March 31, 2006
Okay--what's the deal here?
Globe columnist (and
Phoenix alum) Scot Lehigh usually treats political matters with admirable cynicism. But when it comes to Tom Reilly, he gets all gushy. The latest example: today's piece on Reilly
releasing his income-tax returns and urging the other candidates for governor to do the same.
I'd like to see the returns myself, actually. But Lehigh's exploration of the issue is weirdly uncritical. He doesn't ask, for example, if there's anything problematic about Reilly working to turn socioeconomic class into a campaign issue. In fact, Lehigh actually makes himself complicit in Reilly's effort by lauding the AG for living in the same Watertown apartment he's rented since 1990:
"'We are happy here,' [Reilly] says. "I don't need any more than this."
That's Tom Reilly: a lone stoic in the gubernatorial field.
WTF???
Along with "
The Boy from Springfield," Lehigh's January hymn to the AG's humble roots, this one should be listed as an in-kind contribution on Reilly's
OCPF filings.
March 30, 2006
Here's the response from the Patrick camp. Note the simultaneous jab at Romney and Reilly.
Given his
track record on gay marriage, it'll be very, very interesting
to see how the AG handles this one. If I were a Reilly adviser, I'd
urge him to say nothing whatsoever.
STATEMENT FROM DEVAL PATRICK ON TODAY'S SJC DECISION ON THE 1913 LAW
BOSTON—Thursday,
March 30, 2006 — The statement below is in response to today's decision
by the Supreme Judicial Court
to uphold Governor Mitt Romney's and Attorney General Tom Reilly's invocation
of the 1913 law:
"I'm disappointed by today’s SJC decision. Although it
leaves the door ajar for marriage equality for couples from other states, it
adds new layers of process and bureaucracy to the exercise of those
rights. That costs us all in money and time spent on an issue we are all
ready to move beyond.
"We have Tom Reilly and Mitt Romney to thank for prolonging
this debate. The SJC got it right in Goodrich, by affirming the
bedrock principle that people come before their government as equals. In
the two years since, the sky has not fallen. Yet Reilly and Romney
revived this 1913 law to torpedo those rights. It's a glaring example of
their bad leadership.
"Gay men and lesbians have married in Massachusetts,
accepted the rights and the responsibilities of marriage, and moved on with
their lives out in the open. The rest of us ought to try doing the same."
March 30, 2006
This is it, folks.
Before today, Romney's pre-presidential boasts about battling gay marriage lacked credibility. All he could say was,
I fought gay marriage in Massachusetts...and lost. Now there's a positive outcome to report.
And it's already been cleverly packaged. Quoth Romney, in today's AP story: "'We
don't want Massachusetts to become the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage,'
he said."
March 30, 2006
New in this week's Phoenix: an
early look at Indiana senator Evan Bayh, who'll be a candidate to watch in the '08 Democratic presidential primaries.
March 30, 2006
This
gonzo take on Mitt, courtesy of Portsmouth Herald News columnist Chris Elliott, is flat-out hilarious. A sample: "In another life, Mitt could be head of the Luftwaffe, or the Earth's
human representative to the First Intergalactic All Species Congress."
Who the hell is this guy? (And no, it's not
that Chris Elliott.)
March 29, 2006
If you've missed it until now, this
anti-Kerry Healey spot--which has been
running for a week, and goes off the air tonight--is worth a listen.
The Massachusetts SEIU State Council paid for it;
Crawford Strategies
gets creative credit.
March 29, 2006
In available cash, that is. Apparently it was last night's
much-discussed birthday party that did the trick.
Here's the Reilly camp's press release. Note campaign manager Sean
Sinclair's comment about cash on hand being the only number that means
anything:
Reilly Surpasses $4 Million Milestone
Unmatched Cash-On-Hand Mark Reached After Highly Successful Birthday
Fundraiser Brought In Over $300,000 From More Than 600 Individual
Contributors
BOSTON - Attorney General and Democratic candidate for Governor Tom
Reilly today announced that his campaign has surpassed the $4 million
cash-on-hand mark in fundraising, reaching that goal after a highly
successful fundraiser last night.
The fundraiser, held at the State Room in Boston, brought in over
$300,000 from more than 600 individual contributors. The event will
vault Reilly over the $4 million cash-on-hand mark in his March
campaign finance filings.
Reilly campaign manager Sean Sinclair noted that cash-on-hand is the
only true marker in fundraising, assuring that Reilly will have the
resources to compete against the deep pockets of Kerry Healey and
Christy Mihos in November.
"Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos are going to pump millions of their
personal fortunes into their candidacies, and it is vital for the
Democratic candidate to have the resources to compete," Sinclair said.
"Tom Reilly is clearly the best candidate - in terms of
experience, vision, and support - to become our next Governor and get
Massachusetts moving again."
No other candidate for Governor in Massachusetts history has reached
the $4 million cash-on-hand level at this stage of the campaign.
March 29, 2006
In addition to digging up some vintage Andy Card buttons for today's
Political Junkie, NPR's political editor has some
thoughts on Card's future. Here's the good stuff:
And as for Card, there are rumors that he will jump into the race for governor
in Massachusetts, where incumbent Republican Mitt Romney is leaving after one
term, and where Romney's lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, is not doing so
well. My guess is that it doesn't happen; perhaps one reason the rumor has
surfaced is that Card has previously talked of the governorship, and in fact ran
once before, in 1982, finishing third in the GOP primary. (There's another
scenario that has Card heading back to the Bay State to help with Romney's
anticipated presidential candidacy.)
The prospect of Card playing a key role in Romney's '08 run is especially intriguing.
March 29, 2006
[Deirdre Fulton guest-blogging.]
Today's meeting comes on the heels of yesterday's news that the council violated the city's Open Meeting Law and will be fined $11,000. Let's see if anything seems different.
11:40 a.m.: I arrive late (I know, I'm a hypocrite, but who can find a parking spot around here?), and things are already underway --- with everyone here. Are they trying to save face?
11:44 a.m.: The Mount Alvernia high school girls basketball team is honored by Consalvo and Tobin. Wahoo!
11:50 a.m.: Big news: The administration has complied with a council-issued 17F request (it didn't arrive on time, but it did come eventually, which I guess is an accomplishment) regarding the makeup of the Boston Police Department. Yancey rises to speak on this. Apparently, the data illustrates the extent of the department's racial disparities --- for example, 95.3 percent of civilian supervisors are white. Yancey thinks this "represents a serious problem." (You don't say.) He urges his fellow councilors to read the entirety of the 17F documents. Will they? (Yoon, who sits next to Yancey, is already sifting through the papers.)
11:57 a.m.: Yancey demonstrates self-awareness, acknowledging that he sounds like a broken record ("maybe that's why some people aren't listening," he says, chiding his chatting colleagues).
12:00 p.m.: Arroyo's cell phone rings. He answers it and leaves the chamber. I bet Yancey is so pissed.
12:03 p.m.: Murphy, on behalf of the Committee on Public Safety, submits no fewer than eight reports recommending that several grants be issued, including money that will go toward easing the state's DNA-processing backlog, training the child-abuse unit, protecting "buffer zones" (this is related to homeland security, not abortion clinics), and expanding school-safety programs.
12:11 p.m.: I'd like to reiterate that everyone seems to be working harder than usual today. Heads down, papers shuffling, less side chatting, etc.
12:12 p.m.: Back to the buffer zones. Yancey is so good at slipping in anti-biolab stuff! He wants to know why that project (which he hopes is never completed, by the way) wouldn't deserve so-called buffer-zone money (so far, Fenway Park, and a chemical company have made the cut).
12:19 p.m.: All eight public-safety grants --- adding up to whopping $33,990,775.56 --- are passed.
12:27 p.m.: Ross is txt-ing.
12:30 p.m.: Drug deaths have increased in Boston, and Turner, Arroyo, and Yancey are calling for a hearing to examine "medical methods to stem Boston's drug abuse crisis." With homicide deaths getting so much attention, let's not forget about the drug problem, which is quantitatively worse, Turner says.
12:33 p.m.: Lots of important, whispered conversations going on at Flaherty's podium today. Murphy was up there for a while, now it's Consalvo.
12:34 p.m.: You know those 14 police-department recruits who got totally screwed --- told they were in, and then told that actually, they weren't? Well, it might offer some small consolation to know that the council will hold a hearing on the matter.
12:39 p.m.: Turner, Arroyo, Yancey, and Yoon offer an order that would take money siezed during drug busts, and use it toward combating the city's drug problem. To move forward, the proposal would have to move through the State house. Ross recommends the council take a look at what local colleges do with drug-bust money.
12:45 p.m.: I have to leave a little early because my meter's going to run out. As I'm heading out the door, Arroyo's on his cell phone again.
March 29, 2006
Courtesy of
The Hotline.
There's good news and bad news here for Mitt. The bad news is that, among the "Bush Base"--the 45 percent or so of Republicans who still thing W. is doing a bang-up job--Romney is something of a presidential afterthought. When these true believers are asked who they'd vote for in a 2008 Republican primary, Romney finishes a distant fifth, behind Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Frist.
Here's the good news: Romney's negatives are remarkably low. When the same voters are asked who they'd
never vote for in a presidential primary, Romney finishes dead last among 11 candidates, with just two percent saying they absolutely, positively wouldn't give him the nod.
Finally, here's the poll's profile of the die-hard Bush voter. Their support of the president almost seems to be an article of faith--which makes sense, given the way the president's own head apparently works:
Looking solely at demographics, staunch Bush supporters are typically
caucasian (89%), over the age of 45 (62%), protestant (60%), and attend
religious services regularly. Trending socially conservative, morality
is a top concern for them. But when it comes to casting a vote for
their next POTUS, they are not looking for a renegade, but someone who
more fits into the mold of Bush. 81% say they are "very likely" to
re-elect Bush if he was eligible to run for POTUS again and 99% approve
of the job Bush is doing as pres.
March 28, 2006
I'm still not sure how many people actually care who the LG nominees are when they're voting for governor. Even so, this
isn't the kind of performance the Healey-Hillman ticket needs right now.
March 28, 2006
Breaking news:
Andy Card--chief of staff for the president and former Massachusetts state rep--has
resigned. No explanation's been given yet.
Any chance Card quit to run for governor here in MA? Given the timing, it's impossible not to wonder.
March 28, 2006
And thanks to Shirley Kressel, Kathleen Devine, and
Kevin McCrea for challenging the council's
blatant disregard for the state's Open Meeting Law.
You'd think this ruling by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Nancy Staffier Holtz would change the M.O. up at City Hall. But old habits die hard.
March 27, 2006
Stone's
way pessimistic about Hillary '08, FYI. In contrast, the Material Girl is cautiously encouraging.
March 27, 2006
I'll say this: Felix Arroyo gets right to the point. Check out the first few lines of the latest Felix Field Report:
Friends and supporters,
I have two important announcements for you. First is my birthday
party, which will take place next month. Please be as generous as you
can when making your donation. A mailed invitation will follow - credit
card link is below.
Presumably, cash and checks are also acceptable.
If you're thinking times are tight over at Arroyo HQ, you're correct. As of March 15, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the at-large city councilor and progressive darling had just $479.47 in the bank.
