Step 1: Placing the blame

Politico:

[An] outside adviser to the [Coakley] campaign has provided to POLITICO a memo aimed at rebutting the charge that Coakley failed, and making the case that national Democrats failed her.

The adviser, who made the case to my colleague Jonathan Martin on the condition of anonymity in response, he said, to "the current leaking coming out of the White House and the DNC that is chalking all of this up to a “bad candidate”.

The adviser, who cited internal polling numbers to make the case, emails 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."

If the Coakley campaign and the White House were looking forward to a victory party tonight, they'd probably not be forming the circular firing squad this afternoon...

But this gives me an opportunity, which so rarely happens, to agree with a Democrat.

• The White House says that Coakley ran a lousy, gaffe-filled campaign.
• The Coakley campaign says that many of their problems are a result of things happening on the national level, of dissatisfaction with the Obama administration and the Democrats' handling of health care.

I say, "Hey! They're both right!"


It's not over yet. It's not over yet. It's not over yet. Polls are open for four more hours. It's not over yet...