So-So Social Media So Far

Was it fully four years ago that upstart Deval Patrick was exploiting the net on his way to our governor's office? Since then Facebook, Twitter and countless apps for asses color politics.

What is and isn't happening...yet...in races fascinates me. As surprised as I've been that our treasurer's race offers real distinctions, I've wondered at the candidates' use and non-use of online tools.

Disclaimer: So far, we at Left Ahead! have gotten Steven Grossman on a show. He's very impressive. I've asked both Dem Steve Murphy and Republican Karyn Polito to join us, through their campaigns. Murphy's people replied but will set it up. I've heard nothing from Polito or her folk.

In a very unscientific survey of a very small universe — three, contenders for MA treasurer vary in their attempts to find their way to campaigning with online tools. Grossman, Karyn Polito and Steve Murphy all have Facebook pages. State Rep. Polito and Boston Councilor Murphy have non-campaign sites for their offices. They are legally required to keep those separate from fund-raising and pure politicking.

For campaign sites, Grossman and Polito's are fully operational. In a follow-up email podcast request to Murphy, I made a snide comment about the nakedness of his. In their phone follow-up to me, his scheduler lamented that they indeed knew that it showed no content and that it was supposed to be ready three weeks ago. You just can't get good help, eh?

For Twitter, Grossman and Polito have active accounts. Murphy doesn't appear to tweet, as we say.

So, as I am (perhaps excessively) fond of asking my sons, "What can we learn from this?"

Facebook

Kind of the tomato catchup of the web, Facebook is necessary for politicians. Many of us, me included, expect to find fully fleshed out pages for anyone running for anything. At the least, you can claim bragging right if your FB site has a large or huge number of fans. This phenomenon is new enough that we can't know yet how that extrapolates to votes or contributions though.

All three treasurer would-be folk have FB pages. Murphy's is lightly populated and really doesn't do much better than his bare campaign website. Grossman's is very complete. Polito's is fair.

Murphy. Not a lot of effort is evident here. His campaign doesn't seem to get new media from the look of this. He apparently has no Twitter feed. The only contact info is an email address. There's no campaign pitch and oddly no link to the campaign website. There's a single photo, the same one available on the small campaign flier included in the photo tab. It has no discussions and a single month-old event. His wall postings feature mostly requests for help getting signatures. 776 people have clicked Like.

Grossman. His page has effort in all categories. It links to both Twitter feed and campaign site. He has 28 photo albums, most political but a few from his business and general public speaking. He has a Boxes area with 45 links (including his LA podcast). He plugged in one artificial discussion, a fan saying how she asked a bunch of folk to become fans. He has an inspiring Ted-Kennedy entry in Notes. His Video tab has six entries. His wall blends where he will campaign, whom he met and what happened at stops, what media exposure he'll get, shows he'll be on, and notices afterward, generally with links. He also has posts on a running bit about where he stops for ice cream, in other words, he does a good job of showing himself and personalizing the wall. 2068 people have clicked Like.

Polito. She or her staff haven't put too much into this. She has a personal, state-rep page, and cannibalizes it for this not-very-up-to-date page. The state-rep version actually has more stuff, for example six newsy videos to zero. She uses many of the same photos, largely of her legislative election and service. She's been hitting the circuit running for treasurer, but the treasurer page doesn't reflect that yet. Her campaign website runs her latest tweets on the front, but the Facebook page doesn't even link to her Twitter feed. The personal page has treasurer-related fund-raisers and other events, while the campaign page doesn't even have a tab. There are no discussions and the Info tab doesn't even suggest any reasons to vote for her. Her wall mentions her campaign stops. 1721 people have clicked Like.

Twitter

Two of the three candidates tweet, Polito and Grossman. She seems to be fond of the idea, featuring her latest on her campaign website's front page. Grossman is the most active tweeter and varies his tweets more.

Her typical tweet is where she will campaign or her most recent stop. For two examples:

Had a great time at the Hazen Paper learning about their printing company in beautiful Holyoke! #matreas #mapoli

Whirlwind of a day! Boston in the AM, then to W. Boylston, Shrewsbury, Plainville, Salisbury and now home...Western MA tomorrow! #matreas

She seems to tweet twice on a typical day.

Grossman does more — two is low and four is common. For example:

Happy Mother's Day to my mom Shirley, mother-in-law Bunny, wife Barbara, daughter-in-law Mary Jo & all the incredible moms out there!

I'll be on "On the Record" with Ed Harding & Janet Wu on @NewsBoston Sunday at 11am - tune in to channel 5, WCVB! #mapoli #matres

I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for my candidacy @ the MNW Democratic Alliance mtg in Medway this morning! #thankyou #matres

Delicious Heath Bar ice cream & great friends @ the Spruce Pond Creamery in Franklin! http://twitpic.com/1m6hkp #icecreamtour #matres

He seems to be on a lot more media interviews and shows. He pre-announces those, may run a link to the broadcast later, and includes personal as well as campaign posts.

In terms of understanding the medium, Polito seems a noob. Her website's News section ran a passive-aggressive challenge nearly two and one-half weeks ago, "I look forward to debating with Steve on who is best suited to act as a watchdog against the excesses of the one-party political machine on Beacon Hill." Grossman responded publicly two days later with a tweet, reading, "@karyn4treasurer, I accept your invitation to debate. Let’s talk jobs, holding big banks accountable, & protecting people’s $. When & where? " Three days after that, following the Left Ahead! podcast with Grossman, I tweeted her, "When are you taking Steve Grossman up on a treasurer debate?@karyn4treasurer." She has yet to respond to either.

In contrast, Grossman responds to tweets to him publicly or directly. He gets the conversational aspect.

There's no Twitter surprise. The use parallels the other aspects. The candidate most fully formed in one medium is so in the others.

Campaign Site

For Murphy, comparisons are unfair. I'll revisit that when his site really comes on line. Meanwhile:

Grossman. His campaign site is state of the medium. It has all features activated, from videos to audio clips to links to the big for social networks and related sites (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube), personal and pol endorsements, links to newspaper, broadcast and blog coverage, detailed personal, family, political and business profile, and both overview and drill-down coverage of his stances on issues. Other than too much gray runs of text in his issues, this is a professionally produced, highly accessible site. His events calendar is very detailed with links per entry. His support area provides seven ways to help, from monetary contributions to volunteering to endorsing and on and on. This very well planned site seems to use the best of available concepts and technologies.

Polito. Her site is good, but not better than that, particularly in contrast to Grossman's. The same designers did her state-rep site. Both sites are heavy on graphics and lighter on content. Unfortunately, the effect is often unsubstantial. For examples, the two videos on the campaign site purport to introduce Polito, but do not. The one right now on the home page, Happy Mother's Day from Karyn Polito, (also available on YouTube) claims to let you meet her but only talks about her elderly relatives. I think we know the difference. The image quality is high and you can even choose resolution. However, the production values are extremely poor in the low volume, the distracting and unnecessary background music, and the itty-bitty head and shoulders view swimming in the large frame. Likewise, the out-of-place Columbus Day video at the bottom of the Meet Karyn Polito page plays silly, distracting tunes while it shows snapshots of her forebears leading to her, trivializing the whole family while revealing nothing of Polito herself. The News is not new at all, even though her tweets suggest she's working the campaign. The Donate and Get Involved (volunteer) are adequate but about two elections behind in being enticing. Her Priorities, which she uses instead of issues or platform, are five buzzword phrases with no solid content, just vague descriptions. She apparently has no endorsements and for the life of me, I can't figure out why she doesn't put up current video, news, and media links. Where's the beef?

Media Whizzes and Wheezes

Elections are not determined by use of social media. Yet, as Patrick showed four years ago, netroots can be like grassroots in motivating support. Particularly younger voters appreciate candidates of whatever age making good use of current technologies, their technologies.

Oddly, Polito is the youngest at 43 or 44, Murphy is roughly a decade older and Grossman a decade older than him. The latter seems by far the tech savviest, making the best use of Twitter as well as having the beefiest and most inviting website and Facebook page.

The positive aspect for Grossman is not that he gets geek cred, but that you can follow his tweets, read his wall or pore over his site, coming away from any and all with the clearest sense of what he's been about and what he intends to do. Murphy's people say they know he's behind and intend to correct that. For Polito's sake, she'd benefit from friends or advisers letting her know the shortcomings in her presentations.

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Tags: massmarrier, elections, Grossman, treasurer, Massachusetts, Polito, Murphy

So-So DOMA Suit Coverage

Alas, the local and nearby press coverage of the Gill DOMA suit in Boston yesterday is as colorless and lacking insight as I feared. This was yet another chance for great reportage and analysis of a seminal event by the MSM. Yawn. By far the best was the fastest, from Bay Windows' Lisa Keen.

• The Boston Herald wee article did not even supply the basics and implications.
• The New York Times report was better, concentrating on the federal government's role in defending a law it doesn't like.
• The Boston Globe coverage should have been the best, but was not. Unlike the evocative writing and revealing analysis from BW, it turned to its wheezing norm of he-says, pseudo-balanced sort of journalism. They even tracked down the usual suspect, the head of the Mass. Family Institute, for an anti-gay metaphor.

Instead of history in a hurry, we continue to have missed stories at leisure. I'll watch for meaningful comments elsewhere, but as I've learned over the past seven years, for LGBT issues, start with Bay Windows.

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Tags: massmarrier, GLAD, Gill, federal court, DOMA, Bay Windows, Globe, Herald, NYT

DOMA Hearing Very Pointed

Today was a gay day down on the waterfront, according to an excellent report by Bay Windows on the Gill case. I could not be there for the testimony on the suit against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) section 3, but BW's Lisa Keen was and sent well-written and inspiring coverage.

Small rant on big media: This is as Joe Biden might say a big f* deal. The outcome of the Gill suit could well accelerate and federalize the inevitable acceptance of same sex marriage in this socially slow nation. Where was the coverage of the two big Boston dailies, the broadcast, blah blah? Well, the weekly LGBT-oriented weekly, Bay Windows, was there. They at least care what we learn about crucial topics. Later today, WBZ did run OK coverage, citing plaintiffs here.

Read the whole article; Keen's a good enough writer for that. To cut to her conclusions:

• U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro does not come in with obvious bias and is not buying any political ploys.
• Right away, he cut to essentials, discarding chat about suspect classes and zeroing in on why the government thinks marriage should suddenly move from state to federal control. Department of Justice attorney Scott Simpson admitted that until DOMA, marriage was strictly per-state definition.

The next round in this is suit (almost certain to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court) is on Wednesday, May 26th, when Massachusetts' AG office argues its own attack on section 3 of DOMA.

For the blander take on today, see the GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) version here. The BW coverage is better, but GLAD's has clips of its Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto, who argued the case today.

Friday Follow-Up: The local and nearby press sort of covered the court session.

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Tags: massmarrier, GLAD, Gill, federal court, DOMA, same-sex marriage

Nibbling on DOMA

Today is finally show time for GLAD's piecemeal plan to cripple DOMA. This morning in federal court in Boston, three widowers and eight wed same-sex couples state their grievances against one part of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Legal observers concur that this is a way station, that the case will head to the U.S. Supreme Court. When my favorite the field, Prof. Arthur S. Leonard, analyzes the case, I'll add that. As background, the National Law Journal ran an analysis of this and related cases.

The full complaint filed a year ago is here. The gist is that federal regulations and this part 3 of DOMA discriminate against Massachusetts same-sex couples who legally wed here. As described in the overview of the suit, the effects are real and measurable. For example, not being able to file a joint tax return as any heterosexual married couples harms the plaintiffs financially.

Underlying the case are some big issues. For one, comity — recognition of one state's laws by others and by the feds — is not honored. While not mandated by federal law, it is an almost universal norm in the country. This break with that norm clearly discriminates solely on sexual orientation. The courts have to weigh whether there is justification.

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Tags: massmarrier, GLAD, Gill, federal court, DOMA, same-sex marriage

What Cost Safety?

Pardon the cynicism, but it wasn't just this guy. Yesterday morning, Boston Councilor John Connolly and I had coffee at TC's in Hyde Park — one of many places bragging that they had water for coffee brewing.

Of course with our three-day water emergency, the sign was perfectly logical. Millions of us had the fear of something terrible wanting to get into our GI tracts from the pond and reservoir supplies running in our taps.

However, before we talked cycling, the reason for the chat, we concurred that we each believed our water had been safe all along. We also confessed to each other that we had followed the rules, boiling water and keeping a bottle by the sinks for tooth brushing and such.

As a nation, we have been reduced far too often to a better-safe-than-sorry chant and thought process. That's not the way most of us grew up, particularly us boomers. Instead, a little risk was the spice in life's daily stew. We preferred personal freedoms to hiding from thorns, abrasions and other small dangers.

Yet, now at its worst, we have that PATRIOT Act and the incursions into our liberties that would have been unthinkable even to the lead conservatives of a few decades ago. Particularly following the World Trade Towers attacks, everything seems better safe than sorry...no matter what costs.

So today, the shrinking but still largest local daily, the Boston Globe, runs "Tests confirm it — water was safe to drink all along." The piece notes that state and federal requirements included that boil-every-drop-of-tap-water routine. Bacterial tests on water samples had to be normal to go with spigot juice.

I've long ago lost track of the number of people I hear, of every age, who say, "Better safe than sorry." That in itself is sorry.

Sure, it makes sense to toss the stinky chicken in the fridge or to stay away from the unfenced cliff lip. But when did we become a nation of milquetoasts?

The considered taking of small and even medium risks used to be the American way when I was growing up. Surely the 9/11 events aren't enough to paralyze us, to make us all eager to accept any intrusion and indignity by government agents who way they are only out to keep us safe. Let it not be so.

So, John Connolly and I boiled our water for three plus days. In our defense, we live in families with kids in the house, so we have the reason and excuse of caution for others. On the other hand, we knew in our brains and hearts and from experience that the water from a different reservoir was almost certainly potable and safe enough.

We can only speculate how this would have played out if it had taken two weeks or a month to fix the aquaduct and OK the water supply.

It brings to mind the lyrics of the post-apocalyptic song by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Paul Kantner, Wooden Ships. The words include:

Say, can I have some of your purple berries?
Yes, I've been eating them for six or seven weeks now,
haven't got sick once.
Probably keep us both alive.

None of us was to the point of desperation, as much of the current world is where all water is questionable. We can hope in our present that we 1) won't be like those crazed hoarders who filled up minivans with bottled water, or 2) don't meet each challenge with the collapsing response better safe than sorry.

Cross-post: This also appears at Harrumph!

Tags: massmarrier, water, Boston, boil, fear, John Connolly

Treasurer Tweets and Tussle

Who'd a thunk the treasurer race would be the best theater and political fare. So far, it's looking that way in Massachusetts.

State Rep. Karyn Polito and Somerville marketing magnate Steve Grossman are going at it...strongly but still civilly. They swapped tweets and the game (a.k.a. debate challenge) is on!

On her campaign site, she issued a debate call, replete with mild slur against his record and hard slap to state Dems. Apparently she hasn't yet picked up on the fact that he doesn't do nasty. He simply responded to her Twitter flow that he'd love to kick the treasurer can around, that she should choose the day and location.

Karyn may quickly have to adjust to such a nice guy. Consider that initial challenge, including:

Steve is a major fundraiser and leader of the Democratic Party in Massachusetts and nationally. My record is different. I’m a mom, a small business owner, and an independent voice in the Legislature fighting for lower taxes and less spending. I look forward to debating with Steve on who is best suited to act as a watchdog against the excesses of the one-party political machine on Beacon Hill.

Having seen him in action, I figure that she's in trouble immediately if she thinks she can out-family this most family man of pols. Plus, playing the local GOP wheeze of elect-me-or-it's-one-party-dictatorship so early and without cause is not wise.

Moreover, she a loose tweeter as well. For example, in her stream is a reaction to Grossman's powerful statement at his kickoff that he'd be an activist treasurer, using the office and pension funds to keep banks lending to small businesses and to help create jobs. Polito's unfortunate tweet on that reads, "karyn4treasurer I'm not a "social activist" when it comes to managing tax $$. I'm a "fiscal conservative" who seeks highest return 1st. http://bit.ly/bg5106 "

That link is to a Boston Herald editorial hitting Grossman for his activist comment. Polito's gratuitous prefix of social is a standard winger trick. Rather than denigrate the ideas and goals, she needs to come up with some of her own.

I'm betting in a debate the Polito/tabloid view will look pretty reactionary and lame in the light of Grossman's strong program to help us out of the recession and financial squeeze from banks.

At the least, Polito may get some help in creating a real platform. The asthenic website has only sizzle, and barely audible sizzle at that, in her Priorities section (no platform, issues or similar yet; priorities reads more like wishes). She throws in the predictable clichéd phrases of accountability and transparency, with noting specific. In contrast, Grossman has a fully fleshed out program.

Granted, his is a different view and it should make for a clear choice. She says so far she just wants to take care of the money and be real conservative. He says that even with the safest investments, using them wisely and inspiring banks and employers to earn the right to use it can do a lot more for workers, small business and all of us.

Maybe she has more, but the initial money-in-the-mattress strategy has never been a winner.

By the bye, over at Left Ahead!, Grossman will join us for our weekly show Tuesday at 2:30 PM Eastern.

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Tags: massmarrier, elections, Grossman, treasurer, Massachusetts, Polito, debate

That Activist Treasurer Candidate

Steve Grossman has at least one powerful tie and quite a few powerful ideas. This morning at the Parker House where he formally announced his run for MA treasurer, he displayed them all.

Quick to say that he is not a professional politician, Grossman showed the 100 or so of us that he is not an entertainer. He's not a charismatic preacher sort or even a sales type.

What he is includes low-key witty, totally sincere and far, far ahead of his two announced opponents in positions and proposals. By the bye, you can judge the latter at:

• Grossman's site
• GOP candidate Karyn Polito's (buzz words, no beef yet)
• Dem candidate Steve Murphy's (only COMING SOON)

He's set the standard for content and set it high. They can only react.

Left Ahead! aside: Grossman joins us Tuesday, May 4th, for our podcast at 2:30 PM Eastern. I'd asked Murphy nearly a month ago. He said he wanted to and would get back with us within the month. Tick.

Come with me to the Kennedy Room (of course) this morning for a taste of what we'd get in a Tim Cahill replacement as treasurer. Note first that Grossman may not be a pol, but he knows them. He headed the DNC in the Clinton era from 1997 through 1999. His work there lets him use laudatory blurbs on his brochure from Clinton and Ted Kennedy. He took off from heading the family business, Grossman Marketing Group to do Dem party work (leading in turn commonwealth then national). That tradition permeates the family back to his grandfather Max' helping re-elect John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald Boston mayor. It's not enough for a Grossman to be a successful entrepreneur.

Think back to the Patrick/Murray campaign kickoff in JP. Many hundreds stomping in a gym as Deval Patrick, Tito Jackson and other rousers fired 'em up. Today's version wasn't like that. Rather it was much smaller. The crowd applauded and cheered almost non-stop, but it was almost entirely over what he said and not the delivery.

The only other comparison is that Grossman too started late (about 40 minutes to Patrick's 90). That afforded eavesdropping time today. In the row behind me, for example, leftist, philanthropic sorts Brookline realty goddess Chobee Hoy and Boston/NYC socialite Smoki Bacon chatted it up. That type of friend can only help the campaign. Likewise, a few legislators like Sen. Jamie Eldridge trotted down Beacon Street for the event.

The room was not even ballroom size and set with only 24 chairs facing the dais with a single podium. There were no little bribes like coffee or doughnuts. You came for Grossman and you'd get Grossman. Period. The muted golden floral carpet paralleled Grossman's substance and seriousness. He didn't use a warm-up act and introduced himself.

Apparently he's not rigid on conventions. For example, as you are supposed to start your music album with a fast tune, you hear that your speech needs to open with a joke.

Instead, he started with his family...and not in the abstract. Half of the chairs had reserved-for-family signs and then had family in them. He introduced four generations of them, several who work in his company, from his mother and mother-in-law down to the itty-bitty grandkids. The 13-month one got a pass on the trip.

His wife, Barbara Wallace Grossman, chairs Tufts' drama and dance department. She is quite short but has the presence of Queen Elizabeth. She also seems to have perfected Elizabeth's swivel-wrist wave. Like the other adults Steve introduced, she projects intensity and competence.

The recurring family theme gave Grossman his joke material, his punchline for the morning, and the repeated tie-in to his aims as candidate for treasurer. Joke 1 was not new but well delivered; his father said he had one mouth and two ears, to use them proportionately. That led to his saying he applied that to listening to customers, employees and citizens.

Joke 2 was that his sons told him he had better win this election. The reason is that "being chairman isn't a job."

Grossman isn't smarmy or even charming in the style of Clinton. He has a clipped, rapid delivery, which works in large part because he speaks clearly and with substance. There was never a moment that I felt he was trying to pull something. Instead, he was far better prepared than typical candidates, offered detailed proposals and used his right hand to reinforce his points. He's comfortable on stage.

The only quibble relates more to his personal style and manners. During a brief question period at the end, two difference reporters tried to draw him into dissing the current treasurer, Tim Cahill, who is stepping down and running as an independent for governor, and then Gov. Patrick. Grossman would have none of it. Rather than say Cahill goofed up here or there and that Patrick hadn't done enough to grow or retain jobs, he went into specifics about what he'd do as treasurer to solve problems.

Yet behind it all is an almost revolutionary program, which Grossman refers to as activist. I think of how things might change if Jim Henderson wins secretary of the commonwealth. Both want to make numerous substantial changes in the the offices.

For Grossman, he refers to treasurer as chief financial officer of this commonwealth. As CFO, he'd want to do a lot more than oversee the lottery and tally the pension funds.

His stated aims are far-reaching in terms of the traditional view of the position. He'd like to help people and companies get back on their feet out of this great recession. He wants to help small businesses. He wants to hold banks accountable for how and to whom they lend. He wants to give citizens easy-to-understand practical solutions to their financial concerns. Finally and of prime importance, he wants to help create jobs here.

Unlike the typical generalizations from statewide office candidates, he puts out specifics. That reminds me of Patrick when he ran for governor. Neither is afraid to be first out with a detailed program; let the others play catch-up and try to poke holes in his platform. Hey, it worked for Patrick.

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Sticking His Neck Out

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He offers six solutions. They don't yet appear in this form in his site's issues area, but I bet they will soon. Briefly, they are:

• Use the full power of the pension funds to create jobs. He sees shifting a half billion dollars to safe lending and investment designed to grow employment. He'd invest our money with banks that lend to small businesses.
  
• Protect consumers by moving money. He would lend to small businesses, help those in foreclosure, and remove state funds from companies with high (think 30%) credit-card interest rates.
• Work with the legislature to re-enable letting small business groups negotiate rates and buy insurance together.
• Provide and enhance financial literacy for citizens from secondary school up so they are smart consumers.
• Provide complete and online transparency and accountability for details on those dealing with the commonwealth.
• Open the treasury to all who can compete for its needs, not just the biggest banks.

He clearly has set the tone and topics for this race. There's lots of time for the other two to compete on substance. If their sites are any indication, they're not in the game yet.

By the bye, in the Q&A, he explained why he is pro-casino. Among other factors, he buys into the arguments that those would bring steady cash flow as well as maybe 7,000 building trades short-term jobs and perhaps another 8,000 in permanent service ones. I remain to be convinced.

Of course, Grossman managed to circle his presentation back to his family, this time to father Edgar. It was almost an I-swear-on-my-father's-grave moment. Instead, it was how he used his father's epitaph for inspiration. He says that tombstone reads "HE MADE OPTIMISM A WAY OF LIFE."

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Tags: massmarrier, elections, Grossman, treasurer, Massachusetts

Well, La-Di-Da, Lida

State Rep. Lida Harkins seems to be in grace deficit. I try to ignore this — particularly as she was one of our Left Ahead! podcast guests last month — but she just won't stop. The latest is over at the Needham Times.

I thought this was something long-term politicians learned early. Grace and manners in defeat are essential. You want voters to remember you well if you want to run for anything or be public in any way. Moreover, her refusal to endorse the fellow Democrat who beat her in the special election race for Scott Brown's state senate seat puts her vanity ahead of the party. That's particularly damning in that district that by rights should revert to a Dem.

The primary winner, Peter Smulowitz, did play hardball toward the end of their primary race. He sent out a flier that pointed out that Harkins had accepted contributions from three former House Speakers who are under indictment or convicted of ethics violations or related money crimes. Plus, when she knew of their alleged corruption, she kept the funds.

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Wash My Hands

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Now, after losing the primary, Harkins certainly knew the expected and right and civilized thing to do was to congratulate the winner and endorse him in the final. Instead, she says, "I’m staying out of the race altogether." Low brow and low class...

Asked by the Needham reporter if she'd endorse the GOP candidate, Richard Ross, Harkins replied that she was chair of the town Democratic Committee. Because she respected the position, she would not endorse a Republican. Yet, as chair of the Needham Democratic Committee, she has no problem screwing the party out of spite.

If you have a mind to listen to her podcast, you might also click Smulowitz' version. It was also last month and is here. Both of these were before the flier incident.

Also, shortly before the primary, she pitched herself in a BlueMassGroup diary. She included her 21 years in the House and that she has nine grandkids in public schools. To the donations, she wrote:

The assumption that my position as a leader in the State House means that I was in some way involved in the behavior of past Speakers is completely unfounded. I have always valued my independence and fought for the issues that I believe in.

A nice little boy would not criticize his elders, particularly a granny of nine. Yet, Smulowitz is an ER doc as well as political contender. He thought the ethics issues would be fair game, likely after the executive branch here championed ethics reform following the latest Speaker's indictment in a series of them.

A piece in the Boston Globe cited the figures. As well as donations from Sal DiMasi, Harkins got:

• $1,600 received from Charles Flaherty (1996 tax evasion guilty plea) at $200 a year for the last eight years.
  
• $200 in 2002 and $400 in 2004 from Thomas Finneran (indicted 2005)

To Smulowitz, facts are facts. Before the primary, he said, "My opponent took campaign contributions from three different, three consecutive indicted speakers."

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Woe is me!

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Her take is very different, as in, "I’ve never been cited for wrongdoing in over 30 years of public service. It’s disappointing that Peter feels he has to smear my record to make him look good." I'd note here that the I've-never-been-caught defense is often not the wisest tack, even when you are clean. It makes people wonder.

Understandably, Harkins was miffed when accused by association with her donors, her disgraced donors. It appears any chance of her taking the blow in stride disappeared when she lost the race. Unfortunately, we hear her still accusing Smulowitz of "gutter politics" and being "slanderous."

I suppose it's possible in 21 years of General Court politics and several earlier as Needham School Committee's that this is the worst campaign charge she's faced. If so, she's been damned lucky.

Smulowitz didn't make up anything or even twist the truth. It was up to the voters to decide whether accepting and keeping money from convicted and indicted Speakers is OK or wrong.

He no doubt knew that Harkins wouldn't like having to explain those awkward truths and they'd never be BFF afterward. However, he probably didn't consider that Harkins would spit on the party as well as him if she lost.

Well, I hope someone like MA Dem Party Chair John Walsh can play uncle to this grandmother. She's not too old to learn a little about losing gracefully.

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Tags: massmarrier, elections, Harkins, Smulowitz, senate, Massachusetts

Rep. Tsongas in Two Days

Rep. Niki Tsongas joins us at an unusual time and day this coming week on the Left Ahead! podcast show. Listen into the live stream at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, April 24th.

We’ll be talking issues and re-election with the Fifth District Congresswoman. She certainly didn’t stop after helping win health-care reform. She’ll tell us what she see coming up short-term and beyond.

She is also one of several Massachusetts in Congress targeted by the GOP. As many as 11 are aiming for her seat. She talks to us about how the campaign is going and how she’ll win her third term.

If you can’t catch us live, go to the same URL or Left Ahead! to listen on demand.

Cross-post from Left Ahead.

MA GOP Headed for a Fall Fall?

Apparently the beer poured, if your pardon, liberally in Worcester and certainly the happy hormones flowed even among the sober at the MA GOP convention. While it may be a bit ghoulish to whisper a what-if here, it's not too early to wonder how this manic-depressive routine will play out if Charles D. Baker Jr. concedes to Gov. Deval Patrick on Nov. 2nd.

Yes, yes, understandably, our elephants are gleeful, spiteful and looking forward to more than snagging the gubernatorial office back. They also want to manifest what the Boston Herald described in convention coverage as a "newly resurgent Republican Party."

Pic note: The image is an adaptation from the Herald's Kelvin Ma, for which I claim fair use.

We've had a lot of Republican governors here, roughly half holding the office in modern times. So, were Baker to best Patrick, that by itself would not be news or even that remarkable. No, the local GOP is drooling and wildly hopeful because one of theirs, Scott Brown, won the special election to replace U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy. From that material, they have built a splendid political ship to sail them from the backwaters of power in Massachusetts.

And if that ship sinks? What if Brown's win was an anomaly based on a lame Dem opponent and not as he describes it "an overwhelming people's movement — at one of he most important times in American politics"?

Indeed, we have a widespread MA GOP felt sense of a good future about to become great for them. As GOP nominee for commonwealth treasurer, Karyn Polito told the Herald, 'The whole pulse of the party is in the freshness of the new faces you see here today, young people energized. It’s very obvious to me the whole complexion of the party has changed.” Likewise, they quoted Delegate Adam D. Waitkunas as, "All the energy is behind Charlie."

We can say they are overdue for getting to feel that positive. While like national Republicans, the locals have never had a problem bragging, running down the Dems, or making impossible predictions of victory, I have to wonder what the letdown will feel like if Baker comes up short.

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Dumb claims

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Unfortunately for the GOP, both Brown and Baker are playing the same weak hand, if their speeches are an indication. In Baker's, for example, he cites easily refutable misinformation and disinformation about current and past governors' budgets and taxes.

That is doubly unfortunate in his having been secretary of administration and finance for two Republican governors in a row. Not only does he know better about the deficits, surpluses and expenditures, he carries a lot of baggage here. For example, he was the leading adviser on the Big Dig finances; he likes to pretend now that no one listened to him. That won't fly. Likewise, bragging about Governors Weld and Cellucci balancing budgets by cutting taxes, he exposes himself as proponent of hidden taxes in terms of outrageous, unwise inflation for deferred infrastructure maintenance and building. We are still paying our way out of the Big Dig and tax-cut scams.

Then in his last job as head of Harvard Pilgrim, Baker led a turnaround...but at enormous cost to citizens. His health-care giant fired employees left and right and jacked up premiums non-stop for a decade. He should be on the voters' wanted poster for health-care profiteers. As CEO, he set the pace for unaffordable health care.

We have a lot of debates, a lot of campaigning, a lot of advertising and a lot of spin to come. Maybe it'll be like Tinkerbell and if enough people keep believing, Baker will fly. I predict not.

So back to the question, if our local elephants have vested all in Baker, how low will they fall if he fails, how hard their landing? Well, I wouldn't want to see it or hear the whining.

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Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, Charlie Baker, election, GOP

DIY Craziness

Tip of the toupee to the Daily Show for a recent lead-in segment on FoxNews trying to link President Obama's disarmament conference to Islamic extremists. The talking bobbleheads were too ignorant to recognize the standard Bohr model of the atom as the basis for the conference logo. We were all exposed to the atomic model in school. They were also so stupid that they displayed some flags of Muslim nations and pointed out they were similar. Uh, yeah, in that they all had some circles or arcs in them?

I propose that we keep an eye out for such inane comparisons. In that vein, I present my first contribution to Foxisms.

When Adobe Acrobat Reader did its automatic update today, the symbol on the installation gauge had the possibility in Fox-think of being like the old Soviet flag. Coincidence for a company based in left-leaning California?

Let's be dumb like Foxes. I'll present. You decide.

See the inspiration below.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
A Farewell to Arms
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

GOP Dreams of Top

At local and national levels, Republicans finally get to strut again. Failed shadow Vice President Sarah Palin never stopped strutting. That is, after all, the only way she can move. Increasingly though, her fellows join her.

Nationally, Republicans are fairly wetting their Depend garments in anticipation of 1) taking a Congressional majority (pure fantasy) and 2) sweeping all open seats (bloody unlikely). Yet, we can be almost positive of one outcome — as in almost all mid-term elections, the party out of power gains Congressional seats. Actually, let's make that two outcomes — whatever the loss, Republicans will grossly exaggerate their success and predict that they will create a juggernaut rolling to majority out of it.

Of course, there is a harm in leaving the GOP to hopes and delusions. When they continue to marginalize themselves through obstreperous and unworkable positions, democracy suffers. We don't have a worthwhile political and policy dialog. The we'll-show-'em Republicans become less and less in the game, further delaying their comeback. Even the befuddled and relatively gutless Dems in Congress end up advancing the country and being seen as the good guys.

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DINOs and RINOs

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Here in Massachusetts though, we could see real advances even with the predictable mid-term successes for the GOP. The cowardly crypto-conservatives here often hide as Dems, even the elected officials. They might emerge from their cover to snipe on this or that bill, but largely pretend to be that other party's members to get elected.

Much of the rest of the nation buys into related misconceptions. Notably, we are allegedly extremely liberal, in no small part because Dem registration is more than double GOP. That dismisses the slim majority of voters who are unenrolled in any party, as well as the number of DINOs in the party.

Many voters often loudly and insistently call themselves independents and like to claim they could, if so inspired, vote as a bloc and sway any election, any time...if only they chose to do so. They don't choose.

I would love to see more confrontation. That can't happen until the hidden GOP types out themselves. We have seen that in other places and periods, notably the huge shifts from Democrats to Dixiecrats to Republicans throughout the South following voter registration and integration and (shudder to many there) election of a Roman Catholic President.

Here some solid victories in 2010 and 2012 at the state level should inspire DINOs to switch. That has more benefits than simply being able to recognize which army someone follows. Primarily, that could frame and clarify debates both in the General Court and during election campaigns.

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Elephants on the move

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Meanwhile, we have some strategies, at least short-term ones. While I can carp about so-so coverage by the Boston Globe, it has two nice pieces today. Check State GOP looks to gain more ground and Cahill calls the two-party system 'broken'.

Starting with our governor's race, the GOP is probably deluding itself here as the national party is. Is somehow extrapolates such factors as failed candidate Palin's celebrity and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown's victory in the special election for Ted Kennedy's seat into a great portent of success in all endeavors.

They surely will have a lead candidate in Charlie Baker. He is stained with two dreadful marks — in charge of Big Dig money and overlord of a huge health-care provider. The first destroys his fiscal cred and the second lumps him in with modern robber barons.

Then even if he can tap dance away from those, he faces an incumbent governor who can unroll a tapestry of reforms and accomplishments. Baker has a huge vanity and Republicans are throwing bucks his way. He might be able to pull it off, but I doubt it sincerely.

A couple of other players to watch are goofball multi-millionaire Christy Mihos. He's missed deadlines, kited checks and more. Yet, he swears he can get the 15% of GOP delegates from the convention to get on the primary ballot. Maybe yes, maybe no, but either way, he's doomed to another also-campaigned ending. (As a pastime, perennial office seeking must be more exciting than many hobbies.)

The other fun at the GOP convention will be lurking Tim Cahill. The Dem turned independent treasurer of the commonwealth, he'll be there to impress conservatives for his gubernatorial run.

His other politically promiscuous move recently was to attend Wednesday's Tap Party play date on our Common downtown. While Brown and Baker blew off the event, Cahill told the Globe, "I went because I think we need to stop being afraid of talking to people we may not agree with on everything and start talking about how to fix the problems we face."

He said our local two-party system was broken. He presented himself as a sort of populist fixer. Unfortunately for his hopes of grabbing every unenrolled voter's mind and heart, he didn't spit out Palin-like slogans. He said he wanted to make sweeping reforms and fundamental changes. Good luck pitching that when the disaffected voters are tired of thinking and striving, and want simple and even simple-minded answers instead.

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Tea sippers

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Cahill is not the only politician here willing to make out with the Tea Party. The state party chair, Jennifer Nassour, snuggled right down. She told WBUR that she'd like to deal with TPs. She also put that interview at the top of the party's Facebook page.

The BUR piece includes:

But Nassour says she hope’s the Republican Party can benefit from Tea Party enthusiasm. “I feel that it’s important for us to embrace everyone, whoever it is,” she said after the rally. In order to win in Massachusetts, Nassour and the GOP have to capture conservatives without alienating independents. And Nassour’s job is winning in November, as she acknowledged: “I would like them to come and talk about having a two-party system and how we can merge together and get our candidates elected in November.”

In terms of the unlikely, we have to wonder what the chance that the tremendously ego-driven TP folk will stroke the MA GOP back. Unfortunately for her hopes (that word again), the numbers suggest they don't identify primarily as Republicans. She'll have to supply convincing reasons for aligning beyond the we're-not-Democrats one.

So, let's keep tabs on the predictions filling the air. We've heard many of the right that the GOP will cleanly sweep state and national races. I call bovine feces on that and forecast a net loss for Dems in line with any mid-term election. Voters who just can't stand Obama and liberalism will be partially offset by those who see the GOP as obstructionist and anti-humane for their health-care-reform ploys.

Then check back for the 2012 view. Mitt Romney still lusts for the top office and wants to convince America than he's more than Captain Brylcreem, the good-hair guy.

Congressional podcast: Keep tabs at Left Ahead! or our BlogTalkRadio site. We'll have more candidates on, including U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas. A boatload of Republicans have filed for her seat.

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Tags: massmarrier, GOP, elections, DINO, RINO, Palin, Massachusetts, Baker, Cahill, Tea Party

Not 1¢ for Cycles!

Truckers don't get it and don't want to. Their groups would crush Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood into the pavement and obliterate his benign comments about walkers and cyclists.

After reading and hearing all the brouhaha on this mess, I had to track down the actual material. Sure enough, the likes of two lobbying groups are behind the relentless distortions and slurs.

While unnamed in most print and broadcast tales, they are the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Highway Users Alliance. NAM is like it says, but the Highway Users is deceptive. They claim to represent all motorists, a sort of jolly uncle taking care of car and RV drivers and, oh by the way, trucks and buses.

The reality is that they are the lobbying arm of truck and bus companies. Their business is ensuring the continuity and even expansion of the subsidies for highways over anything and everything else. They don't like those concerns over the environment or anything that would slow or alter the present outrageous subsidies for highway construction, maintenance and policing.

In various previous professional lives, I have written about and been familiar with the advocacy groups for construction, manufacturing, computers, grocery, small businesses and more. Their lobbyists are single-minded and often duplicitous, the epitome of why PR can be so risible. Each would have you believe that their industry or interest group is the major driver of the U.S. economy and unique, requiring special consideration.

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Professional liars

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Reasonably enough, the jobs of the lobbyist and other top staff at these groups is to promote the devil out of their members' positions. Unfortunately, that passion can drift into hyperbole and lies. In the case of NAM and the Highways folk, the attitude clearly is a zero-sum game. A single cent or the slightest consideration for pedestrians or cyclists means they are being robbed of what has become their rights.

They want the rights to all federal transportation moneys. They don't want any grants or even matching funds going to bike or pedestrian paths or even adding ped/cycle accommodation to highway and other construction or rebuilding.

Bias note: I am an active cyclist. I do own a car, but take most trips by cycle or foot. Less frequently, I take a bus or subway.I use the car for grocery shopping and similar errands.

So what is it that LaHood said that so riled the flacks? You can read his thinking and background at his blog. That post includes links to the bicycle-summit talk as well as Transportation's policy for what has come to be called pedal parity.

He summarized the policy as including these recommendations for states and municipalities:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Those are in line with the regs from the Mass. DOT. Those work OK here except for a state-level problem and one huge federal issue. Locally, the requirements for streets and highways being designed, re-designed or maintained have huge loopholes.

For example, they mandate adding pedestrian and cycling accommodation wherever possible, such as painting bike lanes. In reality, any road where the engineers can can even tenuously that they finished design before the rules kick in have exemptions. More practically, roads with such strictures as old stone walls by the shoulder are exempt. In short, it is the exception that a repainted or repaved street gets a sidewalk, ped/bike path or even bike lanes. Whining overrules the rules.

The federal issue is that highways are funded at a 90%/10% or 80%/20% federal/local level. If bike or pedestrian accommodations get any money at all, they are well below that, often well below 50% federal. It's crazy for the feds to call for less traffic, gas use and pollution and not pony up.

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Multi-modal magic

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So, the Secretary offers options, a.k.a. recommendations, not mandates. He'd like planners to consider walkers and cyclists along with motorized-vehicle drivers. By the bye, his list dovetails and builds on what citizens, towns, dates and the feds have been preaching for a long time now — less traffic, less pollution, fewer accidents, lower noise, and all wrapped up in multi-modal transportation.

Then consider some of the reactions from the truckers and NAM. Start with the federal-bucks-are-ours approach in the NAM post Maybe the local folks should pay for their own bike paths:

We’ve already pointed out (here, here and here) that 80 percent of U.S. freight moves by truck and argued that LaHood’s pedal parity is nonsensical for a modern industrial nation.

In his expert response, Greg Cohen, President and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance, also raises the important point that the public overwhelmingly believes funding for bike paths and the like is primarily a city and county responsibility, followed by the state.

Also, even though LaHood was at a bike summit and speaking specifically to ped/cycle issues, NAM was outraged that "In the entire interview (with the NY Times), there is not a single mention of 'freight.' The words 'truck' and 'trucking' do not appear. What Americans want right now is jobs, the creation of which requires the efficient movement of freight on trucks. Secretary LaHood’s expressed vision of transportation priorities just doesn’t seem to recognize that economic reality."

This attitude of indispensability is not exclusive to truck and factory types. Anyone who claims to speak for small businesses likewise claims that the country would collapse if not for them. Many sectors of the economy are equally egocentric and parochial.

However, NAM and the Highways lobbyists outdo themselves. Merely mentioning the possibility of pedestrians or cyclists getting design consideration and maybe a small share of the huge highways pie makes the interest groups seethe.

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End of the world as we know it

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For a solid example, check the Highways folk's take in their Raging Battle brochure. The inflammatory title sets the tone including the incendiary descriptions of what they claim is really behind LaHood's words:

Highway Funding for Six Years
As our elected officials consider the next six years of transportation funding, many are responding to well-funded national and grassroots activists that demand radical antimobility policies for every corner of America.
Anti-Mobility Policy Proposals are
gaining momentum...
• Reducing the share of highway user fees actually spent on highway projects.
• Sanctioning the federal government’s takeover of local land use plans so that they are less accessible to auto and truck traffic.
• Limiting the amount of highway funding available for new capacity.
Congressional/U.S. DOT Proposals are
being considered...
• Reducing miles of auto travel.
• Restricting movement of goods by truck.
• Coercing people out of their cars (“livability initiative”).
• Manipulating the price of fuel to make driving less affordable.

So, to them, the Secretary is anti-mobility and including pedestrians and bikes in road design is coercing people out of their cars. Clearly (to the trucker flacks) American liberty itself is at stake here. The only line missing was something about prying my steering wheel from my cold, dead fingers.

It's really pretty silly stuff, but consider the audience. NAM is plain about representing manufacturers. The Highways lobby is slier. It's site's graphics as well as words suggest it's for plain Americans who drive cars, pickups and RVs.

Judging from their membership levels and fees, they are not quite so egalitarian and plebeian. They offer corporate, small business, state advocate and conference only member levels. (No, there's no soccer mom or commuter level.) The conference is a relative bargain, assuming you have a place to stay and don't have to travel to the location. The other annual memberships run from $1,000 to $3,000 to $5,000 to $10,000. Somehow that lacks the Everyman touch.

The real disconnect and what shows the lobbyists so out of sync with reality can be in their reactions to that NYT interview. LaHood said, "We're always going to take care of our highways." He just sees it as more American to expand our options:

My response is that this is what Americans want. Americans want alternatives. People are always going to drive cars. We’re always going to have highways. We’ve made a huge investment in our interstate highway system. We’ll always continue to make sure that those investments in the highways are maintained.

But, what Americans want is to get out of their cars, and get out of congestion, and have opportunities for more transit, more light rail, more buses, and some communities are going to street cars. But many communities want the opportunity on the weekends and during the week to have the chance to bike to work, to bike to the store, to spend time with their family on a bike.

So, this is not just Ray LaHood’s agenda, this is the American agenda that the American people want for alternatives to the automobile.

But to the liars and loonies among the lobbyists, this remains an either/or. It seems to be the transportation version of adultery even to speak of funding multi-modal. Consider NAM's Embracing bicycles at expense of freight jobs reality:

Treating bicycles and other non-motorized transportation as equal to motorized transportation would cause an economic catastrophe. If put into effect, the policy would more than undermine any effort the Obama Administration has made toward jobs. You can’t have jobs without the efficient movement of freight.

So, not only would LaHood and DOT be unfaithful to trucking. They would also cause the loss of jobs and threaten all of America. Bike trails are surely the road to ruin, eh, guys?

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Money...not yours

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Unfortunately, the NAM and Highways lobbyists are likely not joking. They may well believe a penny spent elsewhere is stealing from them. That suggests more than their failure to see the present and future. It also points out how overly entitled they are.

Their members' gas taxes and road use fees don't begin to repay us for the costs of building, maintaining and policing highways. Yet, they still want every federal transportation dollar by rights.

Some economists point out that by deeply subsidizing highways, we make moving freight cheaper. In turn, that makes things that move by truck, like groceries, less expensive than they would be otherwise. Yet, it is time to wonder whether hiding the true costs and passing them along as taxes to all of us is of questionable fairness and equality.

It may be time or even past time to make trucking firms, bus companies and even car drivers pay much more for highways, enough to compensate for roads' costs. Then they would charge more to move goods and pass those costs along to consumers. Yet, we could drastically reduce the multi-billion dollars of taxes that go to subsidize highways.

We haven't lived that way since then President Eisenhower started the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways in the middle of the last century. It would be a huge shock to have people pay for what they use instead of concealing it as taxes.

Never mind. Let's stick with LaHood. He just wants us to stop whining about congestion, noise, pollution and traffic. He wants us to start doing the minimum — considering ped/cycle when we build or re-build. I'm with him.

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Tags: massmarrier, transportation, LaHood, pedestrians, bicycling, highways, lobbyists

Wall of Pols for Deval

Only somewhat plugged in, only somewhat of a wonk, I still reveled in the local political types coming to the gym for Deval Patrick and Tim Murray's opening rally/sally/volley yesterday. Many of my favorites showed, but of course, we were left wondering about those local pols who did not appear.

As of yesterday, I have to drop all pretense of deriding pols who work the room. I found myself going to one pol after another myself. I know them, many have come on as guests to Left Ahead!'s podcast, and despite a so-so batting average, many of those I endorse who went on to win were there.

First...the crowd though. English has been on the verge of trying to go out of business for a long time. It's the RCN of public education. Banners in numerous places cite it as the first public high school in the nation (1821), not to be confused with Boston Latin School, the first public school (1635). Being first is not always a great thing. Think about the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Boston's subway; they honestly don't carry their age that well. However, English moved a few times and took over the ailing Jamaica Plain HS in an effort to save both. Tenuous at first, it's sort of working.

Most of us who visit the school for public hearings, candidate nights and such head to the auditorium, which is a bit rundown but serviceable. The rally thingummy was in the gym and from overhearing people, I was one of many there for the first time. It was smallish, but not seedy, not bad at all. For a school allegedly barely in business, they played good host.

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Some of Each

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By count, they had set up for about 300 folding chairs. The bleachers on one side would have accommodated about the same. There was a smallish press platform for the TV cameras and such opposite the dais and behind chairs of hoi polloi.

In theory, the rally started at noon, the doors opened at 11 a.m. and no one believed anything would be on time. Not only is that the norm for politicians, but Deval and Tim started at different places about 8:30 and would converge on the first major rally, so noon was like a Manhattan dinner party start hour.

I arrived around 11:30 after a cathartic stride up from the bottom of Hyde Park. Even coming up on Doyle's for the left turn to English, I didn't see any hoard. Had I driven, I could have parked on Washington Street. I felt a slight disappointment too not to see any Charlie Baker's or other adversaries' minions holding signs or chanting. Where's the spirit of competition?

In the gym, we had our rainbow. Massachusetts may not be post-racial, but Deval's supporters seem to be. While there was a good share of us beige or pink skinned types, a clear diversity representing the various races and cultures here arrived and mingled. Yes, I can be simple-minded about this all and yes, I am a Unitarian, and yes, I like the crowds supporting Deval and Barack representing a real range of citizens.

I did a quick scan and approximation. Unlike most public gatherings, this one seemed consistent with Boston's diversity. It was a bit short on the growing Latino population, but otherwise seemed well representative. Likewise, the couple of dozen young folk with STAFF badges on their lanyards were a pretty good blend of colors, but almost entirely teens and 20s. People my age were put at tables to sign folk in and collect tickets.

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Where's Menino?

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Instead of where's Waldo, I wonder where's Menino? Our mayor wasn't evident. I'll try to find out why.

In a different Boston school four years ago (BLS), Tom Menino introduced the new candidate, the un-favorite of the Democratic Party, a certain Deval Patrick. I would have supposed right now would Menino would be very savvy to stand up with and for the governor.

Many Boston pols were not so trepid or shy. Most of city council was there. Apparently Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo was too, but I didn't see him. Rep. Liz Malia showed, as did Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz. I assume some legislators went to the many smaller gatherings on the two days, or the other big rallies in Worcester and Holyoke later Saturday.

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Glad Handing

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I spent a little time with:

• Chang-Diaz — very little in this case as she was her usual intense self—turning those intense gazes from one hanger-on to another. I admit that I like her and her record, that I endorsed her in both the failed and successful runs for office, and that while I hear many say only she can look great in everything those gigantic hoop earrings, I see someone with the drive and vision that many other pols should emulate.
• Rob Consalvo — the councilor in my new district (5/HP). He's highly personable, although I disagree with him on terms limits for mayor and council (I for and he con). We chatted Cleary/Logan Square businesses as well as libraries. Townsend's is solid. He recommends Rincon and he had news on The Hyde. Locals have never forgiven the new owner at the latter for putting anything where the beloved diner-style Dot's was. Cops I chat up while doing clerk or warden duties at an HP polling place bemoan the demise; they care about eateries. Rob though said he and some other city officials had met with The Hyde's owner and agreed to provide him with a grant to complete the renovation of the spot. When my family tried it out, the owner came around to say he wanted to put in a small micro-brewery when he could. I bet that would be great fertilizer for the restaurant. Apparent Boston is willing to invest in that. Rob noted that The Hyde will be closed for a few months to accommodate the improvements later this year. That's good stuff for someone who lives up the hill from there to hear, particularly as The Hyde already features my favorite ale, Dogfish Head 60 Minute.
• John Tobin — is no longer my district councilor after the JP to HP move, but I keep tabs with him. He's the busiest legislator in the body and clearly has both ambitions and the drive to achieve them. Just recently at his coffee shop office hours, we talked libraries, as we did yesterday. We are of one mind on public libraries, particularly as they now are the single source for computer, printer and internet access for many of the lower-middle and lower classes. Closing a Boston library is broadening the digital divide in another neighborhood. John still says he won't vote for a budget that closes any of our public libraries. He's been joined by two other councilors; two more and the budget won't pass without tweaking. This should keep many flies on the walls alert this spring before the June 30th final budget vote.
• Mike Capuano — U.S. Rep. Capuano is unquestionably one of my favorite pols. I hear people say he's abrasive, but I see and hear candid and ethical and compassionate. He's a true progressive and suits me just fine. I thanked him for ending up supporting health-care reform in Congress. In his typical fashion, he immediately let me know again that he would not have voted for the Senate version handed to the House. He and I lamented the exclusion of single payer and agreed that the new law should just be the start of this reform.
• Ayanna Pressley — the delightfully sincere councilor holds no grudge that I ended not endorsing her in the multi-candidate race (she was close for me, but I favored two others slightly more). She said she'd come on Left Ahead! to update us on the first 100 days, her transition from John Kerry's staff to city politics, and those little issues like being a woman in a man's world. She makes me smile with remarks like, "I get up every morning and get to actualize my values. Now, how many can say that?"
• John Connolly — This at-large councilor has the unenviable job of heading the education committee during this schools/funding crisisand swears he wants that job. He showed at the rally in character. Most other councilors were dolled up, the men other than Felix Arroyo (heavy sweater) were in fancy suits and silk ties. This John came as John, in jeans and pushing a stroller with his sleeping daughter Clare. In fact, he refused VIP seats up front to help guarantee that his child could continue her nap. As a dad of three, I appreciate someone who cares for his kids like that. We'll be talking education more and have a session next month on biking.

So, as podcaster and blogger, I had a good enough time before the stars came out.

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Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, Tim Murray, election, campaign, Boston English