New city council president Maureen Feeney has announced the committee assignments for 2007. There's a lot of shake-up, because A) the change in president, B) the death of Jimmy Kelly, and C) the bargaining that went into Feeney's victory. I don't see any evidence that she put anybody in the doghouse.

The biggest change is Chuck Turner regaining the Education chair from John Tobin. My sources say that Tobin offered this up to help swing Team Unity to vote for Feeney, once Tobin decided to support her -- but I'm sure others might tell different versions of how this came to be. Tobin gets Intergovernmental Relations, which is a pretty good booby prize.

Feeney gave Flaherty a decent landing, giving him the chair of the newly-reconfigured Labor & Workforce Development committee, plus Public Utilities.

Team Unity's Sam Yoon also scored big, keeping his precious Housing chair and adding Human Services, but Felix Arroyo and Charles Yancey didn't seem to trade up much.

I think Jerry McDermott may be the biggest winner; he loses Utilities but gets Ways & Means -- which Consalvo cannot be happy about losing -- and Financial Services/Community Investment.

Consalvo gets the wide-ranging Government Operations chair as consolation. Salvatore LaMattina scored with Neighborhood Services and Transportation. And Steve Murphy -- who might really be staying put after all -- swaps out Labor for Economic Development while keeping Public Safety.

1/31/2007 4:05:24 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [3] |  

Maureen Feeney has announced the schedule for the special election to fill Jimmy Kelly's seat on the city council. The preliminary will be Tuesday April 17, and the final on Tuesday May 15.

The prelim is on an interesting date: Monday the 16th is Patriots' Day, so that makes a huge three-day weekend for full-contact campaigning. The previous weekend is Easter. Another key date: Saint Patrick's Day falls on a Saturday this year, so the parade is March 17.

Looking at that neighborhood, you would think that one "traditional" Southie pol will reach the final along with one "new Boston" pol. But that could depend on how many of each type run in the prelim. Should be a fun one!

1/30/2007 2:37:50 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

Commissioner Ed Davis announced a bevy of major organizational changes today, an overview of which you can read on the BPD's blog. Many of the changes are good ones in my opinion. Davis is implementing a form of COMPSTAT, the geographically-based review-and-response system that New York City used in its legendary crime turnaround in the mid-'90s, and many other cities have since copied. District detectives will be centralized, both physically and administratively, which I think has been long overdue. At the same time, in a major slap at Superintendent Paul Joyce, his precious Youth Violence Strike Force is being moved from his Investigative Services to Superintendent Dunford's Field Services, where it rightly belongs. (As is the police school unit.) I also love the creation of a Bureau of Professional Standards and Development, which should finally get the department to think of training as a vital, ongoing part of an officer's career.

There's much more to the proposals, and I'm waiting to see what big personel decisions Davis has coming. But this looks like a very good direction to me at first blush.

1/30/2007 1:56:33 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Rick Klein has a good piece in today's Globe about the clout of the Massachusetts delegation under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but former Phoenix scribe Seth Gitell goes a step further in the new Boston Mag, warning that Markey, Meehan et al "could squander a huge opportunity if they spend the next few months stuck on Iraq." What he means is that, instead of bringing home the bacon to the Bay State, our congressmen look like they're going to spend their time and energy scrutinizing and criticizing the war -- the kind of oversight functions I outlined last week (and in this sidebar).

I don't disagree with Gitell (although I would point out that, if oversight saves or recovers billions of dollars in waste, fraud or prevention of unnecessary action, that's bacon for Mass. taxpayers too). I would add to his analysis that I suspect our delegation is a victim of its own success: Pelosi wants to give the more electorally lucrative rewards to representatives from more competitive districts, to help ensure the Dem majority in '08 and beyond. Let's face it, the 10 Massachusetts congressmen could go on a group baby-eating diet and still hold 8 of the seats; so they get assigned "important" work, while others get the bacon.

1/30/2007 9:02:37 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Both Maine Senators have boarded the Straight Talk Express, agreeing to co-chair the Maine operation of John McCain's Presidential "exploratory" committee. The Gang of 14 stick together, I suppose, even though Collins and Snowe both oppose the troop increase that McCain is so fond of.

1/29/2007 11:24:45 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Picking out just a few things from the week that was….

1.    By backing out of the BPS superintendent job, Manuel Rivera has popped open a fine bottle of political chardonnay that we’ll be sipping from for quite some time. Regardless of what really caused the turnabout, this is a huge slap at Tom Menino. Menino shut a lot of critics’ yapping pie-holes (including mine) by landing Rivera, showing that the Mayor really can and will bring talented, top-notch people into his administration and give them the authority to do their thing. Or, maybe not. Now it looks like, just maybe, the critics were right in the first place on a few things. Meanwhile, the non-elected school committee – both as theory and in its specific current makeup – is heading into its most intense public scrutiny yet. And there is nothing that stokes local politics like the schools, or as a potential ’09 Menino challenger might put it, the educational hopes of all of Boston’s young people and their families. Hmmm, I wonder whether any ’09 mayoral wannabes will stoke this debacle as long and loudly as possible? Saddle up, former president Flaherty!

2.    John Kerry opted out of the 2008 Presidential race this week, and the Herald inexplicably wants to make this into a golden opportunity for Republicans to win his Senate seat. Um, no. As if Kerry’s in-state popularity, his campaign war chest, and the GOP’s recent track record in statewide races isn’t enough, consider that on the election day in question, Bay Staters will be swarming the polls to vote roughly 2-to-1 for the Democrat for President (maybe 4-to-1 if Romney’s on the GOP ticket). The state Republicans will be lucky if they find a serious candidate to run. Actually, they might be luckier if they don’t; they’d probably do better writing off the Senate race and using those resources at the lower levels.

3.     Speaking of the state GOP, Kerry’s announcement was a sort of coming-out for new chair Peter Torkildsen, and boy is it nice to see a grown-up back in control. Instead of the usual bitter, sarcastic, mean-spirited spewing of tired old insults we’ve come to expect from that office, Torkildsen put out a very brief release looking ahead to the Senate race and “taking this case to the voters.” Then he got the local media talking, at least a little, about the state’s prominent Republicans. Welcome Torky!

4.    So, how come Ed Davis gets to waltz into town and say that it’s important to “make the BPD homicide… more diverse because more minority detectives will increase trust in the Police Department and help solve cases,” according to the Globe – and the Mayor and the BPD don’t jump all over him like they’ve done with everybody else who’s suggested that the last few years? It’s because he’s so tall, isn’t it? Davis also gets away with saying that the BPD needs more and better training, more sensitivity to perceptions of harassment, and, oh yeah, the homicide arrest rate really needs to get better. (Dianne Wilkerson in particular took a heap of abuse for saying the same things a year ago -- but after her late filing of bills earlier this month, I'm disinclined to say anything nice about Wilkerson until she demonstrates that she's got her $%&#! under control.) Also while I was away Menino named his new civilian review board for the BPD, and announced a plan to buy a fancy-pants gunshot-tracking system.

1/29/2007 9:00:19 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

You'll have to fend for yourselves for a week; this blog will be back in action on January 29.

1/19/2007 6:31:49 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Political consultant Rob Gray was senior advisor and media strategist for the only political campaign Mitt Romney has ever won: the 2002 gubernatorial election. Gray, a Weld/Cellucci aide, friend of Karl Rove, and regular Romney consultant, has just signed on with the enemy, from Mitt's perspective. John McCain announced today that Gray will be a senior advisor focusing on communications and political affairs in New England for McCain's Presidential "exploratory" committee.

1/19/2007 1:43:11 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [4] |  

John McCain's signature issue is campaign-finance and lobbyist reform, an issue he picked up after getting embroiled in the "Keating 5" scandal. It's his main legislative achievement, his main appeal to independent voters, and the pillar of his "Straight Talk" public persona.

So you might think it would be the one issue on which he would not flip-flop. You'd be wrong.

According to Roll Call, McCain has agreed to vote to remove a key piece of lobbying-reform legislation that he had until now strongly supported. That measure would require certain "grassroots" organizations to register as lobbyists and disclose their fundraising activities.

I put "grassroots" in quotes because the reform is aimed at what government-watchdog groups call "astroturf" organizations: those that are in fact huge entities, often funded by big businesses that want their involvement kept hidden. There are astroturf groups on the left and right, advocating on any number of issues.

Whether or not you approve of the reform, the point is that John McCain has strongly supported it -- putting him at odds with conservative groups that vehemently oppose it.

McCain's sudden reversal on this comes amid reports of his troubles solidifying support in his run for the GOP Presidential nomination. This is a sure sign that he's worried -- and that he feels the need to beg at the feet of hard-right conservatives for support. Mitt Romney, who's been kissing those feet for quite a while now, must be smiling.

1/18/2007 5:46:20 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

--The conservative Red State blog site has launched a page devoted exclusively to attacking freshman Democrats in Congress, in hopes of defeating them in 2008. New England being full of such newbies (including -- congratulations! -- newly named freshman class president Paul Hodes), this should be worth keeping an eye on.

--The New York Sun column of former Phoenix writer Seth Gitell is always worth reading, and his latest points to a latent anti-war minority within the Republican Party, who are waiting and hoping for Senator Chuck Hagel to enter the Presidential race. (Hagel told CNN's Wolf Blitzer yesterday his decision is coming soon.) If the GOP field contains no war opponents, these folks, and their right-leaning independent brethren, could end up voting in the Democratic primaries instead. That could be an interesting dynamic.

--Even as I stubbornly refuse to believe that he’s really going to run, Rudy Giuliani continues acting unmistakenly like a Presidential candidate. Today, the Union Leader’s John DiStaso reports that the former Mayor has compiled his New Hampshire senior staff, which includes David Tille as state political director and Jeff Semprini -- son of departing NH GOP chair Wayne Semprini -- as regional field director and college outreach director (for those of you at Dartmouth and UNH wishing to get involved with the campaign). Meanwhile out in Iowa, Giuliani scored possibly the best get in the state with former Iowa Governor Jim Nussle. Nussle has reportedly joined the Giuliani team -- a bit of a slap to Mitt Romney, who poured $1.2 million of Republican Governors Association funds into Nussle’s losing campaign.

1/18/2007 11:11:42 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

The US House of Representatives is dealing with a procedural vote as I write this, after which they will vote on HR5, the bill to dramatically reduce the interest rate for new student loans.

I'm interested in how many Republicans break from the party to vote for this one. I've been listening in on much of the floor debate on the bill today, enjoying the GOP reps trying to find ways to explain their opposition to this bill. (The bill would cost taxpayers nothing -- the $6 billion of savings to students would come out of various payments and fees to lenders.) Their main objection is that the bill would only save money for college graduates and do nothing for the rising cost to current students. At one point Buck McKeon said that the real problem is the outrageous wasteful spending by colleges on things like new campus centers. I can't picture many middle-class and working-class parents buying those arguments.

After it passes, my understanding is that the Senate will package it with a batch of Ted Kennedy college-cost proposals, so it's a long way from becoming law. Sorry!

Update: Only 71 Republicans dared to vote against, even though the Bush Administration came out against it. Sorry, W.!

1/17/2007 5:19:01 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Statehouse News reports a number of new appointments in Leslie Kirwan's A&F department:

UBS investment banker HENRY DORMITZER was named undersecretary and chief of staff. JAY GONZALEZ, who specialized in government financing of capital projects at the law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, is assistant secretary for capital finance and intergovernmental affairs. MATTHEW GORZKOWICZ, chief financial officer at the Massachusetts School Building Authority, is assistant secretary for financial operations and budget. Coming over from his post as senior policy counsel at the attorney general’s office is GLEN SHOR, as A&F’s director of policy and planning. JANET FOGEL, formerly an attorney with the Senate Counsel’s office and the assistant city solicitor for Somerville, is the A&F’s deputy general counsel. Signing on as policy analysts at A&F are LONSDALE KOESTER, who worked as deputy finance director for the Deval Patrick Committee, and TOM RYAN, who has worked as a budget analyst at the House Ways and Means Committee.

Dormitzer and Gonzalez were both on Patrick's transition working group for budget. Gorzkowicz was once the budget director for Senate Ways & Means, so he should know his way around the political intricacies of the budget process.

1/17/2007 5:01:04 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

The Romney "exploratory" campaign today announced that Louisiana Congressman Jim McCrery will be Romney's congressional liaison, ie the guy trying to get other GOP congressmen to endorse Romney.

Way way back in 1992, the Advocate reported that McCrery was a closet homosexual. McCrery, a staunch gay-rights opponent, has always denied it. As far as I know, there's never been anything new to the allegation, but his name periodically pops up in discussions about supposedly hypocritical gay Republicans (such as during the Mark Foley scandal).

So, it would be entirely inappropriate to suggest that Mitt Romney's congressional liaison is gay. That would be wrong. Tempting, but very, very wrong....

1/17/2007 1:50:57 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

Jury selection began yesterday in the Scooter Libby "Plamegate" trial. According to an AP report, Libby's lawyers are "looking for potential jurors who trust Vice President Dick Cheney." Cheney is expected to testify as a witness.

Libby's attorneys say it's critical they know whether potential jurors view the vice president as credible. Two people who expressed doubts about that were dismissed from the jury pool Tuesday.

Residents of Washington DC who find Dick Cheney credible? Good luck.

1/17/2007 8:43:21 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Americans for Truth, an organization created last fall "devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda," is demanding an apology from Mitt Romney for his campaign's character assault on "American hero" Brian Camenker.

Others on the right, such as the Michigan Cooler blog, are also upset about Romney's attack on Camenker -- and some are using it as an opportunity to launch ugly attacks at Mitt. Townhall blogger Matt Lewis quotes an unnamed source "close to one of Romney's potential rivals" calling the attack on Camenker "the dumbest stunt by a tier-one presidential candidate since George Romney claimed he had been brainwashed by the generals and diplomats." Yowzah!

By offending the homophobic fringe, Romney potentially allows room for another social conservative to gain traction; but at the same time, he potentially makes himself more palatable to more mainstream Republicans who don't want their candidate associating with the raving right. So, is it a net plus or minus for the Mittster?

1/15/2007 11:33:28 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [3] |  

So says this article in today's UK Observer, which says George W. will make climate change "one of the keynotes of the State of the Union address" later this month, according to Prime Minister Blair officials (and a Greenpeace spokesperson).

Talking Politics readers will recall that the Bush administration implicitly conceded on global warming two weeks ago, when it decided to recommend listing the polar bear as endangered due to the melting ice caps.

The Observer article says that Bush will suggest emissions caps, but details are murky. Plus, a SotU promise isn't necessarily a guarantee -- how's that manned mission to Mars coming?

Nevertheless, this is a major conversion for the global warming folks. And it comes on the heels of Exxon's withdrawal from the war on climate change. So, how will the right react? (Mr. Jacoby?)

Update: A senior Bush administration official tells Reuters the Observer's story is untrue. The plot thickens.

1/14/2007 2:54:30 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Taegan Goddard says that Obama Barack [Correction: Barack Obama. D'oh!] might announce his Presidential candidacy this coming week on Oprah. Expect a blitz of online fundraising in the first 24 hours of that, I would think.

So, where does the field stand? New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, just back from negotiating a truce in Darfur (and, less attention-getting, finally declaring himself opposed to legal cockfighting in his state), is expected to announce before the end of the month. Word is that Hillary is a done deal, and her announcement is just a matter of timing. John Kerry is said to be making up his mind, and leaning toward running again, but who the hell knows? Vilsack, Dodd, Biden, and Edwards are all in, plus Kucinich and Mike Gravel.

That strikes me as a remarkably strong field of 7 or 8 candidates plus the hangers-on, and we could still see Wes Clark and others jump in. (And perhaps Al Gore, although I don't think that's likely.)

Meanwhile, the GOP side continues to look awfully weak to me -- especially for a party that's had control of the White House, Senate, House, and majority of governorships for the last six years.

The only declared candidate is John "who's that again?" Cox, but we can safely count John McCain and Mitt Romney as running. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback plans to declare on Jan. 20th. I still make Rudy Giuliani 50/50 at best to officially run. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- who I think could be a very good candidate -- has been so slow to gear up it's unclear whether he'll actually run. Ditto George Pataki. Word is that Chuck Hagel will not run. And it looks like we'll have several candidates out of the grab-bag of Congressmen Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo and former governors Tommy Thomson, Jim Gilmore and Frank Keating. And of course there's the very real spectre of Newt Gingrich threatening to join the fray in the fall.

Suffice to say that very few of the GOP candidates rate a segment on Oprah.

1/14/2007 12:35:04 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [3] |  

Mayor Menino was in a good mood at the Massachusetts Municipal Association's conference at the Hynes, and with good reason -- Deval Patrick announced his support for several of Tommy's pet initiatives. One is local option taxes, better known to you and me as an extra couple of bucks on a dinner out or a hotel room. Patrick said he plans to introduce legislation allowing cities and towns to do that. The governor also voiced interest, although not definite plans, for removing or changing the property-tax exemption for telecom companies. That's an ancient and arcane item, but one that Menino's been pounding his head against the wall on for years.

There's no guarantee that Patrick's support will get the items through the legislature, but it improves the odds considerably, Menino told me after Patrick's speech.

Of more interest to other municipalities, Patrick talked about a number of other items, including allowing towns to participate in the Group Insurance health plan; changing joint procurement laws to allow for more regional cost-sharing; and expanding the circuit-breaker for property taxes. He also said he would look at having the state pay more payment-in-lieu-of-taxes on its properties. (That got a nice round of applause.)

He was a little less specific about the other half of what he called a "grand bargain," but it's going to involve business development -- stuff like easing the permit and zoning processes.

Much more to come, obviously, but so far it's got Menino smiling at least.

1/13/2007 12:18:04 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

The estimable Rothenberg Political Report -- generally very cautious in its predictions, as is the case here -- lists just two Senators (both Republicans) as "vulnerable" in 2008, in its first ratings of the 33 races, released today. One of those two is Maine's Susan Collins.

Five more Senators (3 R, 2 D) make the "Watch List," one being New Hampshire's John Sununu.

Your humble Talking Politics pundit has ranked Sununu slightly more vulnerable that Collins, and I'm sticking with that for now, even though rumors now suggest that Jeanne Shaheen might not be taking Sununu on after all. Several other good Democratic candidates have recently declared their interest in running in NH; meanwhile, the best Democratic candidate in Maine, Congressman Tim Allen, still hasn't announced his intentions.

Update: As my Maine-bred colleague Mike Milliard reminds me, the Senatorial hopes of Home Improvement star Tim Allen are slim. Tom Allen is the congressman from Maine. I stand corrected.

1/12/2007 3:18:43 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

Astute readers of this blog have known about Brian Camenker's Romney take-down attempt since late November, but the Associated Press just took it national with a story this morning about the Camenker screed.

Romney's rapid-response team wasted no time putting out a press release on Camenker, calling him A "Conservative Gadfly" who "Pushes An Extreme Ideology" and is "Not A Credible Voice." The release points out that the Boston Globe says Camenker is "Often Lampooned By The Local And National Media," and the Herald once hoped someone would "tell the increasingly shrill Brian Camenker of the Parents Rights Coalition to simply go to his room." (All the odd capitalization comes from the press release.) The release even manages to slip in the fact that Camenker is Jewish.

More harshly, the press release provides a link to the hysterically funny 2005 takedown of Camenker on the Daily Show -- which some anonymous source, who just became a YouTube member yesterday, just happened to have posted!

Memo to Mr. Camenker: you're messing with the big boys now -- or, more precisely, the big boy's highly paid staff of experienced character-assassination specialists. How many rounds are you willing to go?

1/12/2007 12:24:09 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [2] |  

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called yesterday for increasing the size of the standing Army by nearly 100,000 troops -- something that Mitt Romney has suggested he was planning to call for. It's amazing, Romney first started pointing to mistakes in the conduct of the war in December, just before Bush started publicly acknowledging mistakes; and now he's right in line with Bush's every policy announcement. It's like he and George W. are channeling each others' brain waves.

Romney mentioned the troop increase during the same radio interview -- with Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame -- that served as the basis for the video clip making the YouTube rounds. (That's the clip of Romney explaining away his 1994 self, as seen in clips from a debate with Ted Kennedy that hit the YouTube circuit a day earlier.) In the Reynolds interview, which is available as a podcast, Romney says that he is currently working with his advisors on a foreign policy platform, but that he is leaning toward calling for an increase in the size of the Army, "probably a little lower" than the 200,000-250,000 range that Robert Kagan has recommended.

Romney also said that he wants a "much stronger military," including the Strategic Defense Initiative (aka Star Wars), and that we should be marshalling all of our resources to "move the world of Islam toward modernity and moderation."

Meanwhile one of his potential opponents, Rudy Giuliani, had been fumbling to get his footing in the new, "Ok, we admit Iraq's a mess" world of American conservatism. Giuliani's tentativeness is a real problem for a guy whose entire raison de candidacy rests on his image of strong leadership. But he got his sea legs at last Wednesday, by deciding that Iraq circa 2007 is essentially the same as Gotham circa 1994, when a certain take-charge tough guy took over as Mayor of the Big Apple.

It started with Giuliani, in a pre-Bush-speech press release, talking about the need to track the successes and gaps in the troop surge strategy, with constant reports at a neighborhood-to-neighborhood level.... oh, I don't know, let's just call it Compstat for short, maybe? Then he started adding more explicit NYC comparisons in TV interviews. And today, he's gone whole hog with it, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed co-authored with Newt Gingrich. You see, "There are many lessons from the successful welfare reforms in New York City that can be readily applied in Iraq.... Too many neighborhoods were pervaded by a sense of hopelessness that came from a combination of high crime, high unemployment and despair."

Stopping sectarian violence over control of Iraq is a lot like keeping kids out of gangs, it turns out: "The goal is to get more Iraqis working, especially young males, who are most susceptible to the terrorist and warlord recruiters," write G&G. Just think of the Sunnis and Shi'ites as the Bloods and Crips, or perhaps the Jets and Sharks. Open a few factories, they recommend. Deep down, suicide bombers would rather be stocking shelves; if only Sadr City Home Depot was hiring!

You see, just like welfare mothers in Bed-Stuy, sectarian fighters just want a hand up, not a handout. "Jump starting civic improvement and the individual work ethic in Iraq, without creating permanent subsidies" is the ticket, the article says. "This change from welfare to work did as much as the New York Police Department Compstat program to keep reducing crime. A similar model can work in Iraq."

1/12/2007 10:39:32 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

The big political speech of the weekend, totally un-MLK-related, is Deval Patrick's address to the Mass. Municipal Association Saturday morning. But here are a few others more directly tied to the holiday, that you might want to check out:

--Tonight, Patrick speaks at Temple Beth Israel in Brookline. I am told he'll also eat at the reception afterward, although his participation in the Israeli dancing is unconfirmed.

--Sunday, Patrick's new education advisor, Dana Mohler-Faria, keynotes the annual MLK Jr. convocation at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury at 4:00.

--Monday at noon, Patrick delivers the keynote at Boston's annual MLK Jr. celebration, at Faneuil Hall.

1/12/2007 9:11:32 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

After much delay, the Democratic National Committee has finally decided, and they're going to Denver, not New York, for the 2008 national convention. Howard Dean has sent out a release, and will make it official later this afternoon.

Colorado is a red state rapidly turning blue. Its 9 electoral votes went to Bush by a mere 100,000 votes in '04, and at the same time elected a Democratic Senator (Ken Salazar, a short-list VP possibility). In '06 the state easily elected a Democratic governor to an open seat.

The Democratic nominating convention going there might not only help the Democrat Presidential nominee's chances in the state, but could boost Congressman Mark Udall's chances of taking the Senate seat now held by Republican Wayne Allard. It could also have a regional affect. Of course, these effects, if any, are bound to be slight.

The GOP decided some time ago to hold their convention in Minneapolis.

1/11/2007 12:44:55 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [2] |  

The T Riders Union does not entirely agree with the official line that the Charlie Card transition has been smooth as silk. They get to explain their concerns in testimony to the MBTA's board at today's 1:00 board meeting -- which will be chaired by the new Secretary of Transportation, Bernard Cohen.

They'll also be talking about the legislative proposal to shift some of the T's debt burden back to the state -- a move vigorously opposed by state Treasurer Tim Cahill.

1/11/2007 9:56:38 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Democratic Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd became the first New Englander to officially declare himself a candidate for President 2008, making the announcement on Don Imus's radio show this morning. Dodd has been putting his plans in place for some time, but isn't getting taken very seriously -- yet. The timing of his announcement, the morning after Bush's escalation speech, won't change that, which he surely knew when he made that decision.

I think it's smart for Dodd to stay low in the radar for a while. He can't compete in star power with Hillary and Obama anyway, but he doesn't need any buzz to raise money and assemble his team over the next six months or so -- he's built that up over many, mnay years -- he was chairman of the DNC during the '96 Clinton re-election campaign, and has held a number of important caucus and committee positions. He's got big donor contacts in the NYC financial world, many of whom live in CT.

He also has already brought on board Jim Jordan, who is currently an "advisor" but will probably be campaign manager. Jordan is one of the top people in the game; he was Kerry's early campaign manager, and after getting booted from there went on to help run the huge Americans Coming Together 527 organization. Dodd also has Maura Keefe, a big gun in her own right and, conveniently, sister of extremely influential New Hampshire Dem Joe Keefe.

Dodd has an extremely impressive legislative history to lay out -- which will look especially weighty next to relative short-time senators Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. He can take credit for pushing or passing everything from Family and Medical Leave Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, Help America Vote Act, Head Start, medical and financial record privacy protection, emergency response improvements, and pay-as-you-go budgeting. His National Journal composite liberal rating is 80 -- exactly the same as Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

Whether an impressive legislative record matters or not in this nomination process is an open question, and he's a big long-shot underdog to be sure. What he needs is a message that distinguishes himself from the other candidates, and he has until late summer to work that out.

1/11/2007 9:06:47 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

When you finish reading the Hegelian dialectic in the comments to this week's editorial, you might be interested in my "items" column in tomorrow's edition of the Phoenix. I write about Mitt Romney's efforts to raise money from Jewish conservatives; the latest twists in the race for chair of the Massachusetts GOP; the negative slant of independent advertising in 2006 elections; and the slow start to the 2007 Boston at-large city council race. All in one handy column -- plus a great Romney photoillustration! It's here: Go for the Gelt.

1/10/2007 6:11:47 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [2] |  

John McCain started the week out so well, getting to do the coin toss for the BCS Championship Game being held in his home state -- and conveniently pitting the two most important general-election swing states against each other.

It's been all downhill from there. President Bush is actually going to follow McCain's advice to send in more troops, forcing McCain to pen an op-ed today predicting that the troop increase will bring security and order to Iraq. Polls show a pronounced scorn for this opinion among all but a teeny-tiny percentage of independents -- the crucial voters for McCain in the 2000 primaries.

Today, the Arizona Republic reports that former Senator Dennis DeConcini's forthcoming memoirs, due out February 1, paints a rather unflattering portrait of John McCain during the ol' Keating Five scandal.

Meanwhile, Roll Call reports (sub. req.) that a survey of county COP chairmen in Iowa reveals a staggering lack of enthusiasm for McCain among likely caucus-goers -- and a high level of interest in Mitt Romney.

Now, the Krusty Konservative -- Iowa's most influential Republican blogger -- is promising a post about the lack of grassroots support for McCain in the state.

All good for the Mittster....

1/10/2007 12:18:31 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Romney released the following statement today:

Governor Mitt Romney, in direct consideration of the proposed increase in troop deployments in Iraq, issued the following statement today putting an emphasis on the need for clear and measurable strategic objectives.

"I agree with the President: Our strategy in Iraq must change. Our military mission, for the first time, must include securing the civilian population from violence and terror. It is impossible to defeat the insurgency without first providing security for the Iraqi people. Civilian security is the precondition for any political and economic reconstruction.

"In consultation with Generals, military experts and troops who have served on the ground in Iraq, I believe securing Iraqi civilians requires additional troops. I support adding five brigades in Baghdad and two regiments in Al-Anbar province. Success will require rapid deployment.

"This effort should be combined with clear objectives and milestones for U.S. and Iraqi leaders.

"The road ahead will be difficult but success is still possible in Iraq. I believe it is in America's national security interest to achieve it."

1/10/2007 10:16:24 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Today the Patrick folks announced the details of the "Development Cabinet," which had been mentioned along the way during personnel announcements. It will consist of five secretaries: Ian Bowles, Dan O'Connell, Leslie Kirwan, Suzanne Bump, and Bernard Cohen (whose title seems to have been mysteriously renamed Secretary of Transportation & Construction since last Thursday). They will meet weekly -- presumably with special advisor Dan Bosley, although the press release doesn't say -- to discuss economic-development things. Yes, that's right, weekly. Seems awfully ambitious; our pols like to take a lot of long weekends in the summer, DP.

[Update: Bosley was not mentioned in the press release because he's not taking the job after all. Patrick will chair the meetings himself, according to Statehouse News. More later.]

Last Thursday, on this very blog, I predicted that Patrick would unveil some "reorganizations of his agencies (perhaps along the lines of what business re-organizers call eliminating silos)."

And from today's press release:

"The work of government, too often, is performed in silos. We recognize the interconnectivity of much of the work our agencies and departments perform and want to assure better coordination," Governor Patrick said.

You can take the man out of the Fortune 500 corporate board room, but you can't take the Fortune 500 corporate board room out of the man.

1/9/2007 3:26:57 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

With the state scheduled to hold the second Democratic Party Presidential caucus next year, the The Nevada Outdoor Democratic Caucus -- which doesn't care much for federal firearm regulation -- has established a page on its web site and invited all Democratic candidates for President to "submit a brief statement of their position on issues related to the Nevada Outdoors, including rights in firearms ownership, rights in access to public lands, and states rights to manage wildlife resources." (Photos of themselves in hunting clothes toting a double-barrelled shotgun are optional, but I imagine highly recommended.)

No takers yet -- but I fully expect that my good friend Bruce at MassBackwards will check regularly and provide commentary as the candidates attempt to pander to the voters in that heavily gun-rights state.

1/9/2007 12:48:05 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

The Associated Press is confirming the rumor of the past couple of days, that South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint is endorsing Romney for President.

That's a huge get for Romney in the crucial early primary state. It also probably means that SC Governor Mark Sanford -- who I think would have been a formidable candidate -- is not going to change his mind about not running for President.

DeMint helps Romney not only as an influential figure in SC, but also to blunt concerns among social conservatives about Romney. DeMint, as former Phoenix writer Dan Kennedy has described, is among the hardcore on those issues.

1/9/2007 12:05:51 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

In Dorchester....

A distraught man poured a flammable liquid on himself and a baby girl in a Dorchester triple-decker apartment last night, setting both of them on fire and critically injuring himself and the baby, as well as an older woman also living there, police sources said....

Binh Thanh, who lives in the apartment, said the man who set the blaze is the estranged husband of a woman who shares the apartment with Thanh and his mother, Nguyen Thi, 62. Thi suffered second-degree burns to her legs in the blaze, according to another relative.

Thanh said the estranged wife, whom he identified only as Lein, has lived there about four months with her two young children.
Thanh said the woman took out a restraining order against her estranged husband, but he came to the home yesterday.

Meanwhile, in Springfield....

Springfield police said an arrest warrant has been issued for 31-year-old Lastarandre Bell, of 84 Longhill St., in connection with setting a woman ablaze with a flammable liquid on Sunday night.

The woman suffered life-threatening burns over 90 percent of her body...

District Court records in Springfield show two women who live at the Warner Street address had restraining orders on Bell. The women - a niece and her aunt - filed for the orders in November. The burned woman appears to be a relative, according to police.

Just in case you were hoping we left all this behind in 2006.

1/9/2007 11:05:17 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Romney's folks claim to have raised $6.5 million in donations and pledges at today's celebrity dialing-for-dollars event, and while there are some caveats yet to be sorted through, it is undoubtedly an impressive day's work.

It's also a good sign to the rest of the GOP field about the betting limits at the big boys' table for the '08 nomination. The last time the Republicans went through this, it took John McCain until around August to reach $6.5 million in contributions; he raised just $13.6 million that entire year (1999), and was right in the game when the caucuses and primaries began in early 2000. Elizabeth Dole, another major candidate that year, raised just $5.1 million in 1999.

1/8/2007 8:30:08 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

I assume this is #1 of the reportedly promised 30 policies in 30 days. From the release:

Governor Deval Patrick today announced the creation of Commonwealth Corps, an organization dedicated to encouraging residents and improving communities across Massachusetts through community service and volunteerism. Enabling legislation will be filed shortly, and will build on the hard work that Senator Marc Pacheco and others have already done.

 The Commonwealth Corps will include 250 individuals in its first year, with a goal of expanding to 1,000 members over the next five years. Members will dedicate at least one year of service to a nonprofit organization, civic initiative, or public entity, providing direct service to people or communities in need.

....

The bill will also propose to create a pilot Commonwealth Student Corps, a program developed to expand opportunities for students interested in service learning opportunities.

1/8/2007 3:35:00 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [2] |  

Byron Barnett had this weekend's "get" -- a taped interview with newly inaugurated Governor Deval Patrick, which aired on Sunday's "Urban Update" on WHDH. Patrick even gave Barnett a little scoop, saying that he will support John Kerry if the Senator runs for President again.

Thus Patrick steps into the morass of New Hampshire primary politics, a potential opportunity and minefield for him that I wrote about here right after the election.

It's also a big boost to Kerry, whose stock has tumbled to pitiful lows in recent polls. That includes a new CBS News Poll, released Saturday, that shows just 22 percent of Americans holding a favorable view of him, and a stunning 48 percent unfavorable.

That poll is of little predictive use for primary voting, as it didn't narrow to likely voters, but it still showed some interesting details. I was especially intrigued at Hillary Clinton's huge boost in favorable responses -- from 32 percent to 43 percent -- since September.

Also, Mitt Romney is still a long way from becoming a known entity, even among Republicans -- two-thirds of whom say they haven't heard enough about him to form an opinion.

1/8/2007 9:28:35 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Hotline reports that Congressional Democrats have established a virtual Capital Hill in Second Life, for discussion of their plans and priorities and such. George Miller (D-CA) hosted the first press conference there yesterday, and apparently managed to avoid gender-metamorphosing during it like Mark Warner did.

1/5/2007 5:48:20 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

--Someone's not doing their job: Day 3, and Mitt Romney’s exploratory campaign committee comes up 15th on a google search for either 'Mitt Romney' or 'Mitt Romney 2008.'

--Reports of Romney making an official announcement of his candidacy next week, perhaps on the 9th, has been replaced with reports that the official announcement will happen next month.

--Romney supporters need to be made aware of copyright law…..

--Mitt has not yet taken a stand on the rumored troop surge strategy for Iraq, but one of his key foreign-policy advisors now has. Dan Senor, who was a Baghdad-based advisor for Bush during the war’s first year, co-authored an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription, sorry) with policy suggestions. It calls 10,000-15,000 more troops a “half measure,” and recommends “erring on the side of more troops, not fewer.” (BTW, reports that Senor has taken a paid position with Romney are incorrect -- perhaps such a position would cause a problem for his new wife.)

1/5/2007 5:23:56 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

"As your governor, I have broad responsibility for what goes right or wrong, but far less authority than I need to influence the course of either."

What he's saying here is that he intends -- soon -- to introduce pieces of legislation, either seperately or with the budget, to significantly change the way our state government functions.

Some of these will be reorganizations of his agencies (perhaps along the lines of what business re-organizers call eliminating silos). But the most important, and controversial, will be the state/municipality relationship. And I predict this will be the big political debate of Massachusetts 2007.

Massachusetts is a tough state to govern -- or rather, a tough commonwealth. That's not just some anachronistic term, it's how this state is organized differently than most: as an affiliation of 351 independent cities and towns. There is essentially no county government, and the governor has no authority to tell Ayer to use community policing, or tell Plymouth how to negotiate with its teachers' union, or tell Athol how many low-income units to build, or tell Malden which land to re-zone for commercial use, or tell Boylston how to invest its pension fund.

I have no inside info on this, but my guess is that Patrick will propose the use of some sorts of "conditional" local aid -- some as carrots, some as sticks. That's how the federal government gets states to, for instance, keep a certain speed limit. So, towns that exceed X% affordable housing, might get an extra $X per household in local aid. Fall below X cops per resident, lose $X per resident. That sort of thing.

This idea would face enormous resistance, and would require a huge sales job by Deval Patrick -- putting his credibility at risk should he lose. I think he's ready to fight for it. We'll see.

 

1/4/2007 6:16:43 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

I’ve been looking forward to the Margolis twins’ launch of the DevalPatrickWatch site, in much the same way that fans of epicly bad movies eagerly anticipated “Battlefield Earth.” They do not disappoint: on its first day, the site has already declared Patrick “unfit to take the oath.” Mercy!

Aaron and Matt Margolis are young conservative bloggers, familiar in these parts for their Hub Politics site. They also run or contribute to quite a few others, local and national, and Matt has co-authored a book detailing the corruption of the country’s leading Democrats, due out soon from the outfit that also published the Minutemen founder’s book and the “Help! Mom!” series of anti-liberal children’s books. Margolis’s forthcoming tome is so good, corruption expert Tom DeLay endorsed it as “a must read for all Americans” -- two months before the authors finished writing it!

Deval-bashing is apparently more than a two-man job, so they have added local conservative blogger Devone Tucker. Tucker has not previously struck me as the Margolises’ kind of rabid Patrick-basher; he is, however, quite possibly the only 29-year-old black man in the Boston area to list Billy Joel first under “Favorite Music” on his Friendster page.

1/4/2007 9:56:45 AM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [5] |  

 

Yes, yes, Mitt Romney filed papers to form his exploratory committee today… well, actually, he didn’t, his general counsel Ben Ginsberg did. Name sound familiar? He was legal counsel to the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign – until he was forced to resign when it turned out he was also advising the legally-separate Swift Boat Veterans. Why, just one month ago Ginsberg signed the paperwork by which the Swifties agreed to pay $299,500 in civil penalties for violating campaign-finance laws. (See for yourself.)

 

Ginsberg was also at the time chief counsel to Progress for America, the very well-funded conservative 527. Ginsberg was also a legal advisor to Bush/Cheney 2000, and played a major role in the Florida recount strategy. He has also played roles in GOP redistricting efforts after the 1990 and 2000 Censuses. And he consulted for the Republican Governors Association, which Romney chaired last year. And you’ve probably seen him on Hardball.

 

Basically, he’s a major-league, top-notch, super-connected, down-and-dirty Republican lawyer-to-the-stars. So, a great catch for the Romney team!

 

Oh, and according to his bio, he was once a reporter for the Boston Globe.

 

1/3/2007 5:40:51 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [1] |  

I have an article in the new issue of the Phoenix, asking if New England is on the road to political irrelevance.

However, before you read it, I want to correct something. At the bottom of the third section of the article, I write about "independent expenditures" spent on congressional races. The figures I used came from Congressional Quarterly's PoliticalMoneyLine.

I have since realized that data figures at the Federal Election Commission's site are much higher -- I would guess that PML's database is not up-to-date through the election, and does not include substantial late spending in close races. The FEC figures are available here.

With that said, click over to the story. Left Out: Its population is stagnating and its vote is predictable. I the years to come, will the rest of the country care about New England?

Also, I take a little whack at the new police commissioner here: Commissioner Davis is already playing the blame game.

1/3/2007 5:02:51 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

Some odds and ends from the past few days of light blogging….

--Congratulations to Maureen Feeney, newly elected President of the Boston City Council. I like Feeney, even though I don’t always agree with her, and I’ve been impressed with how she has kept pace with her rapidly-changing district.

--The Washington Times says that Mitt Romney will “hunker down” in the new Westin Waterfront hotel (ie, at the convention center) Sunday night and Monday morning, meeting with his top supporters and going over their lists of fundraising contacts. His first official fundraiser, according to other reports, will be in Boston on Monday.

--As I predicted, Romney is raiding the cabinet of retiring Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, who has opted out of the Presidential sweepstakes. He just hired former Frist press secretary Carolyn Weyforth as deputy communications director; he just recently scooped up Frist's web guru Stephen Smith; and rumor has it that Romney has signed up Marcus Branstad, formerly of Frist's VOLPAC (and son of former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad) for his Iowa field team.

 --The always stellar Taegan Goddard made a good catch from the Sunday morning shows, noting John Edwards referring to the plan for a “surge” in troops in Iraq as the “McCain Doctrine.” Let’s see if it sticks.

--Helpful to the end, Kerry Healey (sitting in for the absent governor) quietly vetoed a bill to improve safety for people who commute by bicycle.

1/3/2007 12:04:19 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [0] |  

According to reports, the legislature today reconvened the Constitutional Convention, picking up where they postponed, and voted on the same-sex marriage ban. It passed easily, and moves on to the 2008 ConCon, where it must face another vote.

This was predicted by me back on the 27th, before the SJC ruling, as you can scroll down and see for yourself.

I'm not bragging here, just pointing out that, despite the general public perception, the legislature never actually refused to vote on the thing. And, as far as I was ever able to ascertain, there was never a serious chance of them doing so. Insiders had told me they expected a vote. And off the top of my head, I don't know of anyone closely involved who ever said that they thought the legislature would not ultimately vote. (Although feel free to prove me wrong.)

The SJC's clarification of the legislature's obligation to vote was helpful, but I don't see that it had anything to do with Trav's decision to hold the vote.

1/2/2007 3:08:31 PM by David S. Bernstein | Comments [3] |