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October 23, 2007

Blame GOP for Ogonowski's loss

Blame GOP for Ogonowski's loss
The Lowell Sun
Article Last Updated: 10/22/2007 11:33:32 AM EDT

Republicans got what they deserved in Tuesday's 5th District congressional election: another loss.

Yes, Jim Ogonowski shook things up.

Yes, his man-of-the-people campaign tapped into voter discontent throughout the Merrimack Valley.

Yes, his fiery salvoes against Washington politicians, Beltway insiders, fat-cat lobbyists, and politics-as-usual ignited outrage.

Yes, he won 11 of the 5th District's 29 communities, pulling in an impressive 47,770 votes, or 45 percent of the total.

But he lost.

And Republicans have no one but state and national party officials to blame.

They hung out to dry the best hope they had of landing a major news story on the front pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

The message -- "Democratic stronghold (Massachusetts) elects Republican to Congress" -- would have played in every corner of the country where the GOP is rightfully under attack for its misguided direction.

It would have sent shockwaves to Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and every other faker in the Democratic party who believes obstructionist politics breeds success.
But the GOP blew it.

When the Dracut farmer-citizen had big-time favorite Niki Tsongas in his sights, trailing in the polls by 6-9 percentage points, the GOP cavalry never mounted a winning charge. It dismounted instead.

Ogonowski was outspent 5-to-1 by Niki's Democratic machine. She raised $1.5 million on her own and got another $1 million in advertising support from the Democratic National Committee, Emily's List and a top union. Tsongas buried the landscape with campaign leaflets, mailings and TV and radio advertising. She launched a late newspaper ad blitz over the campaign's final weekend.

Ogonowski raised roughly $500,000. He tried to maximize every dollar with an unwavering message on illegal immigration, wasteful spending, the war in Iraq, Social Security, and health care.

But what if Ogonowski had received a $500,000 fund-raising match from the Republican National Committee? Might he have pulled off the upset of the year?

National Republicans should be ashamed they didn't come to the Massachusetts war front when duty called.

The fact Ogonowski came within 6 percentage points of knocking off Tsongas is remarkable, seeing that his campaign convoy consisted of his own 2002 Buick LeSabre and two pairs of worn shoes.

Fast jets and limos paraded around President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Ted Kennedy for Tsongas.

Ogonowski could have been the poster boy for a new breed of Republicans. A blue-collar worker who prefers blue overalls instead of blue suits. His victory would have invited others just like him to join a party that is perceived as only for the rich and tax-paying impaired.

Republicans had a great reward in their grasp with Jim Ogonowski.

They blew it.

Today, local, state and national Republicans are giddy about Ogonowski's performance. They believe it signals a "weariness" with same-old Massachusetts Democrats and that change is in the air.

They are dead wrong.
The GOP in Massachusetts has dug another grave for itself for at least another decade, thanks to its national power brokers. Because when Lazarus had a chance to rise, the GOP gave Jim Ogonowski lip service rather than the cold-hard cash he needed to make a dream victory walk come true.

Sun editor Jim Campanini can be contacted at jcampanini@lowellsun.com.

Posted by Admin at October 23, 2007 11:04 AM