Mass: Why Scott Brown's Quote Fell Short

Given that Martha Coakley was unwilling to do the work required to win one of the highest elected offices in the land before being absolutely forced to do it and even now isn't really measuring up, there's no reason for Massachusetts residents to believe she'll do any better supposedly fighting for them in Washington. Coakley approached the race with a mindset of entitlement. And a sense of entitlement is the last thing Massachusetts voters, or any one of us should want to see more of in the US Senate right now

Can Republican Scott Brown go to Washington as the newest Senator from Massachusetts? The state's partisan politics may still be a formidable challenge, but given this latest from Martha Coakley, he should. Coakley continues to turn in an embarrassing performance, looking more like a Senate wannabe, than a serious candidate for the seat.

Early in the race, Coakley would barely utter Republican nominee Scott Brown's name. This morning, she said it about a dozen times in 10 minutes. She criticized his stance on health care, gay marriage, and taxes as she sought to link Brown to former president George W. Bush.

"The only thing he has proposed is to continue to give the haves and have mores the tax cuts they got under the Bush-Cheney administration," Coakley said at a press conference in her campaign headquarters in Charlestown. "Not only is Scott Brown a roadblock to progress, he wants to go back to the failed policies of the Bush-Cheney administration."

Lacking any ideas of her own and apparently believing the seat would be awarded her based upon the capital D for Democrat after her name, Coakley sounds like a candidate without a clue, forced to rely on a dusty old Democratic Party playbook from 2008. I'm almost left wondering if she even knows what year it is. A fact like that might come in handy should she reach the US Senate, despite an increasingly obvious empty suit.

In last night's debate, Scott Brown had to remind moderator David Gergen, "It’s not the Kennedy seat, it’s the people’s seat". Brown should have added, It's not the Coakley seat, either, even if only for Martha Coakley's sake. Based upon her lack of ideas, poor campaign preparation and two-year-old rhetoric, it's clear Coakley believed it belonged to her and not the people going in.

Comments

[Sissy Willis]

"It's not the Kennedy seat, it's the people's seat" is perfect pitch[fork].

It's what we Tea Partiers have been all about from the start and will be the perfect rallying cry to shred the "arguments" of those same-old, same-old Beacon Hill machine types who would delay certifying a Brown victory till after the Obamacare vote. Where do I get my T-shirt and mug?

[BlogDog]

The Goggle-eyed Melonhead's stupid question is just another reminder of how a man of startling mediocrity has achieved a deeply unjustified level of success in Washington and "journalism."
(Full disclosure: I was once employed at USNews concurrently with Gergen so I have direct experience.)

[Greyledge Gal]

Considering an article I read today said that the Dems' strategy for this fall's races is to run on the many benefits of the health insurance reform they will pass (pretty cocky, huh?) and against Bush, I guess Coakley's remarks are believed to be right with the current party line. If this is all the Obamabots have, I think November is looking even sweeter.

[smitty]

I respectfully disagree.
Even mentioning his opponent by name would have overly dignified her, and opened him to charges of fearing her.
Leaving her name unstated, and keeping his rebuttal concise was more powerful.

[section9]

No, look. Brown did well. He LOOKED populist. He appeared as if HE was the guy who was concerned about people's wallets. I will bet you that he pulled in a lot of Indie voters yesterday.

There's a reason NoBama isn't going to MA. Internal polling must not be looking well for Martha.

[Dan Riehl]

Smitty, you're really starting to sound like an ass and/or a contrarian just looking for a fight. If you think I'm literally questioning his response, which was in an exchange with Gergen and didn't even have to do with Coakley, then you're dumb, too. So give it a rest.

[Dan Riehl]

I'd agree, sec9. I watched it on CSPAN. Seemed to me Brown connected with people better through the entire thing. Much more relaxed. At the same time, you could tell Coakley has that Mass elite pedigree thing down. Not sure how that all plays out up there in the 19th.

[Peach]

I have to say this headline and post was very confusing.

[Jon]

Dan,
Don't you think by him saying that it wasn't the Dems seat either, that he hinted at what you are saying??

[Philip McDaniel]

Looks to me like Gergen handed Brown a winner with his question. It should resonate with thinking MA voters...are there enough thinking MA voters?

[Dan Riehl]

I don't think he needed to, or should have said anything different than what he did. Brown's quote fell short because it didn't characterize Coakley's sense of entitlement to the seat. That's a statement of fact but doesn't mean he necessarily had to invoke it. You seem to be letting the tail wag the dog by focusing on one sentence in a 500 or whatever number piece attacking Coakley. It was as much a punchline qas anything else, as Sissy Willis picked up on:

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2010/01/its-the-peoples-seat-stupid.html

Brown should have added, It's not the Coakley seat, either, even if only for Martha Coakley's sake

[Edward Cropper]

Brown should have added
" if you want more meaning to my comment, go to Riehl World View'.

[rrpjr]

Gergen is an protoplasm -- not a sinew or bone or muscle left in his pasty pool of liquified sold-out values. What a sad and cautionary tale of a man.

[Alex]

Stating her name would have looked petty. I think he did it exactly right.