| Subject: Here's Why I Think Charlie Lost |
Author:
Dennis
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Date Posted: 06:14:12 05/04/04 Tue
In my opinion, Charlie Maraganis had a great opportunity to win this election, but somehow managed to boot it.
He had a primo issue against a weakened incumbent who was on the ropes. He had a rainy, low-turnout day, which is perfect for mobilizing your first-time-challenging support against the support of a three-term incumbent. He had significant community, family and former-student support. He still lost. Why?
I think there are several reasons, any one of which could have easily cost him fifty votes.
1. He failed to take the advice, admittedly given semi-gratuitously by me, but confirmed on the up-and-up by Dennis Ready, that he limit his exposure and go low-key.
2. He tried to insinuate himself with the PTOs in a clumsy and rude way.
3. He misbehaved out on the campaign trail. A candidate can be very forceful and even rude when it comes to the issues. But just start picking on people (especially small women?) for no apparent reason and see how far you get.
4. His performance at the candidates night was the worst. All the other candidates did much better, IMHO, especially the Selectmen incumbents. Then the School-Committee incumbents had the next highest grades, not far behind. I even thought Bill Morin did a pretty good job stylistically -- he just didn't push any important issues. (And, of course, he seemed to have his arithmetic backwards on the health-care contribution issue.) Coming in dead last, by about a mile, was Charlie, again, all of this just being my own opinion. Stylistically, he came across as doddering and troubled, and he completely blew the issues. That business about vice principals in the elementary schools, and combining other town functions into a school setting was not well thought out, to put it kindly. It swung the issues balance back to Joe, when there was no way Joe should have had the issues on his side. Which brings me to the final thing …
5. He completely misplayed the superintendent's contract issue. It wasn't about the "Benjamins" this time. He allowed himself to get into a debate about salary numbers with Joe, a highly competent financial manager! The issues, rather, were a) the nature of the contract's term, b) the way it was passed and not released to the public, and c) to a much lesser extent, the inappropriate abstention by May on that vote.
Can you picture what would have happened if Charlie had wired himself a little more tightly at the debate (and in other venues), and instead of bantering about "It's $149K -- No, it's $122k", he had simply read from the superintendent's contract the terms necessary for termination, and/or if he had quoted Selectmen in the Lowell Sun (including me!) about the process used to pass the contract?
I think I can picture it. I think he would have won.
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