Friday, September 22, 2006

Here's what the Democratic Party should do to Geno: tar and feather him. Strip him of his chair and put him in a suit-case-sized office. There's NO ROOM for that in my party.

I have nothing against people who want to criticize the party; I do have something against elected officials who want to cast doubt on our nominee for governor. They're not Democrats, they're Democrats In Name Only (DINOs) and suffer from incumbentitis, only curable with removal from office. Just ask Joe Lieberman.

Sorry Ryan, there is PLENTY OF ROOM for Geno and others conservative Democrats in OUR party....Geno is a convenient whipping boy because of his willingness to say what he feels and stand up for what he believes in. I know many loyal Democrats, who never vote Republican but also share Geno's views on many issues.

Our party and our nominee should heed advice from people like him who may be more conservative than Democrats like you or me. That’s right I AM A PROUD LIBERAL.

We have not been able to elect a Democrat to the Governorship in 16 years. Remember, there were another 50% of Dem primary voters who supported someone else other than Deval. (myself included) You cannot just discount us as disloyal to the party - we have concerns regarding the direction of our party and its priorities.

I am a city Liberal who believes in charter schools, and was happy to see Geno mention that issue. Should we not elect any urban, Democratic legislator who shares that view?

OUR PARTY has plenty of room for well thought, differing views, that is what makes our party strong. That is the reason we have dominated Massachusetts politics for the past 60 years.

One more thing about Geno: He is a legislator committed to social justice in this state; he supports programs for the homeless, hungry, seniors and our youth. He was a strong supporter for universal health care passed this year and he deserves a more respect that he has been given.

A2 Adam, A2?

So if you agree with some of the cult commandements but not all you are a hypocrit? It's all or nothing. There is no room for free thinkers in the state dem. party. Right Adam? It's like the Koran?
Let's just ignore the fact that poor urban people are getting screwed as they try to educate their kids. But there kids can be sacrificed for the greater good, I suppose.
You make it so easy to shout "Kool-Aid rinkers".

Ernie, I think you're being too kind to Geno here (and too harsh with me, natch). I absolutely think there's room for a wide range of views in the Democratic Party. But I DON'T think that O'Flaherty should be bitching about Patrick's alleged problematic liberalism when he has liberal views of his own on an issue near and dear to the Healey camp. I would have had no problem with Geno's particular array of viewpoints if he hadn't opportunistically called Patrick out the other day.

Political parties are not religions. Marginalized dems have not only been shouted down but also deamonized by the state party. Knocko O'Flaherty gave a straight answer when asked. The hypocrisy is the suggestion that there is a place within the party for his view and it can be discussed freely. Sorry Adam. I don't buy it. The party is here for us, not vice versa.

O'Flaherty's comments about Patrick being perceived as too liberal to win are fair and ones I have been hearing more and more from a lot of people (Dems) and I'm a lifelong Dem. I am hearing more than a few people, more urban than suburban, tell me that they are strongly considering Mihos after this last debate. An awful lot of others just are not too hip on any of the choices. Patrick has to be true to himself and his views, but if he can't explain his views (in state college rates for undocumented students, no charter schools, anti-stem cell) from a logical perspective or even from a social justice perspective, I don't see him winning. And that would be unfortunate.