Local Politics
So it seems that Deval Patrick is going to be the Democrats’ nominee for governor of Massachusetts.
I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, I think Patrick is a master statesman who has the charisma and intelligence to restore optimism and hope to an electorate that has become deeply cynical from watching the disastrous fiscal mismanagement of the Big Dig.
On the other hand, I think he may just be too nice of a guy to campaign effectively against the Republicans.
Unlike opponents Chris Gabrielli and Tom Reilly, Deval Patrick has run a campaign based upon an optimistic vision of the government’s ability to ensure greater economic equality and social justice. While Reilly and Gabrielli portrayed themselves as seasoned policy wonks who had the knowledge and experience to make government run efficiently, Patrick ran as the candidate who could make government work beyond voters’ expectations, who could be a politician that expanded the scope of what government could do to help regular people.
All of which is well and good- but will it stand up to a well-funded and vicious Republican campaign?
What worries me about Patrick is that he was the only candidate who did not aggressively attack his opponents. While Gabrielli and Reilly hammered Patrick during recent Democratic primary debates, Patrick mostly stayed on the defensive and didn’t take digs at his accusers. And although his strategy of emphasizing a positive vision led to victory against center-left technocrats, I have grave doubts about how well it will stand up against the relentless onslaught of negativity that the Massachusetts Republicans have in store.
We’ll see. I’m going to vote for Patrick in the general election no matter what. But it remains to be seen if he has the killer instinct to take on a party that has made viciousness, brutality and fear-mongering its signature traits.
He might be the right guy for the job, but nice doesn’t cut it in today’s politics. You have to be mean to win, unless your opponent is unelectable.
yes, BUT…
He didn’t pick a fight against other Democrats because he knew he had the lead, and furthermore bashing other Dems (which shouldn’t be the prereq to getting nominated) is not in the same league with bashing Repubs. The whole positive-negative debate has its merits, but I’d rather a candidate come out of the primary clean than battered and bruised like Phil Angelides.
Of course, the problem that Democrats seem to face right now is that the traits they might need to display to enable them to beat Republicans often are the same traits that would make them undesirable to their own base.
It’s a conundrum.
I disagree. I’m tired of Democrats being told to be more like Republicans. I think liberalism is better not only ideologically but also practically. Patrick’s refusal to cut income taxes is Exhibit A. Over the past five years, the state cut back on aid to cities and towns and residents refused to raise property taxes. The result has been predictable: too few cops, too few teachers, libraries that close early. Everyone has felt the effects of that. It takes money to run the government, and the income tax is a lot fairer than the property tax. If anyone can sell this, it’s Patrick.
We in Massachusetts have suffered a run of terrible Republican governors partly because the Democratic candidates were so weak (starting with John Silber—whose idea was that?). I’d like Patrick to get up there and really sell his program. I was very impressed with Patrick’s speech last night and also with the way the other two Democrats rallied around him. Kerry Healey, the Republican, gave a really ridiculous “victory speech” (she was unopposed in the primary) that trotted out the usual Republican themes. If she can’t do better than that, Patrick really does have a fighting chance.
If she can’t do better than that, Patrick really does have a fighting chance.
Here’s hoping.
I’m just so jaded after years of watching Swift Boat antics being used successfully to take down our candidates that I want a Dem who can just rip these fuckers’ lungs out and stomp them on the ground.
But again, I’m very jaded at this point.
Kerry Healy is also pretty much of a lightweight. She’s never made her own mark, and Romney has neglected to promote her. One of Patrick’s major strengths is that people are simply sick of political hacks. Reilly is a decent guy, but he was running for governor mostly because, as the estimable Dig says, it was his turn.
If people in Massachusetts are sick of political hacks, then maybe there is hope for us all.
He might be the right guy for the job, but nice doesn’t cut it in today’s politics. You have to be mean to win, unless your opponent is unelectable.
Kerry Healy’s campaign commercials so far have been “I married rich, and so could the rest of you, if you had any ambition or energy.” Her boss, Mitt Romney, gives the impression he has no idea who that bottle blond hanging around his office might be — when he’s around his office, which isn’t often. Healy hasn’t come off as mean, but she does come off as nasty and narrow-minded, especially since she has the patented Repub Whine tone to her speaking voice. The Repubs are no doubt set to trot out the N-word-bashing about Patrick, but Healey doesn’t exactly match the Big White Man model so dear to the tiny shrunken hearts of those who remember the 1950s fondly. It’s always possible there’s something ugly or uglify-able hiding in Patrick’s CV, but he’s come through as a lot more charming so far than Healy. The really important issue will be getting Gabrielli’s and Reilly’s volunteers to pitch in behind Patrick, and in this of all years that looks to be a good bet.
Brad, have you seen the ads by the Patriot Majority Fund? They’re running the spot with the picture that makes Kerry Healey look like Nosferatu. I don’t really know what their issue is, but frankly it makes me feel dirty having those kinds of tactics employed on our side.
Actually, I feel even worse after poking around that site. There is literally no information about who they are or what their deal is.
i think the fact that finneran is gone will help patrick. i think people were not comfortable voting for a democrat for governer while finneran was running the show.
The biggest factor here is that Patrick’s grassroots organization is amazing. He’s clearly been able to inspire, motivate and organize people in unprecedented ways, and I just don’t see how Healey can match that.
I’ve had countless local people talk to me about their support for Patrick all summer long.
Some examples:
1 – A kindly older man was handling out flyers at a 4th of July parade. He was clearly shy about talking to people, and told me he’d never done anything like that before, but was very inspired by Patrick to try to help.
2 – On a very hot Sunday afternoon in August, a couple of Patrick supporters knocked on my door to talk about their candidate. They were very nice, and obviously very dedicated and enthusiastic to work for him.
3 – While I got tons of robo-calls on my answering machine from Gabrieli, on election day I got a call from a real person in my town who was a Patrick supporter (her name even came up on the caller id) reminding me to vote, and asking if I needed a ride or anything.
Given that, and how Patrick demolished the competition in the primary in what was supposed to be a close race, I have no doubt that he can and will win in November.
With a name like Deval he’s gotta have some meaness. Right?
I noticed that when they normally would have been mooning about their concessions and defeats, Reilly and Gabrieli each took shots at Healey and Romney being out of step with the state.
Using Romney as the anchor (a la President Bush in the national elections) certainly couldn’t hurt. If Patrick loses because a majority of folks in the state willingly give in to ads touting the Magical Tax Pony or whatever coded-racist “big government” message gets ginned up, then we deserve what we get.
That said, just based on experience, Patrick has an awfully good resume that appeals to leftists moonbats like myself, and also to corporatist good-for-business types who might normally be swayed by Healey’s tax windmilling.
I’m kind of jealous. I cannot stand ah-nuld, so I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for angiledes, but my goodness wouldn’t it be nice to actually vote for a candidate I liked? I can barely imagine…
mikey
Deval Patrick has gotten my mom, a ustabe hippie who became nonpolitical, reinvolved in state politics. That’s quite an achievement. I think that if Patrick can replicate that success throughout the general campaign, he has a good shot.
I hate to bring it up but, Will Massachusetts elect an African-American to statewide office? I mean I know Mass. is a liberal state, but it was the single most racially divided state North of the Mason-Dixon (and hell, at least in terms of school integration– lagged behind most Southern states chronologically–though admittedly this is because the Southern states were integrated by force and with the full power of the federal government behind them). This problem may only be a Boston thing (though given the fact that a Democrat, especially and African American Democrat, is going to have to crush in the Cities to win, Boston may be the linchpin). Disclaimer: I’m not from Mass. so I may be way off here.
It is a pretty small state once you get to the level of the local caucuses and all. Since I do not watch TV I don’t know much about his campaign, but by March Patrick had impressed the hell out of the local political types who had met him in the town caucuses. These are pretty jaded folks who found him to be refreshing and worth getting excited about. His somewhat retiring performance in the debates may have been the approrpiate caution of the guy leading at the polls, who is looking to coopt his adversaries supporters.
Considering that there is little glory in being the Mass. governor, and it is a dead-end for anyone with greater ambitions (Duke, Weld, Celluci, Swift, and soon, Romney) I can’t figure out why he wants the position.
Just to clarify, I’m more asking a question, than making an accusation, I mean hell, its not like other NE liberal states haven’t had their fair share of racial strife (see: NYC, Tawana Brawley, Guliani’s apparent Minority assault of the month policy for Cops).
I was very impressed with Patrick’s speech last night and also with the way the other two Democrats rallied around him.
I noticed that when they normally would have been mooning about their concessions and defeats, Reilly and Gabrieli each took shots at Healey and Romney being out of step with the state.
See, that’s one way to get around the difficulties with the “nice” candidate: evil henchmen. Remember, George W. Bush would never have dreamed of questioning Senator Kerry’s war record, or the parentage of Senator McCain’s child. That was for his buddies and assorted hired thugs. While I’m not espousing such lying tactics, if the other Dem candidates are serious about supporting Mr. Patrick, going hard on the offensive against the Repubs is a good way to do it.
And as noted above, Mr. Patrick has a strong ground operation, which is the other big component of Republican success.
One final question- Brad, how exactly did Romney get elected in the first place, I mean transplants winning elections usually requires a national presence (see: Clinton, RFK), were the Salt Lake Olympics, that big a stepping-stone or what?
Ed Brooke was US Senator – that must count for something.
As far as racism/tribalism in Boston – While it still exists, a whole generation has grown up and moved out to the suburbs. It is no longer the polarizing issue it was in the 70s. Or in ’86, when some African-American kids started wearing Mets t-shirts… things were a little tense for a while.
john silber is one of the worst people ever to run for any office anywhere. christ, i’d suppressed that.
i do remember from my western mass days (oh northampton how i don’t really miss you) when dukakis forgot to campaign during the primary, and world’s second worst person ed king beat him, a perfectly popular sitting governor. of course, dukakis also lost a college election at swarthmore to my father, a socialist who actually was to dukakis’s right.
later, the democratic party thought this guy was a good call as a presidential candidate. it sort of makes your head hurt, no?
Sure seems to be a lot of Mass residents on this site (myself included).
If Patrick can’t beat Healey, something’s wrong – she hasn’t accomplished anything, her ads are terrible (I married rich!) and Patrick’s ads have been great.
i really think a big part of the republican’s success in governor races over the past million or so years had alot to do with people not being comfortable with how much power thomas finneran had. people were scared that a democratic governor would be too close to finneran.
Will Massachusetts elect an African-American to statewide office?
I was wondering about that myself. My fear was that people would publicly support Patrick but when they were alone in the voting booth, with no one looking, they would vote against him because of his color. I think his margin of victory suggests that fear was (happily!) unwarranted. Also, I heard today he won in East Boston and the North End (two neighborhoods of Boston that are traditionally unfriendly to people of color, for you out-of-staters. That bodes well for the big race.
I think MA’s moved way past Louisa Day Hicks. Hell, even when she was the Dem Rep. nominee from Southie, the saint, Joe Moakley (born with membership into the Union and the Democratic Party) ran an independent campaign and beat that old hag. And that was 34 years ago.
This drives me fucking crazy: I mean I know Mass. is a liberal state, but it was the single most racially divided state North of the Mason-Dixon (and hell, at least in terms of school integration– lagged behind most Southern states chronologically–though admittedly this is because the Southern states were integrated by force and with the full power of the federal government behind them).
That’s the stereotype for sure, but its widely a myth. But the reality is that the Kennedys, the Globe and Judge Arthur Garrity were the ones who forced the busing crisis — for all the right reasons incidentally — and the race thing came to the forefront. And as someone else mentioned, tribal politics, especially in Southie, took priority. Shit, 10 years ago I felt very uncomfortable in Southie and I was a white Irish/Italian guy.
Read Lukas’ Common Ground for a great primer on MA identity politics.
Also remember that Ed Brooke was elected to the U.S. Senate, right around the same time as the busing crisis.
Finally, don’t underestimate the thaw in the state: Bill Russell’s even seen it, and he used to HATE Boston. Now he’s a full-fledged supporter of the place. I think, in large part, Mo Vaughn helped bridge a lot of issues, actually. He was beloved. And Ortiz is 80x more popular than Mo ever was.
Anyway, I don’t see Patrick’s race being a huge issue. Hell, he’s got the most Irish name this side of Troy O’Leary anyway.
John Silber was a Democrat?
I had to look it up, but Silber was the D. nominee in 1990, losing to William Weld.
I just got a fax that says, “Deval Patrick may have a black child. Pass it on.”
Who’s K.R?
I think Patrick the right candicate at the right time. He thinks big, has charisma, and understands the law. He won my vote about a week ago.
The differences between Patrick and Healey could not be more stark. Patrick can relight the beacon, as the allusion goes.
Keee-ripes, Brad! Don’t tell me you Massholes are gonna elect yet another Rethuglican jerk as governor! What is the matter with you people? One of the bluest states in the Union, and yet, when was the last time you had a Dem governor? The ’80s? The ’70s?!? I mean, here in Illinois, a much less-blue state than MA, we have only one statewide office held by a Rethug, and she’s trying for governor this round. The amazing thing is, she’s going to lose! Gov. Blagojevich is one of the most corrupt governors in the nation, but the Illinois Rethuglican party is so weak and discredited (they ran Keyes for Senate, let us not forget) that Blaggo is cruising to an easy victory.
Tell ya what–you’ve got to start bleeding off the strength of the MA Republican’ts until they can be drowned in a bathtub, so to speak. Coax them into running some truly awful candidates. Ones named “Ryan,” with entire legions of skeletons of various types in their closets are always good (for a larf). Also, see about getting them to import Alan Keyes next time they need someone to oppose Kerry or Kennedy for Senate. Then, sit back and enjoy the show.
Considering that there is little glory in being the Mass. governor, and it is a dead-end for anyone with greater ambitions (Duke, Weld, Celluci, Swift, and soon, Romney) I can’t figure out why he wants the position.
Because Kennedy and Kerry have a lock on MA’s Senate seats, mostly for all the best reasons. Because it’s not hard to be a more effective governor than Weld, Celluci, Swift, or Romney — and with Tom Finneran out of the State House, a Democratic governor might actually be able to change the recent deadlocked history between the corner office and the legislature. Because MA has been a great place for Deval Patrick to grow and prosper, racist stereotypes and all, and he seems like he actually wants to make it an even better place for all of us (geez, can we even imagine a politician who chooses to run for office because he wants to help the polity?). And because, with the national Repub party well past the point of diminishing returns on its “split, subdivide & demonize” tactics, six or ten years from now a successful progressive African-American governor from a blue, Northern state may look like a very attractive presidential candidate, and Patrick’s young enough to be viable in ten years if his good luck & hard work pay off.
Kerry Healey’s nickname is actually “Muffy”. All anyone supporting Patrick needs to do is to mention this in their ads (it would probably look gauche and unprofessional if Patrick himself called her “Muffy”).
Another Mass-hole on the site. Is Kerry Healey’s nickname really “Muffy”? Too much. She sure looks the part.
My read on the “northern racism” thread in this discussion is to observe, as a native son of the Commonwealth, that the Louise Day Hicks/Southie/busing fiasco was the last hurrah of Boston mostly Irish tribalism in this state (my grandmother was born on the Auld Sod, so I’m entitled). It’s long gone. I moved back four years ago after 30 years away, and was surprised at how modern the politics had become here. It’s still the most liberal state in the Union, thank God, and Deval Patrick is well positioned to tap into that. In my little town in Western Mass. he carried the Dem primary by 178 to 6 (six, that is, for all the others combined).
As someone else pointed out, with the last of the Iron Dukes of the legislature, Tom Finneran, gone, a Democratic governor now can work with the legislature to change, once and for all and forever, the culture of incompetence and petty corruption that has always marred public life here. I think the grand follies of the Mittster (Romney) have finished the local myth of the Brahmin Republican; there’s a long tradition of that here, too (Saltonstall, Sargent, a couple of others I’ve forgotten), but it makes no sense now that the national Republican party has fallen into the hands of common gangsters and criminals. There are no more decent national figures in the Republican party, and it’s silly to pretend that there are or ever will be. Perhaps Patrick, if he goes national, can be the instrument of driving the GOP out of our national political life as well. I certainly hope so.
Socraticsilence
I mean I know Mass. is a liberal state, but it was the single most racially divided state North of the Mason-Dixon
r u kidding? been to chicago?
Socraticsilence
I mean I know Mass. is a liberal state, but it was the single most racially divided state North of the Mason-Dixon
r u kidding? been to chicago? i’ve lived in boston, chicago, and georgia, and chicago is the most racially divided place i’ve been…