The Coakley vs. White House snit fit that Ben Smith is chronicling at Politico is simply too rich to ignore. Predictably, the White House is spinning the “bad candidate” meme while the Coakley camp is pointing a finger at the tin eared, obtuse political strategy of a White House consumed with cramming unpopular policy down on an already energized electorate.
The adviser, who cited internal polling numbers to make the case, e-mails that, “There’s more to the story than that. If Martha is guilty of taking the race for granted, so is the White House and the DNC.”
The adviser pointed to internal polling to argue that Coakley held a wide — 20 point — lead on Dec. 19, and that the damage she took between that survey and a Jan. 5 Rasmussen poll putting the race at 9 points came from the national scene: The Senate vote on health care, with the controversy over Ben Nelson’s deal for Nebraska, and the Christmas Day bombing.
There are only two egos inside the White House that are capable of ignoring what has become common knowledge among the electorate since the Virginia and New Jersey gubanatorial elections, the retirement of several Democratic incumbents and a free fall in approval ratings for a President that won office a mere year ago. These same two egos are hell bent on repeating the mistake of Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the French Revolution, who said to the National Convention:
“What is the goal toward which we are heading? The peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality…? The Terror is nothing other than than prompt, severe,inflexible justice”
Not surprisingly this same justice, in the span of one short year, has been visited upon many once invulnerable Democrats. Tonight another Democratic head topples into the basket of political hubris and the two monumental egos in the White House are still blaming others as they ignore their own peril. Smart White House staffers should be reading up tonight about what ultimately happened to Robespierre because their bosses are plainly out of touch with the mob they have summoned.
