Coakley Blame Game in Full Swing

I’ve been involved in politics for longer than I usually care to remember. I’ve been in and around countless campaigns at all levels of government. One of the more intense times in political campaigns is the period immediately following a campaign; when operatives are busy taking credit or assigning blame. And let me tell you, they take this spin-battle very seriously.

That said, this is a battle that takes place AFTER the returns are in. Politico has a “leaked” memo from the Coakley campaign blaming national Democrats for their poor showing:

National Dems Failed to Aid Coakley Until Too Late

— Coakley campaign provided national Democrats with all poll results since early December

— Coakley campaign noted concerns about “apathy” and failure of national Democrats to contribute early in December. Coakley campaign noted fundraising concerns throughout December and requested national Democratic help.

— DNC and other Dem organizations did not engage until the week before the election, much too late to aid Coakley operation

Brown Capitalized on Concerns About National Democrats

— From the beginning, Brown labeled President Obama’s health care and cap and trade plans as tax increases. Polling throughout the race showed this to be the most effective attack on Coakley

Politico even has a response from a “Senior Democratic Official”:

This memo is a pack full of lies and fantasies — The DNC and the DSCC did everything they were asked and have been involved in the race for several weeks, not just the last one.

The campaign failed to recognize this threat, failed to keep Coakley on the campaign trail, failed to create a negative narrative about Brown, failed to stay on the air in December while he was running a brilliant campaign. It’s wishful thinking from a pollster, candidate and campaign team that were caught napping and are going to allow one of the worst debacles in American political history to happen on their watch that they are at the 11th hour are going to blame others.

I have NEVER seen such an intense and personal blame-game play out in public while polls are still open. This is simply unprecedented. We can assume that whatever internal polling numbers the Coakley campaign has, they are terrible. Even worse than any of us could have hoped.

It should be a good night.