Democrat Martha Coakley, center, concedes defeat in the Massachusetts governor’s race. (Michael Dwyer, AP)
Former Obama strategist David Axelrod didn’t mince any words about Martha Coakley and her failed campaign for Massachusetts governor.
His quote from The Wall Street Journal’s Capital Journal breakfast on Thursday:
Massachusetts is a very progressive state. I don’t think people voted against Martha Coakley because they disagreed with the direction of the state … She’s a demonstrably bad candidate and she’s proven it in two elections.
Ouch!
There’s some history there between President Obama’s allies and Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general who was defeated last week by Republican Charlie Baker for the Bay State’s governorship.
In 2010, Coakley lost a winnable special election to Republican Scott Brown for the Senate seat long held by Edward Kennedy. Brown won by running against the legislation that would eventually become Obamacare, which Kennedy championed before his death, and the Republican’s victory denied Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate.
Coakley’s campaign blamed national Democrats for not doing enough to help her win the Senate race. Axelrod told The Baltimore Sun at the time: “The White House did everything we were asked to do. I think if we had been asked earlier, we would have responded earlier.”
Speaking of Democratic candidates for governor, Axelrod also criticized Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown — who was defeated by Republican Larry Hogan. “I don’t think we had a particularly strong candidate in Maryland, and he went out of his way to prove it.” Axelrod said at the WSJ breakfast.
