"Dear Friend,

On Sunday afternoon, I had the opportunity to go to Dorchester to visit with a friend, a dynamic young leader and the next Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Marie St. Fleur. 

Marie and I come from different places, but our journeys have been very similar.  Marie immigrated to this country from Haiti with her parents when she was seven years old.  My parents left Ireland in search of a better life and settled in Springfield. 

Both of us share the same values.  Both of were fortunate to have families and communities that wouldn't let us fall behind.  And both of us have devoted our lives to serving others, giving voice to those who have had no voice, and fighting for ordinary people and their families.

I asked Marie to join me in helping change Massachusetts and move this state forward as the Lieutenant Governor on my ticket.

I have known Marie for more than 15 years.  She started her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex when I was First Assistant District Attorney.  She was an Assistant Attorney General under Scott Harshbarger, managing her own division.  And she has been an effective representative for her constituents as a member of the legislature.  At every stop, she has stayed true to her roots and used the opportunities she has been given to give voice to people who have been forgotten by our current leadership. 

She is passionate.  She is energetic.  She will fight for what she believes in.  And she is driven to help improve the quality of life of the people of this state. 

Believe me, there is no better person than Marie St. Fleur to help me get Massachusetts moving and to give ordinary people a voice in government again.  And she is going to make a terrific Lieutenant Governor. 

Marie and I will make a great team.  Together, we have the vision, passion and commitment to change Massachusetts for the better; to build a better future for our children and grandchildren; and to grow our economy and create jobs.

We will offer more than grand visions with no substance or no follow-through.  We are both ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work on behalf of the people of Massachusetts, finding real solutions to the problems facing our state, our communities and our people.

Marie and I understand the lives of ordinary people, because those are the lives each of us has led.  As a ticket, we offer a unique opportunity to speak to the issues that are facing families every day in every region and corner of this state.

I am so pleased that Marie agreed to join with me.  She will be a true partner in this campaign and I would be honored to serve alongside her as we change Massachusetts and make this state great again.  Please join me in welcoming Marie to our campaign and keep watching for updates on how we're going to make history and win in November.

Your friend,

Tom"

Pardon the implied profanity, but what the f--- is Tom Reilly doing?

Yeah, rank-and-file Democrats might forget this debacle by the primary election. The memory of the Conte controversy could fade away, too. But the rationale for Reilly's candidacy--that he's an unexciting but safe candidate--has taken yet another hit. Before long, that argument's going to lose all credibility.

Deval Patrick must be doing backflips right now.

Way to go, Cindy Sheehan. Stick it to Diane Feinstein!

You can read more about Sheehan's newest (potential) endeavor below. It's a red-hot press release, just sent out this afternoon.

I'm no Sam Alito fan, but come on. Really, if there was any doubt that Sheehan needs to leave the public eye ASAP, this should dispel it.

"Caracas, Venezuela – Gold star mother Cindy Sheehan has decided to run against California Senator Diane Feinstein if Feinstein does not filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito. While in Venezuela attending the World Social Forum, Sheehan learned that several Democratic Senators had announced their plans for a filibuster but that Senator Feinstein, who’s up for re-election in November, had stated she would vote against the nomination but not filibuster it. “I’m appalled that Diane Feinstein wouldn’t recognize how dangerous Alito’s nomination is to upholding the values of our constitution and restricting the usurpation of presidential powers, for which I’ve already paid the ultimate price,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan is the grieving military mother whose vigil outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford last summer focused the nation’s attention on the human cost of the Iraq war. Her son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004.

Judge Alito has an extensive paper trail documenting the right-wing political agenda that he has actively advanced, not only as a high-ranking official in the Reagan Administration, but also as a judge. He has publicly supported the "Unitary Executive" theory, a radical notion that the President holds exclusive and inherent authority to execute all federal law. He has supported efforts to curtail privacy rights, including not only privacy from government surveillance and arbitrary arrest, but also other constitutional rights based on privacy, such as reproductive liberty for women. Alito has outspokenly sought to restrict Congress' power, limiting the scope of the Commerce Clause of Article I of the Constitution. In addition, he has consistently applied his discretion as a judge in favor of certain interests and against others. He rarely votes against big business, police or prosecutors.

Sheehan is available for interviews from Venezuela through the contact people listed above. She returns to the United States on Monday morning and will travel to Washington, DC on Tuesday to participate in an alternative State of the Union event."

So, an intern working for Marty Meehan sanitized the congressman's Wikipedia biography. Now missing: references to Meehan's vow (now broken) to step down after four terms, and to his $4.8 million campaign warchest--biggest in the U.S. House, it seems.

The best part: the intern was working under the direction of Matt Vogel, Meehan's chief of staff. And Vogel, apparently, sees nothing wrong with what happened.

Thanks to Dan Kennedy for pointing this out.

Or at least keeps that option open. Here's a just-released statement from Reilly's campaign on rumors that the AG and would-be governor will tap Chris Gabrieli as his runnning mate:

"There are several talented Democrats considering a campaign for Lieutenant Governor, including those who have already announced their intention to run. As I've said before, I want a strong partner in the Corner Office. Picking a running mate is one way, but not the only way, to achieve that. I'll make an announcement in the coming days after I've made a final decision."

If a Reilly-Gabrieli ticket hasn't been announced in a few weeks, we'll know this was just a big-ass trial balloon.

I happen to think teaming with Gabrieli would be a bad move for the AG. I like Gabrieli a lot--he's a smart, principled, personable guy who just happens to be a multi-millionaire. And yes, he'd give Reilly the financial wherewithal to combat whatever Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos might have in store. But aesthetically, Reilly-Gabrieli would be an underwhelming ticket: two middle-aged white guys, neither of whom has overwhelming charisma. Furthermore, attentive voters might see Gabrieli as damaged political goods, since he's already lost a congressional campaign and failed in his bid, in 2002, to become Shannon O'Brien's lieutenant governor.

That's my two cents, anyway.

That's the one thing Mitt forgot to mention.

Say, you know what else the Republicans need? Besides good advice? Some inspirational reading!

Um, is this really a fight Tom Reilly wants? What with the ongoing controversy that threatens to derail his candidacy for governor? Maybe there's some kind of theory of political homeopathy at work here, but I fail to see how this does the AG any good at all.

Did Tom Reilly do the right thing?

My own sense is that the attorney general overreached by telling Worcester County D.A. John Conte not to release the autopsy reports for Shauna and Meghan Murphy, teenage sisters who died in what seems to have been an alcohol-related car accident last October. After all, as Reilly noted in his hastily called press conference yesterday, Massachusetts law already dicated that those reports remain private. The A.G. shouldn't have to remind a district attorney to follow existing law. And since the Murphy parents are friends of Reilly's, there's a whiff of favoritism to his request.

Furthermore, even though Reilly insists he did nothing to derail a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash, it's reasonable to think that whatever Reilly told Conte affected the D.A.'s subsequent dealings with Northborough police chief Mark Leahy. Remember, Leahy has accused the D.A. of refusing to make the autopsy reports available to his department, and eventually chose to close the case. (There's a ton of details to keep straight here; for anyone new to the story or searching for a quick refresher, I suggest the sidebar that to the aforementioned Globe piece.)

All that said, today's Herald treatment of the story--which includes a sensationalistic front page ("REILLY ON THE ROPES") and a story titled "Candidacy could weather storm"--goes way, way overboard. There is a controversy here, and it's fair game for scrutiny by the media, Reilly's protestations notwithstanding. But by the the time the Democratic gubernatorial primary rolls around, this'll be a mere footnote. Yes, Reilly made a mistake. And the Howie Carr contingent will cite this as evidence that Reilly's part of a corrupt and monolithic Democratic establishment. They wouldn't have supported Reilly anyway, however. Most importantly, any voter who's a parent will sympathize with the Murphy family's plight--and even if they think Reilly acted unwisely, they'll likely forgive him.

Finally, a bit of advice for lieutenant governor Kerry Healey: given your unfortunate knack for indelicate speech, stay as far away from this one as possible.

Tom Reilly's already noted that he's the only non-millionaire running for governor. But apparently he wants to drive the point home. Earlier today, Reilly released his tax returns for the last three years, and urged his fellow candidates to do the same.

Looks like Team Reilly has decided that casting their guy as the humble everyman of the race is the way to go. It'll be interesting to see how Democrat Deval Patrick and Republicans Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos respond. (Healey--who has the most wealth-related baggage, and strikes me as Reilly's primary target here--has been working to play up her humble roots, as these profiles from the Phoenix and Globe demonstrate.)

Here's the full press release from the Reilly camp:

Reilly Releases Tax Returns