Submitted by Mike Tipping on November 9, 2008 - 12:21pm
A.J. Higgins takes a look at why Tom Allen lost to Susan Collins in what was otherwise a Democratic year. He speaks with pollster Patrick Murphy, Governor Baldacci, political scientist Mark Brewer and former senate candidate Jean Hay-Bright (I'm not sure why someone who got 20% of the vote in 2006 is giving advice).
In the same vein, Republican operative Roy Lenardson (who jokingly calls himself the "architect behind the failure") recently discussed Republican state senate losses on WLOB:
It is easy to make fun of
It is easy to make fun of Jean Hay-Bright but she nailed it with her comments on Allen. The guy is a stiff who has no personal appeal. That cost him as much as anything in his race.
AJ's story fails to note that Allen lost almost everywhere. Though he is correct it is tougher to get known in the eastern and northern parts of the state, that was only one of Allen's problems.
Allen lost every town in York
Allen lost every town in York County. Perhaps his problem in that part of the state is he is too well known? When is the last time a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate lost the union towns of Jay and Rumford? Allen got beat there as well as in Mike Michuad's hometown.
He won Portland and the berg across the bridge and still lost Cumberland County. How did this happen? Was Collins so good or was Allen's campaign the worst in recent memory?
What if this hadn't been the year of the Democrat? Allen may have been down around Hay-Bright's numbers.