[CSMONITOR] Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley officially entered the 2014 race for state governor, seeking to reassure voters she had learned from her loss to Republican Scott Brown in a 2010 US Senate race.My initial thought was "Martha Who?"
Ms. Coakley is kicking off her campaign with an aggressive three-day bus tour of 18 cities and towns across the state.
My next thought was "I thought she was murdered by a Kennedy cousin?"
"I've acknowledged that we made some mistakes on that campaign trail, and I've learned from that," Coakley told supporters Monday.
One thing she didn't learn was to give up politix and become a June Taylor dancer.
Coakley fell from favor in Democratic Party ranks after she lost the Senate seat that Edward Kennedy occupied for 47 years, which subsequently cost the Democrats their 60-seat supermajority in Congress. After the January 2010 loss, Coakley was easily reelected to a second term as state attorney general later that year, but her victory was still overshadowed by her upset loss to Mr. Brown.
Turns out she can't dance, either, so June Taylor wouldn't have her. Running for governor is all she's got left.
Ms. Coakley is kicking off her campaign with an aggressive three-day bus tour of 18 cities and towns across the state.
...unless she goes for a rewarding career in the food service industry.
"I've acknowledged that we made some mistakes on that campaign trail, and I've learned from that," Coakley told supporters Monday.
Coakley fell from favor in Democratic Party ranks after she lost the Senate seat that Edward Kennedy occupied for 47 years, which subsequently cost the Democrats their 60-seat supermajority in Congress. After the January 2010 loss, Coakley was easily reelected to a second term as state attorney general later that year, but her victory was still overshadowed by her upset loss to Mr. Brown.
In an odd way, Coakley's jarring Senate upset might actually work to her advantage: Coakley has already proved she has the ability to bounce back, says Jim Spencer, president of The Campaign Network, a Democratic political consulting firm, in an interview with the Monitor. "Candidates never learn anything from winning, they learn from losing," explains Mr. Spencer. (The Campaign Network has not come out in support of any of the 2014 gubernatorial candidates).
"When you suffer the kind of loss that Martha did, you really have learned what kinds of mistakes not to make again," says Spencer. "She may be beginning as the most savvy, experienced candidate in the entire field."