Blue Mass Group

Bob’s recent post on Karl Rove advising Republicans to run on national security in 2006, and the two op-ed pieces in today’s Boston Globe (here and here) brings back to the forefront of my mind the fatal weakness Democrats have on the national political scene: Perceived weakness in National Security.

The current Cash on Hand figures for top two races (Gov. and LG) have been widely reported here.  Yesterday was the deadline for the 2005 year end reporting and while there are no surprises, they do provide a bigger context for the capabilities  of the campaigns and signs of possible problems. So by office and by alphabetical order, below are some results of the Democratic contenders.

The NYT reports Rove wants Republicans to run on national security in 2006. That is an opening for Democrats, because the Republicans are weak on security right now: . Republicans were asleep at the switch on 9/11 and didn’t protect us from one of the worst attacks in our history. . Republicans have botched the Iraq invasion. Thousands of our soldiers are dead and wounded, $235 billion has been spent, new terrorists are being minted, there is no convincing exit strategy, and the price of oil is going through the roof. . Republicans are so incompetent at national security intelligence that not only were they blindsided on Iraqi WMDs — now they want to spy on us without warrants rather than follow the law. . Terrorism is up in the past year, according to the State Department. Security is the last thing Republicans should claim in 2006.

It is upsetting to see the arrogance of Romney, Capuano, Patrick who have burned through either their campaign funds or have used taxpayer money without any sense of responsibility. I contributed to Romney’s campaign as well as to others, including Dems) and expect that my contributions would be used wisely in the pursuit of the paricular campaign..I can’t believe the number of trips Romney he took with his staff at my expense. These trips had nothing to do with being Governor. Capuano….well this  is absolute stupidity with a touch of arrogance. Those who bashed Brian’s Globe story on one are wrong. They are not thinking about the other fiscal responsibility that these politicians must  account to in their own personal domains  before they spend the taxpayers money Finally, I understand that Deval Patrick raised $1,200,000 at the outset of his campaign and blew throught like a hot knife through butterit for a huge staff, consultants, etc. He lost his campaign manager as a result and has upset a lot of his supporters. How would you expect him to handle the finances of the state. Well thats easy….just raise taxes!

On Meanness. I think it makes sense that there is more passion in the postings of supporters of Mike Festa.  They are behind, they believe in their candidate, and they see a real danger of a bully winning this race.  I now count myself among their number.  I’ve met some of them now over the past two days, so I’ll say, “we”. 

What is remarkable about Festa is that despite only now catching up in the money race, and despite Barrios’s successful if obsessive teeting on the media, Festa continues to gather the endorsements of those who actually know the office (other than those with their own political agendas who want to latch onto Barrios for the predicted ride up the ladders of power).

Yes, reasonable people can disagree about the importance of having criminal justice trial experience before seeking to be District Attorney.  And the tone of the postings – while of secondary importance – should always be within reason.  So thank you to SomeDem for that reminder.