Guest Post from a DADocrat: Hey Democrats. Quit Whining. Start Working.

This guest post was written by longtime MOMocrats reader, occasional MOMocrats tech support provider, and official DADocrat, John. Many MOMocrats readers already know him on Twitter as @trianglman.

The Massachusetts election was, without a doubt, a major disappointment to any progressive who fought for months to get then-Senator Obama elected to the presidency. Even days before the vote, sniping between the Coakley campaign and the national Democratic National Committee over a potential loss was already beginning leak into the press.

What we didn't need then, and really don't need now, is an endless blame game or circular firing squad. What we need is a solid plan to go forward into the mid-term elections later this year and win back the filibuster-proof majority we plainly require to get anything past the obstructionist Republican minority in the Senate.

The first thing we need to do is look at the strength of potential Democratic candidates. Democrats cannot run just on the Democratic name, or on the coattails of President Obama. Mr. Obama didn't win the 2008 election because he was a Democrat; he won because during his campaign he proposed policies that a majority of the American people wanted to see enacted, and explained them in a way the majority of American people could understand. People wanted a jobs stimulus program. People wanted transparency in government. And people still want real health care reform and real accountability for Wall Street firms that will help prevent future economic collapses like the one we are currently struggling to recover from.

I believe Attorney General Martha Coakley did support these goals, but if you were an average Massachusetts resident, you probably didn't hear much about what Martha Coakley supported, because she didn't campaign much on the issues. She campaigned on the fact that she is a Democrat just like Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy, and Scott Brown is a Republican like George W. Bush.

You cannot convince the people that you will work for them if you won't go out to meet them where they are. And yes, that does mean going out in the cold and pressing palms, even going door to door. That is how you win elections. Obama didn't win Iowa by staying in his bus in Des Moines. Yes, if you venture out of your political bubble, you may risk meeting the "Joe the Plumbers" out there, but for every one of him, a really motivated political candidate could push two more people to seeing things her way.

This leads me to Coakley's campaign managers, and the larger DNC. Your job, now, is not to try to shift blame, but to learn from mistakes of the past and not do it again. If anything should have been learned from Senator Clinton's failed presidential bid, it is that a candidate cannot succeed by shrouding herself with a sense of inevitability. Voters don't like being told they have no choice. If you, as a political advisor, think it's appropriate to tell your candidate that he or she doesn't need to work as hard as the other guy because they're guaranteed to win, you need to be fired. I don't care if you're polling fifty points up three months ahead of the election. A campaign that wants to win can't coast. Work every day as if you're down ten points.

Democrats in the Senate and the House, we did not elect you to sit on your hands, and you cannot get away with using this election as an excuse to do so. Just because 100,000 more people in Massachusetts voted for the Republican instead of the Democrat does not mean the 300,000,000 of us throughout the country don't want you to do anything for the rest of the year. We have elected you to a 57 - 41 seat majority in the Senate and a 256 - 178 seat majority in the House. Did all 57 Democrats suddenly lose the ability to vote on anything because one Democrat failed to win one seat in one state? Listening to Senators like Jim Webb and Representatives like Barney Frank talk about lowering expectations on health care reform, you'd think the entire national government was beholden to those 100,000 people in Massachusetts. If you want to be re-elected, or increase your majority, you have to show what you will do with that majority. I know we have to deal with the constant threat of filibuster by a party that would apparently rather the government didn't exist, but for a lot of legislation, there are legal ways around this problem, especially when it comes to health care reform. Do your jobs representing all the people.

And finally, Massachusetts Democrats. Where were you? I know Mrs. Coakley didn't go out and talk to you. I know you're probably feeling disillusioned with Washington right now (So am I). But how do you think allowing Scott Brown to win Senator Kennedy's seat is going to help with that? How is letting a party whose publicly acknowledged only real goal in health care reform is to deal President Obama a "Waterloo" defeat going to help fulfill Senator Kennedy's dream of health care for everyone? (And don't give me the "we've got ours" line. Your state has surely benefitted from having already passed its own health care reform, but the health care crisis nationwide is still driving up your health insurance costs at home.) How is electing a man who actually tried to auction off his daughters like they were on The Dating Game during his acceptance speech going to help advance the cause of equal rights for women? Democratic voters, you cannot sit by and hope someone else will do the right thing. If you want Washington to work for you, you have to work to put the right people in Washington.

This loss was a serious setback. Delays in the Senate because of the Republican attitude of obstructionism will hold back major, necessary legislation to advance health care reform, environmental reform, and economic reform. But this means we must fight all the harder. We have to learn from this.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Absolutely, 100%, agree!

[Julie Pippert]

Well said.

I was debating yesterday that we need to quit looking for the "attractive" candidate who makes us feel all warm and squishy inside. Politics isn't a bar with a pick-up goal. An elected representative isn't a one-night stand. Look for the long-term solid person who would make a great life partner and parent, folks.

Bush was the "guy we'd [allegedly - myself excluded] all like to have a beer with" and how did that work out for the US?

I'm sick of hearing how Coakley wasn't charismatic or didn't sell herself well.

Most of us carry total connectivity all the time -- so spend one hour Googling, get the info, find out the stance on issues, and vote.

It's a two sided thing, this politics!

[John J.]

Being personable is important to being a good politician though. Ask any IT geek, you can be as right as God, but if you can't talk to people on a level they understand and want to listen to, you won't be able to convince them of that. Yet if the village idiot is smooth talking, he can convince people about the most incorrect things.

You also can't rely on voters to do their homework before voting. Americans are nothing if not lazy and so will only take what information is handed to them. If you're sitting at home talking to less and less read newspapers, and your opponent is advertising on American Idol, voters will only know information your opponent gives.

This is why it is so important for candidates to be able and willing to talk to people, and get out on the street. And why campaign managers need to get people out there doing that too and get their candidate featured where it counts. And why leaders in Washington need to give candidates things to campaign for.

[Daisy]

May I suggest - Organizing for America? Go to my.barackobama.com for more information. Yes, we can all get busy and get to work. It sure feels better than wailing.

[Jay Sargos]

Nice article-but at least Obama is digging in and attacking the issues with rolled up sleeves with a determination Bush could only dream of. I don't care which party you stand for-give him some credit and his party for working so hard to get him into office and at least issues are being seriously challenged!