Massachusetts Politics: Special Election – Stephen Lynch (D-MA) Jumps In – No Republican Candidate, Mass GOP – New Chair to Be Elected Today

Politics, in the two-party system - image bostino blog

From The Boston Globe Congressional Representative, Stephen Lynch, announced his candidacy to fill the Senate Seat being vacated by John Kerry, now Secretary of State. The other announced candidate is Democrat Ed. Markey, another one of the nine Congressional representatives in the Commonwealth. Lynch, is possibly a moderate, who had a faced primary challengers from progressive Democrats in the past, and has been noted by the Blog “Buzzfeed” as being “too Conservative” for Massachusetts Lynch is pro-life, voted against the Iraq War and the Obama Health Care Reform Act.

The primary is set for April, 2013 with a special election to follow in June. Markey is favored by the DNC, as a strictly reliable vote, neither man is well known outside of their own districts.

Markey has a site up Ed Markey.org To date, none found for Lynch.

Should no Republican enter the race, Lynch should be given a second look as a moderate. That said Lynch will be with former Senator and newly appointed Secretary of State John Kerry today in Western Mass. The association with Kerry may give those more conservative voters pause.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts GOP will elect a new chair today. The candidates are Kirstin Hughes and Rick Green. The 80 member Mass COP Committee members will make the selection. As of the 30th of January there was a 1 point difference in Committee endorsements per candidate with Green leading by 1. (Red Mass Group). Green is a fiscal conservative appealing to both moderates as well as the more right wing members of the Mass GOP (keep Mass GOP in mind) – Kirstin Hughes is a GOP stalwart, having worked on Scott Browns campaign. It remains to be seen if the clout of the Boston GOP’s members supporting Hughes will be enough to win the Chair for her against Green. The Mass GOP Chair Election with profiles is available hereat this blog – updated December 12th. At that time, Green was the favorite, again based on party unity.

Deval Patrick (D-MA) On Defense Over Transportation Chief, Patrick May End Up Back in Chicago in 2010

James Aloisi - Boston Globe

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick needed assistance in dealing with the debt from Boston’s notorious Big Dig – so logic dictated that the best person to head the Mass. Department of Transportation would be the very person who spent years burying the growing cost of the project - one James Aloisi. Patrick contends that Aloisi’s experience make him a valuable asset, yet it was this very type of asset that Patrick decried in his bid for the Governor’s office only four years ago: From: August 20, 2006 Worcester Telegram

Mr. Patrick has raised similar concerns and said the administration has failed to address problems with the project for years.

“The trouble I and lots of others have is, we have known for years that it was billions of dollars over budget and had structural deficiencies and our elected executives, including the governor, have shown a breath-taking lack of curiosity about where that money went and what those structural deficiencies were, until this fatal accident,” Mr. Patrick said. “That is a shame.”

Mr. Patrick has said that as far back as 1998, the state inspector general was issuing warnings about safety problems in the tunnels and that a “Big Dig culture” on Beacon Hill ignored those warnings and also failed to act effectively to control cost overruns or collect for overcharging by contractors.

It’s almost as if the Governor is theorizing that there is not a great deal of difference between hiding the money and finding the money – the solution to finding money to cover exorbitant Turnpike Authority salaries, mismanagement of funds and a need to keep the behemoth in Boston stable – raise the gas tax, increase tolls and take it out on the taxpayers of Massachusetts - who are already overburdened by an administration that has lived up to expectations: spend, then tax.

Backlash to the gas tax increase has been statewide. In Western Massachusetts, WHYN talk Radio has an online petition - “No Massachusetts Gas Tax Hike” – addressed to the Governor. The tag line reads: “We not interested in Digging mismanaged state agencies out of their Big financial hole!”. 16,237 signatures have been affixed to the petition since it went live on-line.

Deval Patrick and Obama - Boston.com (Patrick one of Obama's most visible surrogates)

The Governor, in an attempt to evade growing criticism of his gas tax increases scheme, decided to buy time by tapping into the Turnpike Authority’s Reserves. The administration had previously held back tapping this reserves due to the agency’s “low credit rating." However, this is an emergency - the Governor is experience low public opinion.

Massachusetts GOP Chair, Jennifer Nassour issued the following statement yesterday in response to the Governor's decision to tap cash into cash reserves: “If the Patrick Administration could tap cash reserves, why wasn't this option clearly explained earlier to the toll- and taxpayers? Why are they waiting until the last-minute to make this suggestion? Why has the Governor said nothing about his administration's failure to make reforms, like the promise to reduce 100 jobs at the Turnpike? Why hasn't the governor forcefully rejected his Transportation Secretary's declaration that 'reform before revenue' is a 'meaningless slogan'?"

"The Governor needs to stop focusing on tax and toll increases and start putting some serious effort into real reforms, including eliminating wasteful spending like the no-show jobs on Beacon Hill and the newly created jobs for his friends and neighbors. The Governor needs to explain to the hardworking families of Massachusetts who are struggling to manage their own household budgets why he chose to try to ram through an 11th hour tax increase instead of tackling real, obvious reforms."

Ms. Nassour, as always, brings up some very valid points – points that resound with voters in the troubled Bay State. These voters, however, are not certain Patrick is capable of reform – therefore, the Chicago style of governing that invaded Beacon Hill in 2006, may be given a ticket back in Illinois in 2010.

Massachusetts State GOP Chair attracts Two Candidates

Peter Torkildsen’s, resignation as Massachusetts State GOP Chairman, has brought two candidates (that can be verified), forward that want to tackle the job of moving the Massachusetts Republican Party in a positive direction. Massachusetts Republicans actually lost seats in the last election – in a state where over 50% of the voters are registered as “unenrolled” – is mind-boggling - from a statistics standpoint.

Will new leadership address the issues of conservatives in the Bay State, garner enough press (outside of New England Cable News) to brand both the party and any candidates, and, most importantly, act like (tired but appropriate analogy) Reagan Republicans?

(Ronald Regan won the Bay State twice - by sticking to his conservative principals, while having the sense to include all peoples, into the party (including Union Democrats, all ethnicity and genders). In other words, he did not win the Bay State by declaring himself pro-choice.)

The Candidates in brief: Mike Franco , of East Longmeadow, has not held public office, and ran two failed campaigns for Governors council (neither should be held against a candidate), Franco who is a fathers-rights activist is also unapologetically pro-life and pro-family.

Jennifer Nassour, a mother, wife and long-time Republican activist, is referred to as “a breath of fresh air” by State Senator Scott Brown (one of the few Bay State Republicans to hold an office)
(Being a "party insider" should not be held against anyone.)

A comment responding to an article in the Boston Herald regarding Scotts endorsement of Nassour was blatantly sexist, suggesting that Nassour stick to her present employment as a “mom”. (Making her even more qualified in the mind of a Conservative Feminist.) Nassour has a hefty resume, especially as a fund-raiser, a quality badly needed should the Republican Party hope to regain ground in Massachusetts - they will need to consider branding and a paid media blitz, as they face a less than friendly press. Therefore, someone with the ability to multi-task ("mom"), is an aggressive fundraiser and who understands how to use the media (including social media)may be the ticket.

That said, be it Franco or Nassour who is chosen on the 27th by members of the State Committee, ignoring the grassroots, failing to push conservative Republican candidates by aggressive branding, and most importantly, acting like Democrats, will assure that the status qua remains the same.

Note: Jeff Beatty, Republican candidate for Senate 2008, had little press outside of the New England Cable News Network and the Cape – that said Suffolk University Polls conducted at various points in the campaign showed a specific increase in approval for Jeff Beatty, consistent with the percentage of those polled on “name recognition”.