The political fallout from Monday’s Big Dig collapse won’t be limited to Mitt Romney’s national ambitions. Earlier this month, Turnpike chairman Matt Amorello's former colleagues in the State Senate helped him out in his fight to keep control of the Turnpike board: they slipped an amendment into the state budget that would retroactively extend the term of Jordan Levy, an Amorello ally, thereby denying a seat to Romney appointee Beth Lindstrom, who’s already been sworn in. Put bluntly, this is shitty lawmaking. And it’s sure to reinforce the notion that the Democrat-dominated Massachusetts legislature is a den of hacks more interested in taking care of themselves than serving the state’s voters — a perception that, it should be noted, has resulted in 16 straight years of Republican governors.
The legislature hasn’t overridden Romney’s veto of the measure, so it’s still possible they'll get a clue. Even if Lindstrom stays on the board, though, the hard fact of Delvalle’s death will remain. And this — perverse as it may sound — could be a boon to Christy Mihos, the independent gubernatorial candidate and former Turnpike-board member who made his name as a Big Dig whistleblower. Thus far, Mihos’s candidacy has been relatively quiet. But he has been forceful in the wake of Delvalle’s death, calling for an independent counsel and urging the closure of all comparable tunnels pending a thorough investigation.
The ramifications for Mihos’s rivals are less clear. The Big Dig hasn't been closely identified with Democrats Deval Patrick or Chris Gabrieli. Tom Reilly is another story, since the Democratic attorney general, elected to that post in 1999, has been leading the state’s cost-recovery efforts since 2005. Republicans like to cast his efforts as too little, too late. But forging a connection between Reilly and this week’s disaster won’t be easy. As for lieutenant governor and GOP nominee Kerry Healey, the aforementioned anti-establishment impulse usually benefits Republicans. But Healey, to her detriment, is part of an administration that’s hemmed and hawed about the Big Dig for three and a half years, without actually doing much of anything about it.
Related:
Mitt's Katrina, A Handy Guide to the Big Dig Screw-Up, The wrong stuff, More 
- Mitt's Katrina
It seems callous to talk about the political implications of Milena Del Valle’s death Monday night, which came when she was crushed by a three-ton chunk of ceiling inside a Big Dig tunnel. The fallout: Monday's Big Dig collapse won't just affect Romney's national ambitions. By Adam Reilly
- A Handy Guide to the Big Dig Screw-Up
As people try to sort out responsibility for the fiasco that led to the death of Milena Del Valle in the I-90 connector tunnel, you might have a hard time keeping the players straight.
- The wrong stuff
You can’t blame Democrats for feeling optimistic. In 2005, George W. Bush staggered through as rough a stretch as any modern president has experienced.
- Healey’s pork problem
Along with cuts to big, statewide programs, the governor pulled funding for smaller, local projects earmarked for towns from Cape Cod to the Berkshires.
- Hard sell
Over the past eight months, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey (who wants to be governor) has methodically distanced herself from her boss and fellow Republican, Governor Mitt Romney (who wants to be president).
- After the election
When legislators buried the marriage amendment without a vote at the November 9 Constitutional Convention, it was a good sign that pols have nothing to fear politically from same-sex marriage opponents.
- Deval’s New Hampshire Dilemma
Mitt Romney has left Deval Patrick a full raft of problems, from last Friday’s out-of-the-blue unilateral cuts to the state budget to a broken downtown tunnel system people are afraid to drive through.
- The presidential hunt
Mitt Romney and his staff don’t leave home without their American Express cards — which gives the rest of us a chance to see exactly how, and where, they’ve been spending their gubernatorial campaign funds.
- Tormenting Teddy
After 32 years in the US Senate, Ted Kennedy remains a force to be reckoned with, both for his legendary family history and his considerable accomplishments.
- Romney's greatest gaffes - 'tar baby' update
Even by Mitt Romney’s gaffe-tastic standards, this was a bad one.
- Plogging away
When asked about the Internet, most political candidates will dutifully tell you that it’s the wave of the future, or the wave of the present, or the greatest thing since chocolate-chip bagels, or … zzzzzz … wake me when baseball’s post-season starts.
- Less
Topics:
Talking Politics
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