shaking hands and kissing babies - Coakley, on the other hand ... kissed it good bye.
LESSON: Campaign like you're loosing; from start to finish ... or you will loose!2. Successful candidate are like likable candidates.
True some voters care more about policy and substance rather than which candidate they would most want like to have a beer with. Unfortunately, those voters are outnumbered by the voters that tend to view a political campaign like it was an episode of American Idol. Think I'm wrong? Think Presidential Elections of 2000 and 2004.
Brown, to his credit, crafted a series of very nice ads portraying himself as a likable, Joe average, type of guy.
Lesson: Never forget that the voters must like you & So you must work to make sure they do!
3. Saying stupid dumbass things will cost you an election!
Poor Coakley said a lot of stupid things: she insulted Red Sox fans, not once, but twice. (Never mind that her knowledge of the Red Sox would not have affected her legislation abilities -- see #2 above) She said something stupid about "no terrorists in Afghanistan," and something to the effect that "devout Catholics" may not want to work in hospital emergency rooms. Had she paid attention to #1 above, she might have avoided saying these stupid, dumbass things.
Lesson: No one wants to vote for a dumbass so avoid saying any stupid, dumbass things.
4. Know your enemy!
Come on! How simple is this? Christ Almighty, Sun Tzu talked about this long, long, long ago. This is simple Campaigning 101! By the time Coakley and her people started paying attention to who Brown was it was too late.
Lesson: Know your enemy - if you don't, you'll loose.
5. Enthusiasm matters.
If you run a campaign that has the enthusiasm of mashed potato sandwich buffet you'll loose. Brown, whatever his faults, and they are legion, ran an exciting, dynamic campaign. Never mind how uniformed and confused his supporters were/are - they were fired up and Coakley and her supporters ... are left eating mashed potato sandwiches.
Lesson: Enthusiasm matters alot!
Those are the campaign lessons that yesterday's debacle in Massachusetts teaches.
Now the BULLSHIT ...
drum roll ...
No matter how bad a candidate Coakley was, or how awful her campaign was (and both were terrible) everyone will talk about how this repudiates the Pres. Obama and liberal, progressive, Democratic Party, [ fill in the blank(s) with your favorite term ] agenda. Never mind the fact that Brown received most of his campaign support from out of state, or that he supports the insurance companies over the individual needing health insurance/care, never mind that he's a Wall Street sock puppet, never mind all that, no ... this indicates that America, ALL of America, repudiates the Pres. Obama and liberal, progressive, Democratic Party, [ fill in the blank(s) with your favorite term ] agenda and so will become another rallying point for the Republican/Conservative/Wall Street/Insurance Companies/Teabagger crowd.
I'll leave you with a question: Will the national media run with the Lessons or the Bullshit?
posted by Steve Mule at 8:27 AM
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