Monday, August 04, 2008

35th Middlesex Choices


In my early 20s, I got an interview (and subsequently the job) because of a few unusual phrases on my résumé. The editor of that magazine said he had to have me in when he saw previous experience included things like mayonnaise packer. While in fact I had worked one college summer at Cain's Mayonnaise when it was behind MIT, I included that for the oh-yeah? factor.

I can't say that is why one 35th Middlesex House candidate fleshed out his, but he caught my eye.

Over at Left Ahead!, Ryan lined up the two Dem. challengers to Rep. Paul Donato. We spoke with Patrick McCabe yesterday and shall do the same tomorrow with Jim Caralis. Together, they are an embarrassment of promising politics. It is pretty safe to say that Rep. Paul Donato is an embarrassment — anti-choice, anti-stem cell, anti-same-sex marriage, hard on immigrants and easy on corporate tax loopholes.

Check out McCabe and Caralis on their campaign sites. They each offer clear distinctions from Donato. It may be difficult for Medford and Malden voters to make a decision come September 16th and the primary, but that's a good problem to have.

Back to McCabe's résumé, he brought up one citation right away. After West Point, he became an Army Ranger for seven years, including assignment to the 101st (people who intentionally jump out of airplanes). Yet his political positions are progressive across the board.

Down near the bottom, he includes, "After leading peace-keeping efforts in Bosnia, Patrick went on tour with his wife, a professional singer, for a couple of years to entertain the troops." That led me to check out his wife's professional site, replete with samples from her CD. Her rocking country music is not my normal listening fare, but she's pretty good.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

McCabe has a great progressive record, and offers the kind of support for jobs and families that has been missing under Donato. Get out and vote in the September primary!

Zach Alexander said...

How is it a good problem to have? It's a terrible problem to have.

Because (thanks to our first-past-the-post voting system) it means the incumbent DINO will probably win. They're going to split the anti-Donato vote, so even if 60 percent of voters want him out, he could easily stay in if they both stay in the 30s.

So it's important to make the hard call on who is the best challenger, and endorsing him while there's still time to make a difference!