Come November 2nd, I'll be busy working a polling place for the city. Before then, I need to come to terms with awkward voting decisions.Fortunately, most picks in this crucial election are easy. Statewide, Patrick/Murray, Coakley, Grossman and Bump aren't even in question. They are strong and proven, while their opponents are inadequate and lacking in necessary vision.
Among my other endorsements, a key one that rends me is Jim Henderson for Secretary of State. I'm certainly voting for him. I fear though that the vast majority of voters have paid no attention to this race.
A body at rest tends to remain at rest. Inertia in the person of incumbent Bill Galvin could well win this contest.
Other than the huge factor that there is a sitting Secretary, this race parallels that for Treasurer. I am for the candidates who represent much needed change, overhauling these disused offices for the benefit of the citizens.
I have a Henderson sign on my lawn. That stirs conversations with neighbors. I chat him up with friends. I'm sure I've gotten converts. Yet, how many of me are out there doing this in a down-ballot slot? Sigh.
Far, far worse for my big and little D Democratic psyche is the Ninth District race for the U.S. Congress. Both for much of my long-term residence in Jamaica Plain and more recently in Hyde Park, my Congressman was Stephen F. Lynch. I've blanked him before and certainly can't vote for him this time.
He is unquestionably a DINO. He has voted as a right-wing Republican on all the big issues, as a champion of the Iraq war and the PATRIOT Act, and doing his best to stop health-care reform. He has a D after his name, but why and to what effect?
I campaigned for and endorsed Mac D'Alessandro in the primary for the Ninth. In the general, the GOP's Harrison and the unenrolled Dunkelbarger are no better than Lynch, perhaps even clones.
Riding Rocinante
Here is my real windmill tilt. I'll throw away my vote by writing in D'Alessandro.
On paper at least, keeping a nominal Democrat in the seat might be a slight advantage when it opens again. Certainly the voters had a clear choice in the primary and took the winger over the progressive by something like 80 to 20%. Perhaps Lynch will be safe there for another election after this one for reasons I can't fathom. Yet, replacing him with an actual Republican would likely make zero difference to Massachusetts.
In this case, this will be a protest vote, which is not my wont. That makes me sad.
Henderson at least has a sliver of a chance, particularly if the major media come out soon endorsing him. I've wondered throughout this campaign why the major papers and broadcast political types, and even the second-tier ones like David Bernstein of the Phoenix have not been on Galvin for ducking debates and allowing for full democratic process. They have really failed us this time for this race.
I am generally Spock-like in my rationality. Risking a vote as in these two are not like me; I am my mother's child in that.
In the end though, Henderson belongs in the Secretary's office and I cannot in good conscience vote for Lynch.
In the end though, Henderson belongs in the Secretary's office and I cannot in good conscience vote for Lynch.
Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, election, endorsements, candidates, Secretary, Congress
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