Ask Dr. Liberal: Coons is in the Club Edition
Dear Doctor Liberal,
Do you think Chris Coons has the guts to really go after Castle? I view Castle as the incumbent in this race and they say to beat an incumbent you need to make the race a referendum on the person. Can Coons do that?
Sparky
Dear Sparky,
No. Sorry to be the one to break this to you, but Coons does not have the Balzac required to make like a whacked out hippie bongo drummer on Castle’s head. You see Sparky, Coons is in the club. I’m not sure why he is running, but it is not to win a senate seat. As you correctly point out, to win a Senate seat, he would need to try to ruin Mike Castle’s reputation and people in the club don’t go there. Also, I’m pretty sure Yale Divinity students are not trained for that kind of combat.
“But Wait!” sez you, “Coons could ruin Castle’s reputation by simply telling the truth about Castle’s record.” And I reply, “You aren’t one of those liberals who still thinks that the truth has some magical power, are you?” The truth is irrelevant when going against a Republican incumbent in a post-Bush election. The only thing that matters in fighting spirit. It is fighting spirit that gets the base motivated. It is fighting spirit that makes vaguely interested people go for their credit card. It is fighting spirit that sways the undecideds. Markell had a little more of it than Carney and look how that turned out.
But don’t take my word for it. Listen for the formal announcement. If Coons rolls out some bland horse shit about making life better for Delaware families do yourself a favor and save your money. If he goes after Castle with a pick axe in his formal announcement I promise to revisit this topic.
Ever your faithful servant,
Dr. Liberal
Corrections:
[Editor’s note – Dr. Liberal’s column was submitted last week, but not published until the day after the Super Bowl. Luckily, I made a boatload of money off of his pick.]
My record is still unblemished. But let me state categorically that the Saints will win the Super Bowl, that way there is a 50/50 chance that I may have something to correct next week.
In the meantime, you know you have a question that only the Doctor can help you with. Don’t be shy dear child. Take the red pill. Until then…
The Doctor is out!
Tags: Chris Coons, Dr. Liberal, Mike Castle
I think the third way, and perhaps the way most likely to be successful, is to make age an issue a la Boggs v. Biden. If he goes too negative, he risks turning off the moderates who, while irritating at times, are vital to a Democratic victory in Delaware. Historically, there is a hesistant progressivism in Delaware’s record. Coons needs to find a way to work that to his favor. Publicitiy, raising recognition, pointing out the flaws in Castle’s record where there are major one’s while complimenting Castle personally but pointing out his “experience” and “time in Washington” might be the best way to go. Link him with “aged establishment” and he might be ok. I wholly agree that the tone of his announcement will be key. He can’t be Mr. Nice Guy, but you can fight hard without fighting dirty.
Whatever the strategy is, he has to start at the announcement if he is going to sway Delaware voters away from Castle. Waiting for October to label Castle and draw contrasts is too late.
Judging from his website,
http://coons2010.com/index.html
Coons has yet to take a stand on any issue.
So …Why should we vote for Chris Coons?
McKain, A muddle way will not get it done. This
must be an un-Delaware way throw down. Like Dr. L, I don’t see it happening.
What’s that saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”?
If Coons doesn’t aggressively link Castle to his record of saying one thing and backing the Rethug policies on the other, then, not only will he have no raison d’etre for his candidacy, but he won’t find people flocking to work on his campaign. Except for those who want jobs, win or lose. And they’re already working for him.
Is the announcement scheduled?
He’s in a really tough spot, as he’s up against an institution. Many on the left are disenchanted and would love for him to come out as a fire-breathing liberal. I don’t think he’ll do that, mainly because it wouldn’t work, but also I just don’t think it’s part of his nature. My point was simply that he can be clear and concise about his differences with Castle without alienating the center-left that will either otherwise buy Castle’s line about being a moderate, vote for the name they know, or stay home, again because of disenchantment. It’s going to be a tightrope act the whole way, and the lack of a major state media is going to mean that grassroot support and ground game are going to matter more than anything else. I look forward to his announcement and getting starting changing some minds!
The easiest way to go after Castle is to go after him on the Recovery Act and his efforts to water down financial reform for the credit card companies. Both of these directly affect middle class voters. Rachel Maddow has already paved the way. VIDEO
What would be a great outcome of all of this is that Mike Castle will support the Jobs Bill now in the pipeline. What are the odds?
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Many on the left are disenchanted and would love for him to come out as a fire-breathing liberal. I don’t think he’ll do that, mainly because it wouldn’t work, but also I just don’t think it’s part of his nature
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AGREED Coons is a DLC clone of Tom Carper. Some wonder if another Carper is any better than a Mike Castle.