Down ticket is a lot harder in some spots.
The secretary of state is probably the toughest. Incumbent Bill Galvin will crush Green-Rainbow challenger Jill Stein like a kindergartener squashing an ant on the sidewalk.
That's a pity and not because unproven Stein is all that good or he is all that bad. Yet, the Boston Globe's lukewarm September endorsement of him said why he'll win -- "Nevertheless, there is no evident reason for voters to replace the incumbent."
Until John Bonifaz' unsuccessful run at the office in the Democratic primary, we agreed. Then we switched during the campaign. Even before the Globe's nod, we followed Bonifaz' election-reform platform and saw that there was a very good reason Galvin would not debate him. The office's principal duty is keeping elections clean, efficient and fair. In that from not pursuing fraud in the current anti-same-sex-amendment effort to not ensuring that all votes are counted, Galvin has failed, you, me and all Massachusetts voters.
Reform Resource: John Bonifaz remains the reformer. His Website is up and working for that.
The most passionate praise that Galvin has gotten has been from U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. All the detail was on Galvin's efforts to regulate securities and right fraud. Oddly though, he added a single misguided sentence on the major part of the secretary's job -- "I believe he has also been a very effective and progressive force in the area of election reform, in enforcing the right of the public to full information, and in every other aspect of his job." Frank was misinformed.
More perceptive is Lynn up at LeftinLowell:
I'’m sorry, I have lost all respect for Galvin. I won't be able to vote for him. He has once again refused to debate his opponent (Green Party candidate Jill Stein) and shows the same distaste for real democracy he always has. He'’s also part of the hackocracy. The more I hear about him, the less I like him. I'’m a real democrat - which is why Bill Galvin disappoints me so. I will probably pull the lever - or rather, mark the circle - for Stein. I want the best person for the job of protecting the integrity of our elections, and Galvin just ain't the one.It should never have come to this, but here we are. We don't view voting for Stein as throwing away the vote. She would be at least as good as the job as he, but we're voting for her because:
- He hasn't been doing his job.
- Fair elections are too important to leave to a mediocre secretary.
- The totals need to reflect voter dissatisfaction.
Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, Bill Galvin, Jill Stein, secretary of state, endorsement
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