Author Archives: Peter Ubertaccio

About Peter Ubertaccio

Peter Ubertaccio is the Director of Joseph Martin Institute for Law & Society at Stonehill College in Easton and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science & International Studies. His work focuses on political parties, marketing and institutions. He received his Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Professor Ubertaccio and his family live on Cape Cod where he is on the Board of Directors of the OpenCape Corporation and the Sandwich Economic Initiative Corporation.

DeFranco makes it a race

My favorite quote from a Senate candidate of late goes to Marisa DeFranco, who told the Globe,in response to concerns raised by some Democrats about her candidacy, ““Do we just want to have an anointing? Don’t sell people on the fact there’s a democratic process and then whine that there is a primary.’’

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A Perfect Trifecta by Rep O’Flaherty

It’s a trifecta kinda day for state Democrats all courtesy of Representative Eugene O’Flaherty.

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Warren campaign regains footing

There are perks that accrue to a Senate candidate who is also a top former financial regulator: when you call upon a failed banker to leave a government board, people around the country listen.

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Jim McGovern seeks to protect We, the People

Worcester Congressman Jim McGovern has been busy this year trying to protect the average American citizen who, he has written, has become more cynical and hopeless about politics since the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision in 2010. His cure is the People’s Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

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Salem is More than Witches. Is It a Launching Pad?

History, literature, and popular culture have forever linked the City of Salem with witches. But anyone walking through the Salem, spending time in its famous port, and taking in its vibrant cultural institutions, knows that there is much more to contemporary Salem.  And it is everything else beyond the witch trials that might provide an important boost for its Mayor, Kim Driscoll, as she contemplates higher office.

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Massachusetts Caucuses Gone Wild

Kerry Healy didn’t make it. Neither did Brad Jones. Apparently out organized and under enthused, the official “Mitt” delegate slates were defeated all across the Commonwealth on Saturday. A majority of the 27 delegates that Massachusetts Republicans chose on Saturday to send to the Tampa Bay convention will be non Mitt supporters. What in the name of Leverett Saltonstall is going on here?  Get Bob Maginn on the phone! Mitt must be furious! What a disaster and a huge embarrassment! Is that Ron Kaufmann crying in the corner?

Methinks the damage is overstated.

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Release your taxes!

Should the candidates release their tax records from the past 4 or 6 years?  This is the question of the hour in the Massachusetts Senate race.

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A lesson in democracy from Utah

It would sadden Ted Kennedy.  And that’s another reason why Utah Senator Orrin Hatch is not having an easy time getting renominated by his party.

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The Challenge of an Intra Party Challenge

In response to Monday’s post on the Sutter challenge to Keating, I was asked when can an intra party challenge succeed?  The answer is that they rarely succeed but a few conditions must exist.

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Present at the Destruction in MA09

When the new 9th District was created by the Legislature it forced Representative Bill Keating into a tough decision: with Quincy now in a district represented by incumbent Stephen Lynch, he could stay and fight it out in a primary election.  Or he could move to his summer home in Bourne and contest the 9th as  the technical incumbent.  He chose the latter, wisely. But a spectacle to deny him renomination continues.

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