GOP Strategist: Democrats Blundered by Hiding Barack Obama

[outsideworld]

[link:http://time.com/3565624/republican-senate-obama-election/|

“They sidelined the president,” Rob Collins, the Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) told reporters at a backslapping post-election briefing. Instead, Collins argued, Democrats shouldn’t have been scared off by Republican attempts to tie Obama to their candidates.

Collins said NRSC polling had long identified the economy as the issues voters cared about most, and one where Democrats stood to gain. “We felt that that was their best message and they sidelined their best messenger,” he said. Collins added that in many states, Democratic candidates had positive stories to tell. “In Colorado, unemployment is 5.1 percent and they never talked about it,” he added.

“They were so focused on independents that they forgot they had a base,” Collins said of Democratic Senate candidates. “They left their base behind. They became Republican-lite.”

SMFH .....So much for running away from the president

http://time.com/3565624/republican-senate-obama-election/

[villager]

1. “They were so focused on independents that they forgot they had a base,”

"They became Republican-lite"

And the actual Republicans who showed up at the polls -- while the base stayed away -- voted for the real thing.

[upaloopa]

2. That sounds like what lot of DUers were saying

Again we have some smart people here only we don't know it's until too late.
You all should stand up and take a bow
Here is the problem as I see it. If you wait until you hear what you want to hear to vote you may never hear it and you don't vote. But if you vote no matter what we win!

[Filibuster Harry]

3. The Dems could have mentioned how their policies have been STOPPED or STALLED by the R house

due to the midterms of 2010 and that if a R controlled senate happened then any policies concerning the middle class
and our economy would definitely take a hit. And then list our agenda, what we stand for, why we stand and support this President
and compare our agenda to the R agenda.

[Phlem]

20. for some reason they fear the bully pulpit.

Also the whole party (not boots on the ground) seemed in disarray. They weren't unified across the nation. Seemed like it was every man/woman for themselves. I would love to see the next Democratic President make that mike an extra appendage of his/her body.

[bravenak]

4. I wonder if it will be believed now that a republican says it.

[mazzarro]

5. In DU we knew all these things and hollered about them too, to no avail

But for the Dem leadership, it is all totally different since they are either idiots or chose not care.
We, at DU, are not listened to as we are not part of the leadership's pro-corporate political advisers/experts because they do not want their gravy-boat rocked.

[bravenak]

6. I suppose we will have to find our own dems for the primaries and take the party back.

That is actually an exciting prospect.

[Phlem]

16. ^^^^This^^^^

an actual live Democrat, not the 3rd way anymore. I here they still exist and hide mostly anymore, however, in the late morning hours if your quite.......

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. "If a tree falls in the forest ...

and there is no white ... er, republican ... around to witness it ..."

[bravenak]

9. LOL!!

You been killing it today. Quietly.

[AleksS]

26. Excellent point.

We were quick enough to believe republicans when they told Democrats to run away from Obama.

[bravenak]

27. Always taking political advice from the opposing party.

Makes perfect sense.

[craigmatic]

7. We forgot the lessons of 2012 get your base fired up first and stand behind your president.

I bet Obama could still win re-election if he could run again.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. There seemed to be no message coming from our party during this election

The efforts and successes of President Obama and other Democrats were hardly mentioned. However the media are responsible for muting the Democratic message.

[blkmusclmachine]

11. The "lib'rul" media did its job as hatchetmen for the GOP.

SSDD

[NHDEMFORLIFE]

23. I am not defending the national media, but ...

They are generally lazy, so they snatch up the first good soundbite and run with it. Republicans know this and offer their meme as early as they can, and stay with it until the end.
This time, it was: "The President is inept, divisive and partisan. He and his lapdogs in the House and the Senate are the cause of all this governmental gridlock and anything on the face of the Earth that is not as it should be. And Obamacare - that is the worst government program in history and is ruining the country."
The media reports this over and over and over and over again, and presto! The perception morphs into reality.
Meanwhile, we sputter and fume, allowing this to happen without offering anything remotely resembling a counter-punch. Instead of making any attempt at offering an easily memorable soundbite of our own, and run away from the best campaigner the Democratic Party now has.
We can tell ourselves that the media screwed us, the Supreme Court screwed us, blah, blah, blah and blah, as if we have no control at all over our fate.
We took a solid 2012 victory and frittered it away in a matter of weeks - not years, not months The Republicans began their 2014 campaign the minute Karl Rove realized that Ohio was gone, and they didn't let up for a second.
It was not Reagan or either Bush who devised this game plan - it was Nixon, nearly a half-century ago. And we still can't, or won't, come up with a counter-punch.
Boehner and McConnell are already arranging the stage so that the first time the the White House and/or Congressional Democrats oppose them on anything, they can scream "See, See! We told you, it's all their fault."
Being high-minded and studied on the issues are wonderful things when it comes to governing. But to govern, you need to win elections, and you can't fight "Obamacare Sucks" with "Well, actually, x-number of people have benefited from it according to the Congressional Budget Office, and there have been studies that show this, that and the other thing ...:

[Old Nick]

12. No shit!

DURec

[Baitball Blogger]

13. No shit Sherlock.

[thesquanderer]

14. Duh.

I'm pretty critical of the Obama administration in many ways (lack of transparency, handling of whistleblowers, civil liberties, drones...) but Republicans are certainly no better... and to the extent that elections largely come down to "it's the economy, stupid," Obama had strong legs to stand on, the progress in 6 years has been huge. The candidates should have played off the strengths of the Obama administration. Instead, the Dem candidates competed with Repub candidates for who hated Obama more... and the Republicans obviously are going to win that game. Dems let themselves be framed by their enemies. There was a lot of strength to play off with Obama, and they gave it all away. And if they had allowed Obama to campaign for them, not only would it have been better for them, it also would have been better for Obama's own popularity, and maybe we could be looking at a strong two years to come instead of just trying to keep the barbarians at the gate.

[Phlem]

15. I would take this with a grain of salt.

Remember, they will say and do anything to continue the fuckery we just went through. I don't believe this guy is actually going to be honest, even now.

But I do somewhat agree with this:

“They left their base behind. They became Republican-lite.”

Even though they have the tea party, they can be unified as hell come election time. Must be all the red meat.

I also think that 16 years of the 3rd way is enough. We voted them in twice and now w're going to do it for the 3rd time. To me that's insanity.

[groundloop]

17. IMO GOPers will nearly always be better at politics than Democrats

And I totally agree, every damned Democratic candidate should have been in lock-step bragging all the good that has happened in the last 6 years. Screw the fact that the ACA roll-out was clumsy, brag about the millions of Americans who now have health insurance, brag about not letting insurance companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Scream off the highest mountain how the economy was rescued from the brink of failure. Point out how it was a DEMOCRAT who put Bin-Laden out of our misery. And on and on....

[zentrum]

18. Npw that a Republican

.......has told them, maybe they'll believe it.

That seems to be the seal of approval that the Dem Leadership needs.

[mazzarro]

22. Yes indeed

The far-left, hippie, radical socialist/communists don't matter until a reThuglican confirms it!

[stillwaiting]

19. Oh, they definitely became Republican-lite. Democrats in office/running for office excel at that. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

21. Gore distanced himself from Clinton

Otherwise, maybe the margin would have been too wide for the GOP to steal in 2000.

[smorkingapple]

24. I threw up when I heard this. This is why you don't pay attention to media when running campaigns

They do not have your best interests at heart. For all of the "liberal media" bullshit these guys have consistently been on the "Obama is a liability" train.

You were already tied to Obama no matter what. You could have called him a scumbag and said you voted for Romney and McCain and they were going to say you loved him and were a rubber stamp.

When you are accused of being a rubber stamp answer should have been "no I'm not a rubber stamp. I spent time analyzing the policies Obama proposed and by and large I was in agreement with them. Unlike my opponent who probably can't even tell you why he opposes the policies. I'm no rubber stamp but he sure is for Mitch McConnell who puts a battery in his back everyday."

[blm]

25. That's it - THANK YOU!!

Must be spread - I think GOP voter base who claim that we lost because Obama is 'worst president eve' should know that the GOP strategists who urged them to spread that narrative didn't believe the BS they crafted for their target audience. They expected their voters to fall for the propaganda crafted for them, convince themselves that it MUST be true, and spread it like good little sheep.

[Todays_Illusion]

28. Lies and cover stories, This election was bought and the MSM provided

rull support and are now providing the conservative think tank created talking point cover story for the grievous take over of our nation.

Why are you believing this, did you ignore the propaganda for the last year, the last 6 years?
The Democratic/liberal message is not allowed. Only attacks

And Democratic, your party now owned by corporate and libertarian billionaires. Not labor and liberals.