Martha Coakley’s recent defeat in the race to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate has been called any number of things — a miracle, a wake-up call, a sea change, a sign of things to come. Scott Brown’s victory to fill what should have been a Democratic seat, if only for three years, has already led to Republicans in Congress demanding concessions from the Democratic majority, and Democrats are eager to point blame at one another.

I think this complicates things too much. Sure, some of the Brown voters were disenchanted Democrats who are annoyed with Governor Patrick, or President Obama’s actions, or lack thereof, or whatever — but most of the blame for Martha Coakley’s loss should be placed squarely on her shoulders.

Coakley came into this race with a strong lead, and her victory would’ve given the Democrats some good news in this slight annus horribilis they’re having. The White House and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee gave her their full support from the very beginning. She even had the President’s grassroots arm, Organizing for America, on her side. With some of the right moves, the percentages on Tuesday could have been reversed.

Instead of making any right moves, or even the wrong moves, Coakley made largely no moves at all, and what little she did was beset by stupid mistakes such as misspelling her own state or referring to a Red Sox pitcher as a “Yankee fan.”

Democrats undeniably need to get their ducks in a row in the immediate future. This year has seen a gigantic loss of momentum in a majority party and widespread discontent — and to maintain what power they have, or perhaps make small gains, they would do well not to obey this profile in lack of not only courage, but substance.