Except maybe among Chuck Schumer, support for a second Hagan candidacy seems basically defensive in nature. It’s not hard to understand why. She just lost, and fundraising prowess doesn’t exactly thrill the grassroots. However, there is a positive side to the story. Here, in no particular order, are three affirmative arguments for Hagan 2016.
1. Complaints about her ideology are overblown. Too many progressives–particularly on the internet–dismiss Hagan as a “country club centrist.” The reality is that she’s a loyal Democrat. As Senator, she sided with “us” on all major votes. Even on Dodd-Frank, despite her uncomfortably close relationship to the banks. Support for universal health insurance, carbon reduction and other worthy initiatives ought to satisfy progressives.
2. She is a truly gifted campaigner. Her media strategy is shrewd and creative. One could argue that the “Rocking Chairs” ad alone did in Elizabeth Dole. And Hagan’s organizational skills are equally formidable. Anyone who has volunteered for her (as I have) has witnessed a well oiled machine. Rightly or not, Dems have embraced a “shape the electorate” strategy and an organizer like her is well suited to the task.
3. She is a deft political attacker. A critical step in defeating Burr will be to define him negatively. Kay Hagan has proven her ability to do that, against someone in Elizabeth Dole who actually began with a positive image. Few are better qualified to take down Burr-the-cipher.
Of course, Kay Hagan has numerous drawbacks. Running someone else may turn out not to be an option, though, so it’s worth looking on the bright side. Hagan can win.
Alexander Jones is an original contributor to PoliticsNC.
Calling Kay Hagan a “truly gifted campaigner” is so far from the truth of herbstilted, awkward style on the stump it’s amazing to see anyone who’s actually watched her speak make the case. She has zero charisma in a room or on TV. Just zero. It’s sad , sure, that superficial charisma and excitement matter so much, but they do, and Hagan just doesn’t have what it takes as a public speaker. This dumb trial balloon won’t fly, Alex. You can’t teach the basic public charisma that Hagan hasn’t yet managed to figure out. Let’s get someone in there who actually has a shot.
“I will , along with a lot of progressives, simply skip the Senate line in 16 if we are once again presented with the opportunity to vote for Kay Hagan. ”
So you’d be OK with Richard Burr voting for six years worth of SCOTUS nominees?
Maybe someone can explain to me how Kay Hagan can defeat Burr when she could not put away Thom Tillis? Hagan spent lots of money, ran a lot of ads and had what should have been a real big club to swing in the education and teacher issue at her disposal. Wave or no national wave Hagan should have prevailed. She could not. Hagan is no populist who can get people to want to vote for her. And lets be honest Hillary will not have long coat tails to ride like Hagan did on Obamas campaign in 2008. I voted against Thom Tillis. I did NOT vote for Kay Hagan. I will , along with a lot of progressives, simply skip the Senate line in 16 if we are once again presented with the opportunity to vote for Kay Hagan. DSCC can get all excited about Hagan all they like but tell me, how many of those guys vote in NC? Do you suppose Hagan regrets her Dream Act vote?
I cannot get past the fact that this “truly gifted campaigner” lost to Thom Tillis. How did that happen? How can she win against Burr if she could not win against Tillis?
Amen. Hagan should take her embarrassing loss to the likes of Thom Tillis and stay home.
She can land a gig in new Democratic administration or go straight to lobbying for the banks.
Either way — keep her miserable campaigning away from another election
I am sure you’ll find this answer unsatisfactory, but since you asked:
2014 was an exceptional Republican year. The GOP won all authentically competitive Senate races. Even Colorado–which voted twice for Obama by sound margins–booted its Democratic incumbent. Thus, Hagan faced a very difficult national environment. This constituted a powerful headwind, as polls showed most NC voters planned to vote on national issues.
Even so, Hagan came closer to victory than any Democrat. She even outperformed Sen. Udall of much-bluer Colorado. That relative success shows strong campaign skills. On this, national and state observers stand in consensus. To say that she alone should have “beaten” the national wave is too high a bar to set.
Maybe everyone’s wrong. Maybe no loathsome candidate could ever win off a national wave. One might ask Paul LePage about that. Or one could just dismiss Hagan as feckless for massively over performing, yet failing to attain the perfect outcome.
Failing to attain the perfect outcome? SHE LOST TO TILLIS! I’m still flabbergasted by this.
Your argument would make sense IF Tillis had run a competent, intelligent campaign. He was SO CLEARLY in over his head – made so many stupid mistakes – and he still won. To absolve Hagan of any blame and instead point to a national climate that took her down is short-sighted at best.
Regardless of the national climate, in NC, we have a Democrat party in a shambles and no bench whatsoever in terms of candidates. I know Hagan has taken herself out of the race – which IMHO is a good thing. HERE’S TO HOPING THERE ARE ONE OR TWO OR A LOT MORE DECENT DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES OUT THERE… the state really good use them right now.
Agree. Tillis is an arrogant idiot and came across accurately in his campaign. If aversion to Tillis could not unite the Democratic Party and keep it from imploding on its own internal self centered, elitist, and greedy core, I have little hope.
The NC Democratic Party has elected every Republican Governor in post reconstruction NC history based on infighting and splits in the party due to primary battles that prevailed over care about what we had to lose, i.e. the welfare of the State of North Carolina. The Tillis loss was the worst example I have seen.
Another issue that held me back significantly the last election is the money required to win. What a huge waste! Yes, I know we have to do it because they do, but that doesn’t make it right or responsible. Hagan would be the poster child lightning rod to exacerbate the money issue.
Whatever we do, first and foremost we need to fix the core of the party. You can’t expect victory when the party cannot stand itself. We need a strong consensus candidate that all Democrats see as a better alternative than Burr. I don’t see that happening, but I do wish it could!
“How can she win against Burr if she could not win against Tillis?”
Easy. A presidential election is a different electorate. Democrats actually vote in those elections.
I’m not saying that Kay Hgan is the way for Democrats to go but since she just barely lost in a Republican wave year there is reason to think she’ll do a lot better in a year when Democrats will actually vote.
SHAME ON THE DEMOCRATS FOR STAYING HOME AND LETTING THOM TILLIS WIN.
AND SHAME ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR ITS INABILITY TO MOBILIZE ITS VOTERS.
And shame on the party and its candidates for failing to claim credit for Democratic successes–looked weak and unprincipled.
SERIOUSLY!! GOP claims credit for all sorts of things they really have no right to claim. But Dems in 2012 ABSOLUTELY failed to hammer home the point that Democratic policies helped stop the free-fall in the economy that GOP policies had caused. Horrible failure of message by Democrats at both a national and state level.
If the use of electronic voting machines required paper trails for verification, most of the republikan wins Mr Jones cited would have been nullified. These voting machines can be easily rigged to produce a particular outcome and ‘trade secret protection laws’ prohibit the machines from being internally inspected for accuracy – cheating is as old as voting itself and only rigged elections would be putting the pro -corporate/ austerity for the people candidates into office. Without paper voting trails we will soon find ourselves under authoritarian republikan rule. – and that ‘s not far off.
Hagan’sj distancing herself from Presdident Obama in the campaign was disgraceful and hardly qualifies her as “a loyal Democrat.”