Alison Grimes' strategy of running away from Obama and to the right proved to be an utter DISASTER

[Cali_Democrat]

In order to beat Mitch McConnell, Alison Grimes thought it would be a brilliant idea to actually morph into Mitch McConnell and slam Obama's policies on everything from immigration to energy.

Hell...she wouldn't even say if she voted for that black dude in the White House, Barack Obama. This strategy, she thought, would make her a REAL Kentuckian and surely it would win her the Senate seat that she craved so desperately.

Grimes even thought it would be a fantastic move to hit McConnell from the right and accuse him of providing amnesty and taxpayer benefits to "illegal aliens"----->>>http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025669596

It was a foolproof strategy that would guarantee her victory.

So what happened?

She got her ass handed to her on a silver fucking platter.

Grimes wasn't the only one to pursue this strategy. In almost every case where the Democrat thought it would be a brilliant idea to run to the right of Obama, they got their asses handed to them.

Harry Truman said it best:

The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat...

[tularetom]

1. Hillary Clinton, are you paying attention?

Keep pulling this crap for the next two years and you won't be elected dog catcher.

[Tommy2Tone]

73. All she has to do is look at what happened to Al Gore

He wanted to be his own man and ran away from Bill Clinton, despite the fact that Clinton is loved by the democratic party. Now Hillary has to put a sock in Bill as well. We will punish her is she doesn't embrace Obama, and the other side is going to link they no matter what she does.

[PatrynXX]

79. Yep. I had no idea who she was in 2008

and even now it wasn't the Hillary from 2007 and before. Wonder what happened to that Hillary and Truman sure is gonna get quoted. I say that quote should be given like a static line along the top of this site.

[bravenak]

2. Hurt my damn finger on this rec button!

Skinner needs to fix that!! My poor nail, i just grew them out all even. Now one is jacked up.

[sheshe2]

33. Lol~

bravenak

[bravenak]

36. Glad to see you!

It's been rough, but I'm feeling positive.

[sheshe2]

47. Good to see you as well bravenak~

I'm still feeling positive, even though I am stuck with a damn R for Governor, in a blue state no less.

[bravenak]

55. Oh, my!

We got rid of the Republican and got the Independent (unity) ticket. And weed. And minimum wage. That's why I feel positive. Liberal policies won, even if we need better candidates.

[sheshe2]

59. Wow, I may move to Alaska for the next 4 years.

Well we did send Senator Markey-D back to Washington. And have a wonderful new AG.

[bravenak]

61. Things aren't as bad as they seem to me.

I'm glad you kept your senator. I think we lost ours, but we will fight smarter and harder next time.

[Wabbajack_]

132. Isn't Bill Walker a Repig?

Palin endorsed him, is Palin a "RINO" now?

[bravenak]

136. Independent.

But yes. Basically he was a republican before the Tea Party.

[Cha]

91. LOL.. I just REC.. if that helps?

[bravenak]

93. You are always helpful.

Thanks, Cha! I see you gave monsanto a beating... Love that! Small victories add up!

[Cha]

94. Where was that, bravenak.. we lost

by a slim margin in Oregon for the labeling law. BIG $$$$$$ is wiping out America!

But, of course, we'll NEVER NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!

[bravenak]

95. Maui.

Small GMO farming ban. Some people decided to vote on issues.
We can keep demanding labeling, it will work. It took a few times, but we legalized weed. Every election should have progressive legislation on the ballot.

[Cha]

112. Mahalo bravenak.. I had to leave to run after I posted that.. and then I remembered Maui

and knew you must be talking about that. Yay Maui! I wish we on Kaua'i were so fortunate!

We did have a Record turnout for Voting here, though!

Yes, I had the same thoughts about keep "demanding" and working on the labeling and eventually... !

[yeoman6987]

3. Ridiculous

You can't say running away from the President caused her loss. The Governor of Illinois, Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts welcomed him with open arms and shown the door.

[LawDeeDah]

10. but Alison did it in a most spectacularly idiotic and moronic way

that only she, with the help and advice of the Clintons I am betting, could do so fantastically well in that moronic empty head of hers.

[liberal N proud]

27. But did the others deny Obama 3 times

When asked if she voted for him, all she would have had to say was yes and McConnell couldn't have made as big a deal about it.

[LondonReign2]

54. Not only say she voted for him

but then take the offensive and say what policies the Dems delivered on and how they positively affected the people of Kentucky, then point out that McConnell tried to block all those positive things from happening.

It's really not that hard, but Democrats fuck it up every time they try to make believe they are Republican Lite.

[Tommy2Tone]

72. Here is what we do know..

When the president was on the ballot(2008-2012) he smoked the right's asses. He even brought along a lot of democrats in red states. When he wasn't on the ballot(2010-2014) the democrats lost seats.

Democrats need to have better candidates. Obama can only do so much. The four you mentioned were perfect evidence of how bad candidates get bad results.

[BarackTheVote]

115. Quinn just wasn't that popular

A lot of people didn't like the way he was going about pension reform and the state debt. Dick Durbin won handily, as did all of the progressive initiatives and we kept a supermajority in the state house and senate.

[AtomicKitten]

4. The 56-41% spread was a formidable rout.

[Ykcutnek]

5. Her strategy of running in a red state against a powerful incumbent proved to be a disaster.

No one can beat Mitch.

He's in there until he retires or old age decides he won't be.

If she runs for governor, she'll probably win by 15-20%... it's just how Kentucky rolls.

[kentuck]

7. I doubt that any other Democrat would have done as well...

as she did. She tried. Maybe her strategy was wrong but it was all she had. In contrast, Mark Pryor lost Arkansas by even a larger margin and he had Bill and Hillary supporting him.

[Ykcutnek]

9. Especially in this political climate.

She was the only one with the guts to run against Mitch.

There are rumors in the Louisville press that Adam Edelden was going to run, but Mitch dug up some nasty details about his divorce and then they recruited Grimes.

[AtomicKitten]

21. Ashley Judd was pushed out of the race.

link: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/bill_clinton_kentucky_dems_reportedly_eyeing_ashley_judd_alternative/

Bill Clinton, Kentucky Dems reportedly courting Ashley Judd alternative

Kentucky Democrats, along with Bill Clinton, possibly worried about the potential pitfalls of an Ashley Judd candidacy, are reportedly pushing another state Democrat to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014.

Politico reports that Clinton is courting Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state, to get into the race:

Grimes does have the Clintons in her corner. Earlier this month, the former president — a longtime friend of Grimes’s father — privately urged the young secretary of state to mount a Senate bid while assuring Grimes that both he and his wife, Hillary, would get behind her should she decide to take on the powerful Senate GOP leader, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

[kelliekat44]

25. She could have spent a little more time exposing McConnell link to the Chinese & the off-shore coal

deals that actually compete with Kent coal miners. He speaks from both sides of his wife's wealthy mouth. And don't forget the cocaine found aboard one of his ships. Neither McConnell or his father-in-law may have known about it but just think what the GOP would have done with an incident like that against the Dems.

[AtomicKitten]

29. The disparity between how the parties run

in elections is huge. I agree with your point about the cocaine-on-board thing. If tables were turned, they Republicans would have buried the Democrat with it.

[Ykcutnek]

58. Ashley Judd's mental state would not have survived the onslaught of McConnell's attack ads. nt

[kentuck]

69. I think that is why she dropped out?

..once that became public..

[AtomicKitten]

71. I'm not convinced of that.

The Grimes/Clintons campaign failed spectacularly. They ran a typical Third Way campaign of Repulican Lite hubris.

If we're going to lose, let it be on Democratic principles and not quasiRepublican ideas.

[Jackpine Radical]

46. I wonder--Judd?

They chased her off early; I wonder what she might have accomplished had she stuck it out.

[LawDeeDah]

12. I still think Ashley Judd would have been a better choice.

But Clinton's hammer came down on that idea and they put in a moron instead.

[Ykcutnek]

13. An anti-coal candidate will never be elected in Kentucky.

Period.

McConnell would have spent less than half the money he spent against Grimes and would have won by 30% instead of 15.

[theHandpuppet]

121. Forget it, Ykcutnek

Too many here aren't interested in the truth.

[kentuck]

15. No...

She had sought psychiatric help. She would have been destroyed.

[AtomicKitten]

78. I don't believe that.

If a candidate with a 22-count felony indictment against him and had threatened a reporter on live TV can win an election, Ms. Judd's medical history was almost certainly small potatoes.

No, it was Kentucky Democrats and Bill Clinton who were smearing Ms. Judd whispering about her mental health aggressively. They had a candidate in mind and weren't about to let someone they considered uppity (deja vu?) get in the way.

And they lost.

[Scootaloo]

117. Well, here's the thing...

"Close" doesn't count in American politics. Not in the least. Winner takes all.

So, if this is the result a democrat gets when pretending to be a conservative republican to run agaisnt an incumbent conservative republican...

Why not just not run as a conservative republican Why not try being, oh I dunno, a liberal democrat?

Republicans will not vote for a conservative Democrat. Nor will a great many Democrats. It's a self-suppressing "strategy."

Maybe running left wouldn't have won against McConnell either. But at least Grimes could lose as a progressive and have some dignity, instead of losing as a conservative and looking like a giant fucking sellout.

[NCTraveler]

6. Each candidate, republican or democrat, lost for different reason.

Some reasons might be overlapping, but there is no one-size-fits-all excuse here.

I think you are right about Grimes, and that is what most of your op is about.

"Grimes wasn't the only one to pursue this strategy. In almost every case where the Democrat thought it would be a brilliant idea to run to the right of Obama, they got their asses handed to them. "

I find fault with those two sentences and your would really need to back them up more in order to make your assumption even debatable. It would require you to make the case that democrats who fully embraced Obama overwhelmingly won.

[Bandit]

14. IMO it isn't really about Obama but Democratic policies and principles.

Obama didn't pass any laws or bills, Democrats did. All Obama did was sign them into Law. When Democrats run away from their own damn Legislation there is a problem.. Yes Obama is pronounced unpopular by the right but the Policies were not. Why did most Democrats run away from their won damn policies? When asked about Obamacare why did they/she say lets fix it as if it is a piece of crap. Why didn't she say "look how many Kentuckians now have health care coverage compared to before DEMOCRATS passed the ACA". How many Americans are now covered because of DEMOCRATS, not Obama but Democrats.. But run run run and lost lost lost...Democrats simply won't fight as hard for their beliefs as Republicans and Americans want people that will fight..

[NCTraveler]

18. Agree with everything you typed.

As much as I don't like many aspects of ObamaCare, it could have been used extremely well on the campaign trail. So many good things could have been said about it that fit in a sound bite. Fix it should have never crossed a democrats lips. Same with many other policies.

[kentuck]

24. 10 Democrats lost.

So something was definitely wrong.

[NCTraveler]

26. Fully agree. Something was definitely wrong. You would never hear me say anything different. nt.

[still_one]

109. yeah, the country is more conservative than we would like to admit

[LawDeeDah]

8. What a freakin moron. I didn't want to say too much

before the election, but wtf, you fucking moron?
Is this the advice Mark Penn gave you? I can't shake the feeling the Clintons had something to do with this wonderful and winning strategy, all for their own benefit in the future.

Alison, you are dumb as a bag of hammers. Go away.
I wish Ashley Judd would have been the candidate. Not this moronic stupido on puppet strings.

[kentuck]

16. She was running against the Republican Leader..

No one would have done as well.

[MineralMan]

11. Kentucky's a tough gig for any Democrat.

I agree that she took the wrong tack, but we can't really predict what would have happened had she gone the other way.

[Kelvin Mace]

35. Again,

until someone tries it...

One thing for sure running as looney lite doesn't work every time.

[MineralMan]

39. True enough. It would have been interesting had she gone

the other way. We'll never known now.

[Jackpine Radical]

48. They were gonna fuck with her either way.

I think she chose wrong. She could have just said "Damn right I voted for him" and talked about how many Kentuckians benefited from the ACA, for example.

[MineralMan]

66. I agree.

[zipplewrath]

156. Wrong answer

She gave the wrong answer to a question whose content should have been anticipated. A lot of different ways it could have been asked, including questions about Senate leadership. But they should have been prepared with something that basically stated the truth, as well as why, while minimizing the sound bite usefulness to the GOP smear machine.

"I voted for the democratic candidate because I'm a democrat and the best chance for Kentucky is if I'm able to represent my home state with a democratic majority in the Senate and a democratic president in the White House."

Hard to turn that into a 5 second sound bite, I don't care what part you edit out.

[Jackpine Radical]

163. The alternative is something like

"I'm running as a democrat but I'm OK because I'm pretty much like the Republicans."

[Bobbie Jo]

17. Her fatal mistake

She allowed McConnell to direct the narrative, and then inevidably played right into it.

This case should be textbook - how NOT to run a campaign.

[kentuck]

19. True, but...

they ran against Obama in every campaign... It worked better in some places than other. Obama was hated in Kentucky.

[Bobbie Jo]

20. Playing the defensive is a losing strategy

She spent way too much time and energy distancing herself from Obama. It made her look disingenuous and weak, IMO....

[kentuck]

22. Maybe?

But she wasn't the only one. They all lost. It was a strategy by Republicans to put Obama on the ballot in every race. They knew he was unpopular. Moreso in some states than others. None moreso than Kentucky.

[Scootaloo]

118. And so the Democrats played according to Republican strategy when they ran

[flamingdem]

32. +1

[Cha]

116. There ya go, Bobbie Jo! You go on the Offense and Offer what Dems are about.. and hell

yes I voted for Obama and here's why... insert accomplishments that mean something and be proud of it. Do not mitch make you into chicken little. 'Cause he's the big Lyin' Chicken.

[UTUSN]

23. Chas PIERCE said it, how much WORSE could it be (in outcome) for Dems to have STOOD BY Obama?!1

Last edited Fri Nov 7, 2014, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Instead of running away and not touting the accomplishments.

[font size=5]"How much worse could it possibly have been for all of them had they stood by the president and his record?"[/font]--Charles P. PIERCE, http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Election_Night_2014

[Cha]

130. Instead of letting hate radio and fox "news" run the show. Stood by Obama's and Dems'

Accomplishments.

Damn, we'll never know.

[still_one]

28. She would have lost either way. What do you think KY is? When was the last time

A Democrat won a Senate race in Ky?

[Kelvin Mace]

34. Always a first time

and we'll find out how running as a real liberal works when someone tries it someday.

[bravenak]

38. I am really starting to see your point.

Things are becoming clearer.

[still_one]

43. In KY?

[LondonReign2]

56. Why not?

We know running AWAY from Democratic principles results in a huge loss. Maybe we should try a different approach.

[Kelvin Mace]

84. Yes, even in Kentucky.

Anything is possible that doesn't violate the laws of physics.

[treestar]

52. Why do you think that's going to work on Kentucky conservatives?

If the conservatives could only hear the liberals really being liberal, they'd turn into liberals. That's naively idealistic.

Right wingers think the same. If we only heard real conservatives, we'd turn into Bible thumpers.

[BillZBubb]

104. Funny. I love your tell--"the democrat problem"

I'm sure you know a lot of conservatives. Birds of a feather and all.

[noiretextatique]

142. LOL...they are useful idiots for the GOP

we know what they believe and think...and it's all nonsense. Democrats need to focus getting sane people to vote them, not conservatives.

[Kelvin Mace]

83. Most people SUPPORT liberal views

if you explain it right. Just don't call them liberal views. Grimes lost because she didn't defend the liberal programs that were popular in Kentucky, she let Yertle the Turtle DEFINE her as a "liberal" and never bother to define herself other than "not Obama".

[still_one]

89. If that is true then most of the republicans in congress, and most of the republicans in the country

would be demanding that they adopt Bernie Sanders views.

Your premise that most people support liberal views I do not think is a valid assumption

[Kelvin Mace]

92. So, no conservative

supports Social Security or Medicare? All conservatives who get arrested refuse court-appointed attorneys? All conservatives reject disability benefits, unemployment, and student loans/grants?

Most people support liberal views when it comes to their own situation. The job of a sensible candidate is to frame it that way.

[still_one]

96. No they don't. In fact they want the taxes they paid into those systems returned to them

[Kelvin Mace]

133. Gosh, every single conservative on Kentucky

how unusual.

[Union Scribe]

106. Then it would have been better to lose with gusto

than to flounder and flop, and run away from her principles and still lose.

[still_one]

108. To me your argument is the ONLY one that makes sense. Unless, of course one subscribes to Howard

Deans' 50 state strategy.

Some states want liberal representation, and we should run liberals in those states. Some states want conservative representation, and we should run conservatives in those states, if we follow the Howard Dean strategy

[hatrack]

123. If you're going to die, at least die with your boots on.

She was pathetic - a fearful, timid little (small-d) democrat flinching at her own shadow and unwilling to come out and fucking FIGHT.

When your opponent lies (as McTurtle did, saying that he'd repeal ACA, but residents of Kentucky could keep Kynect, which was unadulterated bullshit) CALL him on it.

Candidates who refuse to fight back, who refuse to say what they believe in, who refuse to take on their opponents, do not deserve to win. Grimes sure as shit fit this bill.

[fadedrose]

127. I believe their governor is a Dem...

[still_one]

138. He is. Different issue

[negoldie]

137. Sometime

in the 80's early 90's when Wendall Ford ran his last campaign. Slips my mind who Jim Bunning ran against after Ford retired. Someone will jog my memory I'm sure.
Lastly, don't take the Clinton's advice. Learn to lead with your heart dumbass. Many of us democrats can see a conservadem from miles away.....I voted Grimes, spoke to hundreds of folks that supported Grimes. Saw nothing but Grimes signs in folks yard, yet the turtle triumphs again because he can always say I'm awful, bad for the country, worse senator ever. But my opponent is worse. He has run every campaign since he defeated Huddleston back in '84. Slimy fucker that McConnell.

[flamingdem]

30. Yes, unmitigated

Learning experience for dinos.

[Kelvin Mace]

31. Other than the several dozen regular posters here

and at Kos (who were shouted down by the "pragmatists" who accused us of being purity trolls) who could foreseen such and outcome?

[DinahMoeHum]

37. Agreed. Our candidates should NOT be apologizing. . .

. . .for ANYTHING our current POTUS says or does. I don't give a fuck what the factoids are.

[TomCADem]

40. Bottom Line: Democrats Need To Own and Defend Our Successes

Unfortunately, many Democrats end up adopting Fox News type talking points in an effort to close the distance between themselves and their Republican rivals in the false hope that they would be seen as an acceptable alternative by mid-term voters who tend to skew older white. The problem is that it does not work. If you can't win in a lowturn out election, then run in a Presidential year with our base, rather than trying to kowtow to the Republican base.

[Boom Sound 416]

41. She didn't run to the right

She ran to the Clintons

[Jackpine Radical]

51. That's not running to the right?

[Boom Sound 416]

65. Touché

[Old Nick]

42. In the words of my mom, "Looks good on her!"

And I have ZERO sympathy.

[Robbins]

44. Grimes

She rana way from Obama because she voted for romney.

Grimes is loyal to herself and the Clintons.Not to dems and leadership.

[Freddie Stubbs]

45. She should have brought Obama in to campaign with her like Anthony Brown did in MD

[theHandpuppet]

122. And we all know how well that worked out

For the Republicans, at least.

[treestar]

49. Not sure

The state is very red, so she'd have lost in McGovern numbers likely with a real, real, Democratic leftist progressive platform. I don't think someone like her is dumb. It's just going to be hard for Democrats in states like that. We've had this argument over Blue Dogs, too. It is reality that the people in those states are majority really, really, religious and conservative.

[sheshe2]

50. It sure was a disaster.eom

[tritsofme]

53. Her problem was that she ran an epically bad campaign.

Especially in the final stretch. Her Obama vote question was probably the dumbest political answer I have ever heard.

The woman was an Obama delegate for chrissakes!

Running to the right wasn't necessarily her problem, she was in Kentucky where Obama had a 30% approval rating so it would always be a tall climb, but the unforced errors doomed her.

[LondonReign2]

60. Running to the right compounded the errors

As I've said elsewhere, she portrayed herself as a gun shootin', coal lovin, jesus fearin, can't-remember-my-party-affiliation almost-like-a-republican candidate. Is it any wonder the base stayed home?

[kentuck]

64. She was accused of being a "baby-killin', "atheist"....

I don't agree with your portrayal. Just because she shot a gun or defended the coal miners in her state, does not make her a "Republican". She took some very progressive stands. But, I guess there might be some issues that would disqualify her with many progressives here? Soon, if we keep that attitude, we will have less than 100 members in the House... for real.

[LondonReign2]

67. Do you think the way she portrayed herself

fired up the base?

[kentuck]

98. I think she probably helped to keep the State Legislature blue...

So Rand Paul will have to resign his Senate seat if he wants to run for President.

I think it could have been much worse. She got about 600,000 votes, which was not bad for an apathetic Party.

Under the circumstances, nobody was going to beat Mitch McConnell, in Kentucky, the Leader of the Republican Party.

We may note that some Democrats did worse than Alison under less challenging conditions.

[riversedge]

81. I agree. It was the last stretch where she fell down..I do not

know enough about ken politics and have only observed from afar. But she was up against a powerful man in Congress. I give her credit for trying--and for giving Mitch a rough time. I am sorry to see Mitch in congress as the head man. He has been there far too long and should have been put out to pasture!

[SansACause]

62. Obama won in 2012 with the biggest landslide election in modern times.

Obama crushed Romney 51-47 % in 2012. That's the biggest blowout Presidential win in modern history. Clinton never got 50% of the vote in either of his two elections! Two years later, his own party ran away from him in hopes of bamboozling voters into thinking they were Republicans instead of Democrats. Grimes wouldn't even admit she VOTED for Obama. I'm not really sure who came up with that strategy. If you can't enthuse your own party members to come out and vote for you, how are you supposed to enthuse Republican voters to do it?

[Skittles]

63. I will ask again

what makes you so sure she voted for him?

[Chathamization]

82. In 2012, Obama lost Kentucky by 23%. Grimes did better this year, under much less favorable

circumstances.

[madville]

86. Obama lost KY 37-60 in 2012

If she had run with him and had him come in and campaign I doubt she would have managed anymore than the 40% she got by distancing herself. I didn't expect McConnell to get 56% though, I figured he would win 50-42 so the +16 result was kind of a surprise.

[tritsofme]

87. Obama won decisively, but I wouldn't call either election a landslide.

Clinton was denied 50% of the popular vote both times only due to Ross Perot. Clinton's margin of victory was 6 and 9 points respectively, which puts them about even in their first elections with an edge to Clinton in the second.

Clinton also scored marginally more impressive Electoral College victories in both of his elections compared to Obama.

[Freddie Stubbs]

139. How well did Obama do in Kentucky during his 2012 landslide?

[Tommy2Tone]

68. Good, glad she is gone.

We might as well fight the right than have a Repubadem in office. There is a lesson here but I doubt other republican lite democrats will pay any attention.

[kentuck]

74. Something to note:

When Repubs feel threatened by a person, they attack him/her unmercifully. You haven't heard the end of ALG.

[George II]

70. I lost all respect for her after I saw her refuse to address the question about voting for Obama...

...and she was just a point or two behind McConnell at that time. She wound up losing by SIXTEEN percent!

[kentuck]

75. Maybe that was a mistake?

Maybe not?

She wanted to be identified with the Clintons, a longtime family friend of the Lundergans.

I don't think anyone would have beaten McConnell in this race with Obama at 30% in the polls?

I would not be so quick to throw people under the bus.

[George II]

85. But as I pointed out she was maybe 2% behind McConnell a week before, she lost by eight times that %

[theHandpuppet]

124. The polling this year was shown to be light years off the mark

And not just in Kentucky. Look at what happened in Virginia.

[Drunken Irishman]

76. Grimes lost because she failed to articulate ACA effectively.

She woefully allowed McConnell to drive home the narrative that Obamacare was bad but that he'd save the ACA's Kentucky exchange - which he pretty much admits to wanting to defund.

By running away from Obama's accomplishments, she basically gave ground to McConnell on a whole host of issues.

[Major Hogwash]

97. Except for the fact that Kentucky is 90% white and Obama is black, and the Koch brothers spent . . .

. . . $50 million dollars supporting McConnell, you might have a point.

But, the people of Kentucky weren't listening to her anyway.

[Drunken Irishman]

100. She failed. Plain and simple.

She didn't need to defend Obama - she could have defended the ACA. She failed spectacularly. Most Kentuckians WANT to keep their healthcare - she failed at telling them that repealing the ACA will do away with her healthcare. She was too afraid to be tied to the ACA to defend it, allowing McConnell to convince voters the ACA was not the same as their healthcare. What a joke.

[kentuck]

102. Please don't say that?

She may be the next Governor of Kentucky. I think some of her decisions may have had something to do with her family being a long-time friend of the Clintons, even her decision not to say who she voted for? She has known the Clintons since she was 14 years old. Who do you think could have done better against McConnell, under the same circumstances?

[Drunken Irishman]

103. I don't deal in hypotheticals...

What I do know is that she was presented a golden opportunity and on one of the biggest issues where she could score points, she failed. Her messaging on the ACA was muddled at best and disastrous at worse.

Now Kentuckians, without much pushback, reelected a guy who wants to kill their healthcare - and the irony is that none of 'em seem to realize it. That's a message fail.

[kentuck]

105. You may be right on that point?

But you don't know much about Kentucky voters, it appears?

[Drunken Irishman]

107. I know they all can't be walking idiots.

If she hammered home the point that the ACA going away meant Kynect went away, too, she might've had a chance.

[kentuck]

113. Even if Obama's approval was 29%?

No, they are not all walking idiots. Alison Grimes did better than some Democrats, and under tougher conditions, and against the Republican Leader of the Senate, and with a President at 29% approval. I think she did damn well under the circumstances.

[Drunken Irishman]

114. Yes. Because apparently Kynect is popular there.

[Major Hogwash]

110. Let me give you some figures.

Hillary Clinton spent over $30 million dollars in her re-election bid for Senator of the state of New York in 2006.
The state of New York had approximately 19 million residents in 2006.
A lot of political pundits were amazed at how much money she spent to get re-elected.
Hillary outspent her opponent, Jeanine Pirro, something like 10 to 1.

This year the Koch brothers spent at least $50 million dollars supporting McConnell in his re-election bid.
No one knows yet just how much the total amount of money McConnell spent for his own re-election in the state of Kentucky.
And we won't know until he files his last campaign finance report sometime later this year.

However, Kentucky is a much smaller state than New York.
The state of Kentucky only has approximately 4.2 residents in 2014.
Yet, this year McConnell just spent at least twice as much money as Hillary did back in 2006!

I don't know what the final dollar/vote will be for McConnell, but it will set a new record.
Of that, I am positive.
It will be way up there, way up in the upper stratosphere, somewhere well above $75/vote!!!

[dbackjon]

77. 100% Agree

[tabasco]

80. Truman knew what the hell he as talking about. n/t

[Puzzledtraveller]

88. Most definitely was a bad move.

I said this often, getting Democrats to get and vote was very important, what was she thinking? She was going to peel off moderates and conservatives? Those people were already opposed to her, midterms really should be like the pep rally to the general election and you need to get your base energized and mobilized. She failed there big time.

[mopinko]

90. i hear tell

her campaign sucked like the vacuum of space.

[moondust]

99. "Low poll numbers."

Even if it's just an MSM narrative, lots of politicians will probably avoid them like the plague for fear of being dragged down themselves by them.

[still_one]

101. You hit the nail on the head. If only she only ran to the left she would have won KY by a landslide

Yup, take to the folks in KY about global warming, and those coal folks will love you to death

[bluestateguy]

111. Should have gone with Ashley Judd

nt

[wyldwolf]

119. there's the quote again.

The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat...

Out of context (but if used in YOUR context, factually untrue.)

[grahamhgreen]

120. Maybe she DIDN'T VOTE for Obama???

[fadedrose]

125. What idiot told her not to say who she voted for in '08?

or was it '12? She should find another mentor. Quick.

How could she be a Hillary Democrat when there's nobody named Hillary in the government. Very confusing.

(It's not as though Obama is thoroughly hated in Kentucky. She was, what?, 15 points behind? That means that the ones who voted for her do not hate Obama and she let them down with her cowardice....using the excuse that the voting booth is sacred, but not too sacred to say that she voted for Clinton. Strange people).

[Cha]

131. I know, huh, fadedrose.. She said she was a Clinton Dem.. and the difference is?..

Whiteness?! I'm sure she didn't mean that but..you're right... very weird. Clinton's not in Office... Obama is. that the difference? Everyone is on the hate Obama wagon so she is too? smh

She actually said she voted for Hillary? omgs I heard she was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Obama.. Oooops.

[kentuck]

135. I wonder if that might have come from DSCC.??

They knew the President's ratings were very low in Kentucky?
Who knows?

[fadedrose]

147. Why couldn't she do what others did?

Say that she did not approve of all of the President's actions/opinions where coal was involved . . . and say she planned to try to persuade him to change his mind....

Don't people in Kentucky care about a candidate's honesty? I wonder if Grimes is still a "Clinton" Democrat.

[kentuck]

148. Her situation was not the same as others.

Yes, I suppose she will still be a Clinton Democrat.
What "dishonesty" did you disapprove of?

[fadedrose]

151. Well, it was not dishonesty..

But her refusal to say who she voted for in the election because of the sacred voting booth was dishonest. She had no trouble with the sacred voting booth admitting that she was a Clinton Democrat which had to mean she voted for Hillary in 2008, but maybe not. We'll never know, not because the voting booth is sacred, but she's afraid to be honest.

I don't really think she was dishonest, and that it was a lack of courage she needed not to throw Obama under the bus. The governor is a Democrat so whatever he did to get elected is what she might have tried...

Some elected Dems don't hold with gun control laws, abortions, marijuana, gay marriage, and other Democratic beliefs, but they get elected even when their views are known if they are for the meat/potato ideas Dems have about SS, Unemployment Ins., Unions, and a host of other popular ideals.

[kentuck]

155. Obama threw her under the bus..

..some might say, with his EO on carbon emissions back in May of this year, just as she was trying to gain support of the miners in her state, who were being laid off by the thousands. His timing had little concern for her political future. But, in the end, she did better than Barack Obama did in his last election. Maybe all candidates should be obligated to vote with the President regardless of how it might affect their own electoral chances? I hate to see her thrown under the bus after such a courageous fight against Mitch McConnell.

[fadedrose]

126. Good for Harry Truman

It's time somebody alive today said what he said.

[JustAnotherGen]

128. Bravo!

[get the red out]

129. Racism beat her in Kentucky

Too many people in this state despise the President, and racism, not policy, is the reason.

[nolabels]

140. And it won't change unless there is reason for the change

When somebody is forced to see people as just people then change occurs. The tipping point often comes in a wink of eye

[True Blue Door]

134. Thus ever for Vichy Dems.

[NM_Birder]

141. Being anti coal,... in a state that depends on coal was not a brilliant game plan.

The refusal to say she voted for Obama was just extra fuel on the fire.

[LondonReign2]

143. Excpet she was very much pro-coal

"Coal keeps the lights on in Kentucky—plain and simple—and I will not stand idle as overreaching regulation adversely impacts jobs and middle-class families. Any new regulations must take into account the impact on Kentucky jobs and be based on current technology that will not drive Kentucky coal out of business," Grimes said.

Yeah, it is a wonder positions like this didn't get the base out to vote.

[NM_Birder]

146. A wonderful piece of the script, meant for public acceptance.

The several times Grimes' staff was caught on tape gossiping about how she was just saying that to get elected had an impact. Grimes ran against McConell,..... a polished and experienced politician who made a career of winning elections.

Regardless what "pro-coal" speeches she made, her poorly ran campaign and sloppy support structure gave some voters reason to question her real truth regarding coal, her inability to support President Obama gave some voters pause on what her true political motives might be, and then the professional campaigner opponent sliced off an even larger portion of the voting block.

For all her good intentions, for all the polls that showed how close it was, the results showed clearly she was not the "one" to unseat Mitch McConnell. It's a shame, A better candidate, with a better organized structure may have been able to pull it off.

[kentuck]

150. Obviously. ..

Some folks here believed the Republican side of the story.

[NM_Birder]

153. Obviously...... What was thought to be just a few percentage points of difference in polling

turned out to be a little different.

I don't live in Kentucky, but I have to wonder, did your state REALLY think it was as close as the rest of us did ? Or was it as big a long shot as it turned out to be all along ?

[kentuck]

157. Her supporters were very enthusiastic...

The rest of the Party was dead. Totally apathetic. She tried and failed. She does not deserve any more criticism than others that tried the same strategy. Personally, I think the Clintons hurt her more than her refusal to say who she voted for. Just my opinion.

[NM_Birder]

159. you know more than I, I've never actually set foot in Kentucky.

looking at the race from across the country it sure looked like it would have been closer than it was. Unlikely there was one single factor that shifted everyone so much. I would guess there lots of things adding up to cause voters to lose confidence.

I only know what the "news" reports so....... what is, is ........ and what I was led to believe,..... ain't.
I'm not convinced the Clinton's are helping anyone, anywhere, anymore.

[LondonReign2]

160. Right, and there was the problem

"Just saying it to get elected" is an incredibly poor way to try to win an election. If the insincerity doesn't shine through -- which it sounds like in this case it did-- then you are still stuck with failing to deliver on what you promised during your campaign.

[NM_Birder]

162. better the devil you know....,

most everybody I know feels this way.

regardless what the "unemployment rate" is at 5.9%, the last six years have been as hard and challenging as any other time my friends and I can remember, (I'm 45). Most people who were starting up the economic food chain in 2008, got the muddy end of the stick the last six years........ Telling people they are better off, when they are not isn't the hope and change they expected. Tell all the still unemployed, and all the people in financial ruin and forclosure how wonderful the unemployment rate is, better yet call em stupid for not understanding, ..that worked out well.

The mis-information needs to be addressed,.....not just chant "republicans are bad and stupid and racist and ignorant". For the last 14 years, "republicans are stupid, ignorant, racist, homophone bible thumping pigs" is the message the Democratic party has lived, ....reject half the population, and then misrepresent the agenda to the other half and this is what you get........... a rev ed up opposition, and a depressed Democratic base. Viola ....... red red everywhere and not a clue why.

The House is red, the Senate is red, and the most disturbing of all, state legislature races are stacked red all over the place.

there will be a flood of finger pointers here in a second to "tell me the way it really is". Meanwhile, I'm very glad I started my own preparations for financial ruin BEFORE the 24 hours "news and opinion" bullshit cycle started.

[kentuck]

144. You cannot prove a negative...

We do not and cannot know how she would have done if she had embraced Obama? Maybe she would have defeated McConnell? Maybe she would have reached Obama's approval rating? We cannot know.

[LondonReign2]

145. No, we can't know that

What we do know is that her actual strategy of embracing coal, guns, and jesus resulted in a colossal failure.

[brooklynite]

149. Name a candidate who cozied up to Obama and won.....

Looking for simple answers as to why we lost is a waste of time. Did we run "Republican light" for Governor in Massachusetts and Maryland?

[SoCalDem]

152. Her screechy, sing-song-y whiney voice was no help to her either

I wish someone would have sent Mitch packing, but she was not the one to do it..

[kentuck]

158. I disagree with that description..

[ecstatic]

154. Her strategy of using the Clintons

while ignoring the current first family was an utter disaster. Her team was convinced that Kentucky voters were racist and stupid. The Clintons played along with it, but at the end of the day, all of their visits and speeches didn't do anything. They should all be embarrassed.

[SableonBlonde]

161. Judd wouldn't have performed any worse than ALG.

There's no doubt Mitch would have hammered Ashley Judd on everything from her depression, divorce, living out of state, to her being a "Hollywood liberal." But for all of Alison's pandering, she got blown out anyway. In some of the rural counties, she only pulled in 25% of the vote. It's hard to imagine Judd would have done any worse than that. And, Judd may have built more support in Lexington and Louisville. Grimes won Lexington by only 5,000 votes. That's pathetic. Turnout in Louisville was 20% less than predicted. Congressman Yarmuth got more votes in Jefferson County than Grimes. I'd be willing to bet Judd would have down better. She may have appealed more to young people, who, for the most part, sat out this election.

And, she would have embraced the ACA, which has benefited more than half a million people in this state. She would have been honest about coal to Eastern Kentuckians, instead of feeding them lies that their coal jobs will come back.

Ugh.

[kentuck]

164. I'm not so sure....

I noticed in the NYTimes today that Kentucky finished ahead of 38 states in voter turnout. I think she turned out more Democrats to vote than would have been the case but she also caused more Republicans to get out the vote. Just my opinion, but another Democrat may have been hard-pressed to get 20% in the apathetic state of Kentucky.