If questions about Reilly’s judgment don’t give party warhorses pause, one would think that the starker calculus of electability might.
One of Reilly’s problems may be that he has thought too much about raising the money he needs to be elected governor and not enough about what he would stand for if he were to be elected. Witness Reilly’s flip-flop embrace of the death penalty; it was every bit as squirrelly as the conversion Mitt Romney miraculously underwent when he cast his cold and calculating eyes on the White House, at which point he abandoned his position on abortion that while he was personally opposed to it, he respected and upheld a woman’s right to choose. And then there was his spineless performance on the issue of gay marriage. Reilly really stuck it to a community that had for the most part supported his electoral career. Even if as attorney general Reilly felt he had absolutely no wiggle room and had to allow a statewide referendum on gay marriage (something we — like others — doubt), he could have made a more convincing case and showed more solicitude toward his gay supporters. When the going gets tough, Reilly gets squishy. At least more-conservative Democrats have the candor to hold their positions with conviction.
While he may not do it convincingly, Reilly is always on watch trying to turn easy headlines into political hay. He tried to exploit the nasty and soul-numbing scandal over the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests by suggesting constitutionally dubious oversight of church affairs by his office. He tried to worm his way into the sale of the Red Sox with dubious claims of policing the trusts that owned the team. And he offended civil libertarians as well as people of common sense when he injected himself into a fracas caused by two loathsome radio talk-show jocks who made a racist wisecrack on the air.
But when there were issues that really mattered and where his office had a clear interest — such as the spate of murder-conviction reversals in Suffolk County and the plague of murders that Boston police have not been able to solve — where was Reilly? Keeping his mouth shut.
Although the prospect appears unlikely, we’d welcome the entrance of one of our congressmen into the race. Whether Patrick or Gabrieli have what it takes to make it as governor remains to be seen. They may, by the standards of political pros, be long shots. But we think their candidacies are more appealing than Reilly’s.
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At a recent political event, Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino asked Robert Crane, the former long-time state treasurer, how many years he had held that office.
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- Under attack
Recent decisions by President Barack Obama and Maine Governor John Baldacci have dampened progressive hopes that the Republican-inspired war on civil liberties might be winding down.
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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.
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