Author Archives: Karin Robinson

Opinion: Who to Blame for the Democrats’ Loss In Massachusetts? Blame Me.

Last night Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate for Massachusetts Senate, lost by 5 points a race that just weeks ago everyone was declaring hers by right. And even before the polls closed it seemed like everyone was playing the blame game.

Coakley’s team and the White House pointed the fingers at each other. Some are blaming the economy, the excellence of Republican candidate Scott Brown (our first centrefold Senator, history should note), or Coakleys repeated Red Sox related gaffs. There’s even a “Drunk Electorate” theory. All of these factors surely played some part.

I’d add in that to …

Posted in LDVUSA, Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

An Obama organizer’s beer-fuelled rant to Lib Dem activists

Huge thanks to Lib Dem Voice for inviting me to speak at their fringe event on Saturday about lessons from the Obama campaign. It was my first conference and truly great fun – everyone I met was unfailingly friendly and welcoming. So apologies for the following ill-informed ranting!

As a longstanding member of the US Democratic party and the Regional Field Director heading up Barack Obama’s absentee voter efforts in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, I’m still in the process of getting my head around how British politics works. Fortunately, I have a lot of friends

Posted in LDVUSA, Op-eds, The Independent View | 31 Comments