Kerry campaign bullied local activists & party and blew it in Ohio

copied this from DU member TheBorealAvenger on the OHIO forum, not sure if it was on general topics (or how to link to it otherwise):

PERSPECTIVE: Consultant says Mahoning typical of Ohio campaign

JOHN McCARTHY

Associated Press


AKRON, Ohio - A new study found that John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign bullied its way into a traditional Democratic stronghold and ignored local party officials and their knowledge of the area.

The study, prepared for a conference on the election at the University of Akron this month, contends the Kerry campaign brought in outsiders to run the Mahoning County campaign, staged poorly organized events and angered union leaders.
...
Similar gaffes occurred across the state and were typical of a campaign that didn't know the political territory, said Greg Haas, a consultant who has worked on Democratic campaigns since the 1970s.

"The national campaign completely discounted what was being said from the state, what they were hearing from the ground up," said Haas, who was not part of Kerry's campaign. "They decided that whatever they thought was best, was best."
...
"Had they been listening to their state director and listening to the local parties, I think they could have won the state comfortably," Haas said.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/129812...

Oh Mr. Gore you do not have to go visit the union bosses...

Same thing happened to Kerry last year. He made a token trip to a coal mine, was careful not to get too dirty, and "hunted" deer by slinking around on his belly like a goddamn moran. None of these antics won him any love from the rednecks in WV, I can tell you that for certain.

MojoXN

Not that the campaign was perfect. All campaigns have their faults.

But this is AP and the goal is a little too transparent just before the referendum on election reform.

no doubt plenty of mistakes were made but the loss was because of
massive cheating .... end of story.

I live in Ohio and worked with some of the young out of state help but
that story is crap.

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/results/CountyBreakdown.aspx?issuenum=2

look @ the results from issues 2, 3, 4, & 5 in Cuyahoga County
a very democratic county going against a democratic idea .... please!

btw check it in the morning and the results in dem counties will be
closer.

I am no Kerry apologist ... he let me down not fighting the corruption
afterwards but that story is just crap.

Sure mistakes were made but when Ken Blackwell holds the votes
and switched em to make bush win nothing else mattered.

Funny Claremont, Butler, Warren all waited until N.E. Ohio came in
to see how many votes would be needed.

The corporate media gets a few stooges to plant seeds of doubt to loosen our resolve. It's a set-up for the next theft.

Why does Ohio have two Republican Senators and a Republican Governor.

You know what I mean?

Or maybe, a huge # of Democrats forgot it was voting day....

Kerry won Minnesota anyhow, but IMO that was in spite of rather than because of the national campaign staff. There were many, many volunteers who wanted to do something but for the longest time they had no idea what to do with us -- no organization, not even phone numbers you could call. It was very much a top-down structure, and they did very little to work with existing grass-roots groups. Very disappointing.

I'm wondering what the specifics are.

I'd like to know if this is more than bruised egos.

I agree with the part that the Kerry staffers wouldn't listen to the locals. Here in Columbus, they placed Columbus natives in other cities and brought in staffers from out of state. The outsiders felt they were the cream of the crop to be brought into the bell-weather city. They didn't know the area and refused any advice from locals, no matter how obvious. (i.e. The Ohio State Fair and Red, White, and Boom really are important here) The volunteer coordinator was far more interested in enjoying the gay scene, than swing voter outreach.

On the other hand, Greg Haas should shut up. If he cared about our Party, he would have resigned after his DUI. His main goal is to make a name for himself-- just like the out-of-state staffers wanted to do.

The election is over, Kerry may have made some mistakes, but this is just stupid. I also question why it was necessary to post this?