I’m on the “she was a terrible candidate, period” side.
I’m a centrist Democrat and I used to live in Massachusetts—in fact, in the true blue Cambridge area. If I still lived there I’d have voted for Coakley, but I’d have been holding my nose while I did it. In fact, the ONLY reason I’d have voted for her would have been to save health care, and the ONLY reason I’d have done that is because I have a child with a “pre-existing” chronic condition who will never be able to get health insurance in the current system.
Otherwise, I’d probably actually have voted Republican. That’s how little I think of Coakley. What an idiot.