Let's disect this turkey: Where Skindell went wrong

[Pasquale Manno]

How can we Observers beat The Establishment next time around? Let's start by identifying what Mike Skindell did to lose so we can avoid repeating his mistakes.

I'm hearing lots of loud whispers and backbiting that Mike Skindell did not work very hard and in fact was outworked by Mike Summers during key points in the campaign. We all know Skindell latched onto a single issue and did next to nothing to take on any causes except saving Lakewood Hospital.

How about some other observations from Observers?

[Jim O'Bryan]

How can we Observers beat The Establishment next time around? Let's start by identifying what Mike Skindell did to lose so we can avoid repeating his mistakes.

I'm hearing lots of loud whispers and backbiting that Mike Skindell did not work very hard and in fact was outworked by Mike Summers during key points in the campaign. We all know Skindell latched onto a single issue and did next to nothing to take on any causes except saving Lakewood Hospital.

How about some other observations from Observers?

Pasquale

Thanks for taking the time to look at this, and other aspects.
I have to believe money, strategy, phone banks, and planning.
Then there is the fact that people under 40 do not care about the hospital at all.

.

[Brian Pedaci]

First, I think you'd have to accept the possibility that there wasn't anything Skindell could have done to win over the majority of voters, short of engaging in outright slander or lies. There's a reasonable assumption to be made that people made an informed choice and voted their consciences, and that the majority of Lakewood voters are OK with the consequences.

[Amy Martin]

Even though I am/was a Skindell supporter, I felt that other than fund raisers, he did little to reach out to the community that didn't involve a donation. I know that he is a good, honest man and truly cares for his constituents, but I don't think he was successful in getting that out to the general public. I wish he would have knocked on doors and held community forums. Plus, as much as I like/dislike Dennis, I believe that pulling him in was a mistake.

[Michael Deneen]

Let's keep a few things in mind:

1. Money: His opponents say "He only talked about one issue". Due to his limited budget, he had few mailings...so he had to focus on the major issue. Also, as pointed out by Dan in another thread, the hospital itself is not "one issue"...it touches numerous aspects of Lakewood's economy and culture.

2. Visibility: Some say he wasn't visible enough. Unfortunately he had his "day job" as State Senator, which kept him in Columbus in the early summer. Even up until Election Week, he had to go back to Columbus for state business.
He could have blown off his Senate job like Marco Rubio, but unfortunately he is too honest. He was elected to do that job, and he didn't want to leave the district unrepresented.

3. Incumbency: Summers was always in town, and could use City Hall staff to promote the campaign (Lakewood Citizen). He could orchestrate gimmicks like the Solstice Steps unveiling. Plus, incumbency brings with it numerous endorsements.

[todd vainisi]

I went ahead and very reluctantly voted for Skindell. I had to go to wikipedia to find out anything about him other than that he was SLH's man. The mayor has been making friends in this town for 3 decades, and I was glad to vote for him the first time around. I didn't vote for him this time, not because I want the hospital to survive at all costs, but because I felt he had tried to obscure the truth and didn't deserve my vote again. It wasn't really a vote for Skindell at all, just trying to send a message to the mayor that he isn't leading the way I hoped he would on this pretty big issue. I don't think you can win an election based on being 'not the current mayor'.

How is it that I came into personal contact with school board candidate Calleri 3 times (because he came to my house, found me in the pickup line, and we waved to each other a third time while I was stopped at a red light) but I don't know a single thing about Skindell's campaign except that he would 'save lakewood hospital' somehow (and I don't even believe that line - I just believe he wouldn't have done the current deal /proposal with CCF, who knows what his strategy would have been after he blew that up). I only know he was against the hospital deal because his signs appear next to slh signs and Dennis Kucinich told me so.

In fact, shame on me for voting for him. In retrospect, it was pretty ignorant on my part. I should have just left that part of the ballot blank. Too bad Dennis didn't want to be mayor. I would have voted for him - I know it would be a big step down. In fact, even Kucinich managed to get his message to me better than Skindell. Without Dennis' letter, I'm not sure I would have voted the way I did.

[Jim O'Bryan]

In fact, shame on me for voting for him. In retrospect, it was pretty ignorant on my part. I should have just left that part of the ballot blank. Too bad Dennis didn't want to be mayor. I would have voted for him - I know it would be a big step down. In fact, even Kucinich managed to get his message to me better than Skindell. Without Dennis' letter, I'm not sure I would have voted the way I did.

Todd

When Dennis came back and we ran into each other at the Root Cafe, I said, "Big talk you are coning back to get into politics." He smiled and said, "Precinct Committee Captain."

The fight for Dennis was truly about what he cared most about. Corporations hurting communities, and the public trust of elected officials. Dennis lost his Mayorship not bankrupting Cleveland, but standing up to keep Cleveland Public Power in the hands of the community. To this day, it provides lower cost power to the community.

Mike Summers and the Summers Family are well established, well respected and well loved. Through this entire deal, Mike was always willing to smile and say hi, talk about damn near anything. Last night while hitting the spots, Wendy Summers was as pleasant as ever. Barb Summers came in to help out her dad, and standing next to Mike Carroll (Pat Carroll's son) you saw two great well loved Lakewood families. People know and like Mike Summers, people forgot Michael Skindell.

What has been dubbed "The John Litten Machine." I really tried to sit bac and just observe all of this happening, and found it positively amazing that John Litten, member of LHA, ran a campaign with the single biggest issue, Lakewood Hospital and the LHA, never appearing once in his literature, posts, comments or anything else. John not only easily won, but got the most votes. I know john, I like John, it was an amazing campaign.

Fatigue, I think after 8 months many just wanted the whole thing to disappear.

Polling, Mayor Summers had a professional polling staff working the city every day. Clean cut, dressed in Summers uniform, with Summers badges, and Summers clipboards.

Mayor Summers did what was needed to win. At the end of the day, Mayor Summers easily scored his first win in a contested election. He has every reason to feel good today. He won.

.

[Dan Alaimo]

Let's keep a few things in mind:

1. Money: His opponents say "He only talked about one issue". Due to his limited budget, he had few mailings...so he had to focus on the major issue. Also, as pointed out by Dan in another thread, the hospital itself is not "one issue"...it touches numerous aspects of Lakewood's economy and culture.

2. Visibility: Some say he wasn't visible enough. Unfortunately he had his "day job" as State Senator, which kept him in Columbus in the early summer. Even up until Election Week, he had to go back to Columbus for state business.
He could have blown off his Senate job like Marco Rubio, but unfortunately he is too honest. He was elected to do that job, and he didn't want to leave the district unrepresented.

3. Incumbency: Summers was always in town, and could use City Hall staff to promote the campaign (Lakewood Citizen). He could orchestrate gimmicks like the Solstice Steps unveiling. Plus, incumbency brings with it numerous endorsements.

The two things I heard most often was that Mike Skindell was a single-issue candidate and people didn't like the way the SLH supporters presented themselves.
On single-issue - that's why I put together that post http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=22318 but I can't say I ever heard it from Mike Skindell.
On the SLH supporters - I'm not sure what to say. Once you've learned about all the outrageous stuff by the City/BL/CCF, it's hard not to show your outrage. I wish more people could have looked past that to the facts.

[Pam Wetula]

Even though I am/was a Skindell supporter, I felt that other than fund raisers, he did little to reach out to the community that didn't involve a donation. I know that he is a good, honest man and truly cares for his constituents, but I don't think he was successful in getting that out to the general public. I wish he would have knocked on doors and held community forums. Plus, as much as I like/dislike Dennis, I believe that pulling him in was a mistake.

Hi Amy,

I am so glad that you are a Skindell supporter but I do feel that you are misinformed. Besides working his important Senate position, attending weekly Save Lakewood Hospital meetings, working on the legal team for SLH, running a campaign, doing campaign forums and presentations at venues such as the Winton Place, ATTENDING TO HIS MOTHER, Mike Skindell was out knocking on doors on Lakewood, meeting and discussing the hospital and other city issues with Lakewood residents.

He didn't have the Lakewood resident water bills for 2 months to send out his agenda to the entire city.

He didn't have Lakewood.com to plaster his message out. - Via a letter from him or a message from Butler or Pae....

He didn't have LHA spending thousands to send out large touch cards.

CCF didn't cover the cost of huge mailers for him.

The PD and other news media were not at his disposal in the manner that they were to Summers. The media was generally biased for Summers. I was sometimes shocked by what was said at a Council meeting and what was reported.

He didn't have the City making and paying for a Push Poll for him.

Dennis' passion, knowledge and support has undeniably been a benefit. I do know that not everyone is enamored of him. (of course, the same could be said for me!)

Mike Skindell walked Lakewood's streets at much as humanly possible.

I NEVER felt that he was holding a hand out for money when he spoke to me. NOT ONCE. All campaigns fundraise but Mike Skindell was always respectful and grateful for the support.

Please think about this Amy and I hope you will understand that Mike Skindell should have won this election but sometimes Goodness is not immediately rewarded. It was an honor to work on his campaign and I feel that Lakewood has lost the opportunity to have a really great Mayor.

pam

[Amy Martin]

thanks, Pam for all that you did to help the Senator. I wish he would have won. I cried this morning at the news.

I was just giving my thoughts as to what I personally felt were flaws in the campaign as I observed them . . .

[Matthew Lee]

My humble opinion:

Let's apply Occam's Razor to this -- Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.

Where did Skindell go wrong? I don't think he did go wrong. I think that fewer people cared passionately about saving the hospital then may have been previously thought. It could be that simple.

Skindell could have personally gone door to door and talked to every single person in Lakewood who was going to vote and I doubt the vote would have changed that much. Certainly not enough to make up a 2,000 vote deficit.

If you cared passionately about saving the hospital, you voted for Skindell. Anything else (which could be you care passionately about NOT saving the hospital or, alternatively, you don't care at all), you voted for Summers.

Now there certainly were lots of other factors but I really don't think Skindell could have done more than he did. In fact, if the vote had been held in July or August, it probably would have been within +/1 5% of the final. Most minds weren't changed much on this one, IMHO. Yes, I know there are people who changed their mind one way or the other, but not enough to overcome the inherent deficit Skindell had to overcome. JMHO.

[Paul Porter]

Jim, you commented above that people under forty didn't care about the hospital.

I'm recently thirty, and I care plenty about the hospital and the changes I believe we must make to ensure the future of healthcare in Lakewood.

It's a bit dismissive to say younger folks don't care about the hospital. Maybe we just looked at the issue differently than you did.

SLH supporters, by my observation, tended to be older than folks in favor of changing the model. But that doesn't mean you should dismiss younger folks as not caring.

I may not be much , but I'm proof that young folks in the 'Wood do indeed care, and we vote.

[Michael Deneen]

I'm recently thirty, and I care plenty about the hospital

A very innovative use of the word "care".
Paul "cares" about the hospital in the same way that Donald Trump "cares" about Mexicans.

[Vince Frantz]

Are you better off than 4 years ago?

Is Lakewood better off than 4 years ago?

I think most people keep it simple. I don't see how any non-Summers candidate could articulate a "turnaround" from what we have going in Lakewood right now. Turnaround from what? A future, potential hike in taxes? A potential extra 5 minutes ambulance time? Maybe when the empty hospital causes a spike in crime - then maybe the electorate would clean house (but that could have been Skindell by that time).

It will take a bigger dip in quality of life in Lakewood before people vote for potentials over progress. Myself included.

As an aside - as far as campaigns go - It was ridiculous fake paper vs flyers with poor spelling, poor grammar and absolutely horrid design. Not a lot to be proud of on either side.

[Michael Deneen]

Maybe when the empty hospital causes a spike in crime - then maybe the electorate would clean house (but that could have been Skindell by that time).

It will take a bigger dip in quality of life in Lakewood before people vote for potentials over progress. Myself included.

Once you wait for city services to decline (especially police and fire), it will be too late.
Lakewood's goose will be cooked.
That's why I'm not optimistic about the city's future.