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Tag Archives: Michael Sullivan
The Mass Tea Party is a Paper Tiger
The nomination of Gabriel Gomez was a victory for the Mass GOP establishment over its “Tea Party” wing. Why was the Bill Weld crowd able to out organize the “God squad” in this special election primary fight? In a low turnout election, especially a primary election, the most committed and active partisans should call the shot. All the recent research about the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party nationally tells us that they are the most committed and active members of the GOP, which is why I expected Mike Sullivan to prevail yesterday. So, why didn’t the candidate from the Republican wing of the Republican Party prevail last night?
Republican Senate Candidates and Immigration
The Boston Marathon bombing is already impacting the debate on immigration policy and the issue of immigration keeps coming up in the Republican senate debates. The candidates have slightly different takes on it, though they all want to seem tough on the Mexican border. I’m far from any kind of an expert on immigration policy but I’m close to an irritable observer of how politicians try to exploit animosity toward unauthorized immigrants. And a conversation with John Burt, author of Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, and Moral Conflict, has me thinking that we may be far distant from what the words of the Declaration of Independence imply about immigrants.
Latest Poll in Senate Race
The new Masslive/ Western New England University poll didn’t change anything for the odds makers.
Politics as Unusual as Boston Stays Strong
The campaign and most everything having to do with politics is in suspension so pulling together a coherent substantive post from me is suspended too. There are a few things to be said and then a return to normality including blogging I hope, by Tuesday. So here I go with an odd media question, a message from Abraham Lincoln, unknown-unknowns, and a brief return to politics (but not criminality) as usual.
What the hell is an “Independent Republican?”
Michael Sullivan is showing us a thing or two about “positioning” in politics. As the most conservative and partisan Republican in the race, it’s not easy to lay the ground work for a plausible general election campaign in bright blue Massachusetts. What’s a hard line right winger to do?
Whose Party Is It? GOP Debate 4/10/2013
Dan Winslow says the Republican Party is the Party of Lincoln. Michael Sullivan won’t come right out and say it, but his GOP is the Party of George W. Bush. And Gabriel Gomez isn’t sure what party he is in, but he knows he doesn’t want to share it with any politicians.
In the short term, it may be Michael Sullivan’s party. But in the long term (and maybe as soon as April 30), if there is going to be a long term, it had better move toward Dan Winslow.
Gomez, Winslow, & Lynch made a bad bet
Three out of the five candidates running for John Kerry’s vacated US Senate seat have pinned their electoral hopes on a flawed theory of the election, namely that their are enough potential voters in this race who want to vote for a candidate that is willing to buck his political party’s establishment and to exercise “independent” judgment in the senate to cobble together a winning coalition. Gabriel Gomez, Dan Winslow, and Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch have all staked their electoral chances on this theory.
Scot Lehigh’s “Covert Commitments”: What Do Pols Owe, Why Can’t We Know?
Scot Lehigh has a very important piece in today’s Boston Globe, What are Markey, Lynch promising to interest groups?: The Democratic Senate candidates are making promises, but won’t make them public. Lehigh argues that the Democratic candidates are making “covert commitments” in order to secure the backing of interest groups including unions (mostly) and refusing to make public the “questionnaires” these groups require of candidates.
MassInc/WBUR Poll: Known-Knowns Favor Democrats
Last week’s MassInc /WBUR poll (toplines here, crosstabs here) seemed to confirm the conventional wisdom that Congressman Ed Markey leads Congressman Steve Lynch among Democrats, and former US Attorney Michael Sullivan leads Rep. Dan Winslow and businessman Gabriel Gomez on the Republican side. Either Democrat would beat any Republican if the election was held last week. No surprises, but there are some little nuggets in the poll.