Free Advice For Chris Coons, Part 2
Like we discussed yesterday, we at Delaware Liberal are offering absolutely free advice to Chris Coons in his Senate run against Mike Castle. Unlike a lot of people, I believe Castle is beatable. In fact, I think Coons could be in a great position if he plays his cards right. Castle is the de facto incumbent in an anti-incumbent year. Coons can run as a Washington outsider and as a man who understands the needs of Delaware. It should be simple to paint Castle as a long-time Washington insider who votes with his party above his state and who doesn’t understand the issues facing Delaware.
I know there’s a lot of concern about Coons turning off independents by looking too partisan. However the problem I see is that a significant portion of Castle’s support comes from Democrats. Coons is going to have to woo back and excite Democrats if he wants to win. So, how will he do that?
First I think he needs an energized base. As we discussed yesterday, the netroots is a subset of the base, but with high influence. In my opinion, Coons should try to energize the netroots, then energize the base and then appeal to independents. The base is where you get the volunteers you need to win the election. So, what issues excite the base?
Health Care Reform
Coons should have a clearly articulated position on health care reform. In fact, I think there is absolutely no penalty on Coons to come out in favor a public option and Medicare buy-in. Both programs are very popular with the public at large and even though Coons won’t be voting on the package now, hopefully Democrats will pass some kind of reform. Coons can discuss how he would fix the reform for the better.
Senate Dysfunction
This is a fairly new issue but is a hot topic in most of the netroots right now. The Senate is completely dysfunctional because even with a 19-seat majority, Democrats can hardly get any legislation through Congress. A bill sponsored by Senator Harkin has been proposed to kill the filibuster. So, although I doubt this bill would ever be enacted Coons should come out in favor of filibuster reform and should be able to discuss this issue. It’s an important issue because Mike Castle would become part of the do-nothing Republican voting bloc.
Bipartisanship
I’ll admit that I want to spit every time I hear this term. It seems to be a religion among conservaDems and Washington pundits. I do know that the vague concept of “bipartisan” is something that appeals to swing voters and independents but it is not something that will excite the base. Coons needs to find a way to reassure the base that bipartisanship for its own sake is his goal, but that he’s not driven completely by ideology. One formulation I’ve seen of this dilemma is one the Obama uses – he’s open to anyone with ideas that work.
Iraq/Afghanistan
Among most of the U.S. the popular position is to end our involvement in those conflicts as soon as we can, while keeping our national security as the first consideration.
One issue that I don’t think appeals to the base is debt and deficit, although it is an important issue to right-leaning swing voters and independents. Again, I think there is a fine line to walk to reassure the base you’re not going with the Republican talking points of cut taxes for the rich and cut Social Security and Medicare. The way to formulate this, IMO, is that modest fixes are needed for Social Security (removing the income cap from the payroll tax) and that the best way to fix Medicare is to fix health care in America. The best way to deal with the deficit is to improve the economy and yes, use PAYGO rules for new programs (including defense spending).
The floor is yours. What issues should Chris Coons focus on to excite the base? What issues are full of traps?
Tags: Chris Coons, DE-Sen
Excellent points UI. I think he should also discuss the future(or lack thereof) for Social Security, as Delaware has an aging population, and of course, older people turnout to vote!
I know there’s a lot of concern about Coons turning off independents by looking too partisan.
But there can’t be much to lose in showing people just how partisan Castle really is. Especially recently.
Delaware is not a wholly partisan place yet, as demonstrated by the fact that parties vote for the other’s candidates all of the time. People here brag about how politically moderate they are. Making sure that people know that 1) Mike Castle is not as moderate as he claims (and he has a massive voting track record to support that) and 2) Castle will go to the Senate to work for his party, not us is a tough line of talking but it is not fire-breathing partisan. I don’t think.
But one question that occurs to me in thinking about the Democratic base here in Delaware is how similar is a Democratic base voter here to some nationwide base voter profile?
The indies will break to the guy who has balls. They don’t know much but they know that they liike a straightshooter who cuts the crap. Coons can actually loose these people by chasing them with som middle of the road bullshit.
The Dem base and the Indies will be looking for fghting spirit. This race comes down to one question: is Coons a pussy?
Jason – take your mittens off before typing…
No sport in that.
The indies will break to the guy who has balls.
Huh.
Are you talking about the same indies who have been voting for the fake middle of the road bullshit from Mike Castle (and Tom Carper, and you get the idea) all of these years?
Yes. What choice did they have? We are talking about people who vote for the person they like the most. They don’t pay attention to policies or positions but want to feel that they trust the guy they are voting for.
You don’t motivate indies, new voters or the base through good ideas. You motivate them through energy and aggressiveness. That’s what Obama did. None of his volunteers cared about his positions on health care reform or the deficit. They cared, and worked their asses off, because he was fundamentally different and projected youthful energy. Ditto for Markell. No one voted for him because of that issues booklet he put out. He whupped Lee because he had energy. Coons-Castle is the same type of race: Young guy vs. old guy.
Coons is going to have to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. It doesn’t really matter what he says, as long as he revs the engine up. That in itself will contrast implicitly with Castle’s wrinkles and utter lack of passion.
Indies and a lot of Dems are in the bag for Castle. To break them out of the bag you have to get Castle out of his comfort zone hard, early, and often – and publicize the results.
I’m with Jason on this one. Independents are a fickle group who want to go to the hippest party.
Of course, not all Independents are created equally. There are liberal Is and conservative Is, but what’s left in between these two groups tend to go the way the wind is blowing.
Coons needs to make an impression on this group, and vague references won’t cut it. He needs to pump up the volume and grab the spotlight in a clear, concise way. His statement posted here yesterday was a mess, and not only because it didn’t call Castle out by name.
My subjective impression is that most independents are really Republicans.
The #1 issue will be jobs.
Coons needs to be loud about supporting a real jobs bill, and he needs to articulate what should be in that bill. Even if by doing so he has to go against whatever crappy jobs bill the Dem leadership is pushing at that time. No wishy washy crap like the collection of tax cuts the Senate tried to call a jobs bill.
How bad would it suck if Dems sponsor a tax-cut based jobs bill without any real jobs, and then Castle and Coons end up both agreeing on it in a debate.
Not to mention, never let voters forget Coons was at Ground Zero of the destruction of Delaware’s financial sector jobs and the mortgage meltdown, and Castle was in the bomber.
Issue #2: Financial sector oversight – this is a tightrope because banks have trained their Delaware workforce that all regulation is bad. But the rest of the country knows banks need regulatory reform. I don’t know how to approach this – maybe just lots of reminders that Castle was on the Finance Committee during the formation of the meltdown, along with lots of personal anecdotes from voters who lost their banking job or their home.
My subjective impression is that most independents are really Republicans.
*
Not Republican so much as self-identified conservative. There are much-touted polls to show that a large percentage of Americans think of themselves as conservative but probably not necessarily GOP.
I think that Is vote with the wind largely because it is really hard to figure out what is going on in DC…mostly because the frickin’ lobbyists ‘own the place’ on both side of the aisle.
When the GOP took over from Carter, they made a great show of ‘conservative principle’ but Reagan mostly just lip-serviced his platform of smaller government etc. and Americans were pretty sick and tired of Republicans after the 80’s were over.
But Clinton only got in the door by triangulating for the outrageously influential K Street cash and by having the luxury of a third party Perot attacking Bush I from the right. “True conservatives” like my father were pissed off at the horrible recessionary losses under the GOP and the S&L scandals eating away at their stock portfolios.
Clinton did stabilize the economy but also set up current middle class jobs losses and the continued imbalanced rise of Wall Street that we are experiencing today. Under Clinton (and Rahm Emanuel) the decline of our manufacturing base was expounded by opening markets with NAFTA and China/WTO..not to mention the (Summers/Rubin) agreement with the GOP Congress to deregulate the derivatives market and bust through firewalls dating from Depression.
I agree with most everything said here. Jason is right, the base wants someone with passion for a fight because that’s needed not only to win the race but to help fix what’s broken in Washington.
I think Castle is quite vulnerable on financial reform. This is part of the anti-incumbent tide: Castle was part of Washington when they created the problem and when they ignored it. I think Coons really only needs to be vague on the fix – “smart regulation” “fix too big to fail” “Main Street” to fight against Castle on this.
Nancy–I think you got it right from Carter until now–great overview. Because what I am locally, and what I am nationally are worlds apart—and that irritates the heck out of me. But, people are so quick to pigeon hole the registration, the barriers continue.
Chris who ?
That’s your problem folks. Name recognition. Do you think those who dwell below the canal, or even above, know who Chris Coons is?
I bet some in slower lower wouldn’t vote for him based on his name alone.
The financial reform issue is encapsulated in the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mike Castle, are you For or Against?
The bank lobbying against the consumer protections is intense. If Coons comes up with “I support it if certain changes are made…” then game over.
There is a timely dKos diary on what is likely to be Mike Castle’s position on financial reform. Apparently there is a Frank Luntz memo telling Repubs how to approach financial reform (by the way, this is why the Coons campaign needs to read the blogs):
I bet some in slower lower wouldn’t vote for him based on his name alone.
A lot of people in slower lower have already vowed not to vote for Castle.
Making Castle repudiate the teabaggers as often as possible would cut into his GOP slice of the vote even more. Every time he goes to Sussex he should be asked again if he thinks Obama was born in the US, just so the baggers can hear him say Yes and hate him all over again.
DOES HYPOCRITE MIKE CASTLE REGRET HE VOTED TO KILL STIMULUS ACT LAST YEAR was a presser title just sent from DEM HQ.
Cassandra just covered the material, but I can’t help but wonder if the plan is for a ‘gentleman’s game’ where HQ is bad cop and Coons the good cop. –If so, that is not the way to win over the Is is it?
I have been getting the hard-hitting pressers from John Daniello’s office for some time –handling the waiting-for-Beau-candidate-free Senate race (lately its content is a direct feed from last night’s TRMS, MTP KO or TDS – not that there’s anything wrong with that).
But since we saw a very milqueotoast presser from the now-annointed candidate Coons yesterday in juxto with yet another -all about Hypocrtie Castle- from DEM HQ today, it may indicate that they are splitting the difference. –The crowd here is decidedly against that tactic.
The bank lobbying against the consumer protections is intense.
Bank lobbying against the entire business is intense. They are succeeding with repubs who are — in front of the TV cameras — working the hate the bankstas angle.
And while the Consumer Protections are vital — so are provisions to limit Too Big to Fail and provisions to limit regulatory shopping.
The state Democrats’ PR people (person? I don’t know…) need to seriously get on the stick and understand how the media works, especially if they’re going to be Coons’ attack dogs.
There are only a handful of mass media outlets they need to snag here in the state, and none of them are going to excitedly jump on a story because Kos wrote it up. The blogs might, but that’s only a tiny sliver of a fraction of a speck of the combined audience of the NJ, DSN, WDEL, WBOC, WMDT, WGMD, WHYY and the other Philly stations.
They also need to jump on things immediately. Issuing a statement by Daniello the day AFTER a news event guarantees it won’t get any play. They have to work faster and get ahead of the news cycle.
And while the Consumer Protections are vital — so are provisions to limit Too Big to Fail and provisions to limit regulatory shopping.
I agree, but that is a little technical for the average voter. That is why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an ideal litmus test for declaring whose side you are on. Who could be against financial protections for consumers?
People are against Too Big to Fail and just saw the consequences of kowtowing to it. No one wants to pay to bail out banks.
People are against Too Big to Fail and just saw the consequences of kowtowing to it. No one wants to pay to bail out banks.
True… and most Delawareans know somebody who lost their job or a promotion because of a bank merger in their quest to get bigger. Or their checking/savings account changed hands and cut services and added new fees. There is vein of resentment to tap.
Nancy’s a concern troll over Coons’ strategy. Coons will draw the contrasts often enough, and in his own style.
JM, I am echoing the balance of the DL crew plus Jason on this. D’OH! Love how yu single me out.
I just made the point on the post Cassandra wrote following the earlier DEM HQ presser and that they then immediately circulated her post and not one stitch of it mentioned Coons. Fascinating.
So Coons refuses to mention Castle and DEM HQ refuses to mention Coons? That is just WEIRD. They can’t keep it up for long!
And how about Castle and GOP HQ? Are they following suit?
HQ recycling:
Comment rescue:
Comment by liberalgeek on 16 February 2010 at 3:20 pm:
Isn’t “Castling” a move in chess that changes positions in a way that covers your ass?
Mike Castle Flip Flops on Stimulus Funds
Delaware Liberal
February 16th, 2010 • Related • Filed Under
Filed Under: Featured • Local
Tags: DE-Sen • Mike Castle • Republican Hypocrisy
By cassandra_m