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Category Archives: Mass Politics
Feigned Umbrage in the Mass Senate Race
Dave Weigel’s recent Slate piece about Gabriel Gomez’s reliance on feigned indignation and disgust is a good one.
Prosecutors and the Unrepentant
Yesterday Lt. Governor Tim Murray announced he would resign to take a $200,000 per year job with the Worcester Chamber of Commerce. This would suggest that Murray and the Chamber believe he is at little risk of being indicted by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz or Attorney General Martha Coakley for campaign finance violations he may have committed along with felon Michael McLaughlin, former head of the Chelsea Housing Authority.
McLaughlin in turn will walk or serve a very short sentence on his federal plea deal and is not likely to face any state time for campaign finance violations. Our score card would read: Prosecutors get publicity for corruption crusades, McLaughlin and Murray walk. Can that be right?
Tim Murray to Resign
Multiple sources are saying that Lt. Governor Tim Murray will resign to take a job as president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Strike while the iron is hot: the job reportedly pays $200,000, fits his skill set, is near his home, he has small children, and his political career was running out the string.
Massachusetts Mélange of Money
I thought I’d do a quick post tying together small unrelated lowlights of local politics and then I realized they are related. So herewith a Massachusetts Mélange of Money, featuring Ed Markey and Gabriel Gomez, with a cameo from Senator Mo Cowan as the man on the white horse.
Gomez and the Unknown-Unknowns
A while back I wrote of the US Senate special election that the known-knowns favor the Democrat. That was written before the primaries that gave us nominees Ed Markey and Gabriel Gomez and holds true today. But what about the unknown-unknowns?
The Charmed Mike McLaughlin
Sunday’s Boston Globe story on Michael McLaughlin reminds me again of the oddity of the proceedings against him. Usually prosecutors offer a soft deal to a lesser criminal figure so he’ll turn on a bigger fish. In McLaughlin’s case US Attorney Carmen Ortiz seems willing to go soft on the whale to reel in a few guppies.
Amateur Hour: Gomez talks “issues.”
Everyone who nods affirmatively when someone criticizes “professional” politicians and praises the need for “non-politicians” in Washington should be forced to read Stephanie Ebbert’s Boston Globe article about Gabriel Gomez’s positions on abortion. The title, “Gomez unclear on some aspects of abortion,” could make the hall of fame for understatement.
Cooter is not pleased with his old pal “Eddie”
The other day, I expressed my concerns about Ed Markey’s decision to “disinvite” former Geogia Democratic congressman Ben Jones from a fund raiser at which Jones’ band was scheduled to be the entertainment. Well, it looks like Cooter thought even less of the Markey campaign’s attempt to avoid bringing the Confederate flag into our little senate race. Jones’ Boston Globe op-ed expresses some of the same concerns as I did, though in much more colorful and evocative prose.
Ed and Cooter: Just a couple of “Good Ole Boys.”
When your opponent’s only hope involves distracting voters from real issues, it’s best not to give him ammunition. That’s what has led Ed Markey to “disinvite” his old friend and House colleague, Ben Jones, from a fundraiser where Jones was the scheduled entertainer.
How will Obama’s “scandals” impact the MA Senate race?
While others speculate about the impact of the recent spate of “scandals” bedeviling the Obama Administration on the 2014 midterm elections, we get to talk about some much more immediate potential electoral fallout. With a Special US Senate race just 43 days away in Massachusetts, how will these “scandals” impact the Markey-Gomez race? The imminence of Election Day in the Bay State also insulates us (a bit) from the righteous indignation of those who see political speculation as particularly offensive at this time when we should be focused on “substantive” issues of governance.