I find it curious that Chuck Todd would focus so much on Florida this year, but take serious exception to his naming Alex Sink the worst candidate of the 2010 election cycle.
Certainly, Sink made some missteps, most notably in trying to force Bud Chiles out of the primary. That contest could have raised her profile and aired all dirty laundry early rather than fighting off attacks from Rick Scott in October.
But in general, I think Sink ran an outstanding campaign. Her biggest problem was a GOP tide that seemed to sweep the nation, something which led to Democratic losses in every statewide contest and in every Congressional race which was at all competitive. Why should Sink take all the heat for that loss?
Todd's explanation, via the Palm Beach Post:
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"You lost to a guy who defrauded Medicare, in Florida! Okay? More people on Medicare in Florida than maybe any other state."
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But Todd's criticisms seem aimed exclusively at Scott's weaknesses as a candidate, not in the way in which Sink ran her campaign, or in her own qualifications for governor. Why wasn't Bill McCollum also included on the list today, then? He, after all, couldn't even convince party regulars to get him through the Republican primary against Scott.
The reason Rick Scott won is because of money. Plain and simple. Those senior voters Todd seems to allude to, many of whom retired her with amazing pensions and who have no need for Medicare, are more affected by television advertising. They don't sift through the blogs all day. They don't spend all their time personally researching candidate's backgrounds. They allow the war to be waged during commercial breaks during golf tourneys and soap operas.
Sink certainly devoted an enormous amount of advertising to exposing that record. I think few voters were left unaware come November that Rick Scott has pled the fifth 75 times.
The race was up and down all cycle. In early October, Scott was riding momentum from a primary win pretty strong. But in the following weeks, Sink pulled ahead. It wasn't until the GOP machine, focused on retaking the House of representatives, started to get into gear that a wave took the nation, and the state.
That seemed to swallow campaigns which otherwise had the upper-hand. Ron Klein was leading in most polls until the last few weeks. Joe Garcia once held a strong edge over David Rivera. Yet they both got trounced on Election Day.
Remember, Alex Sink's loss was the closest of any contested race in Florida that held any national significance. She fought off the impending GOP wave better than any other politician in Florida. It just wasn't enough. She was no Harry Reid, but she didn't run a poor campaign either.
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I think Alex ran a very good race and that her election was lost primarily due to her own party's shenanigans with the Meek campaign depressing the black vote in key counties. She got the expected vote % in the more urban counties, but not the raw numbers needed to prevail
ReplyDeleteI will take issue that the senior voters are less informed and were more influenced by advertising - I've generally found senior voters to be more informed on the issues than their younger compadres
If you mean the 18-29 crowd, you are right, of course. But they usually don't vote at all. I think those voters who are wired in and checking the blogs, a younger group for certain, are extremely well informed.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not really talking about the level of informedness. Rather, I am speaking to how they are reached. Rick Scott's $73 million campaign kept the airwaves absolutely filled with his messaging. Senior voters were more exposed to those ads because they still get much of their information from television.
I think you are very right that the total screw-up of the Senate race played a big role, and quite likely could have made up that 62k vote difference. All that for Crist, who ran one of the most misguided campaigns in the nation.
I am not sure that checking the blogs makes one informed. There is a lot of misinformation out there, both left and right. Worse yet is all of the disinformation out there (virtually every plaintiff bar blog reeks of disinformation) but business and political sites are not exempt from disinformation either.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that seniors were more affected by Scottts ads than anyone else. Seniors often listen to NPR and watch and listen to many news programs.