Blue Mass Group

I had a great time at the DCI conference this weekend.  I met a lot of really committed Democrats, and it was heartening to hear that people who care as much about the party as they do have been reading and enjoying this blog.  As always, feel free to tell us what we can do better, and as always, thank you.

Last weekend I, along with sco of .08 and Bill of Under the Golden Dome (and Charley by speakerphone), sat down with Middlesex DA candidate Gerry Leone.  Sco, diligent fellow that he is, quickly wrote up his impressions.  Bill has also chimed in with a few important observations (namely, that Leone is anti-death penalty and pro-gay marriage, contrary to some inaccurate reports), and he promises more shortly.  Here is what I took away from our conversation.

In spite of David’s praise of the Herald’s recent political coverage, I recently remarked to someone that the Herald was the place to read about “potholes in Southie”; I made myself chuckle, but I’m probably wrong.  (Lesson: Don’t make yourself chuckle. Ya just look silly.) I still find it hard to get through the hyped-up police blotter stuff and the gossip, i.e. Fox 25 on pulp; and I wouldn’t want to financially support whatever habits Howie Carr has. In any event, Herald reporter Kimberly Atkins has been earning her keep, with some juicy juicy stuff about who’s giving how much to whom, including, super-duper-intriguingly, $1000 for Patrick from Billy Bulger; Kitty Dukakis and Judith Stephenson (Scott Harshbarger’s wife) put a combined $1500 on Patrick as well. (Thanks to MassMarrier for the steer.) … And you might enjoy her little Mihos pre-mortem here. sniff… You smell something? Toast? Oh, and don’t ever miss anything Adam Reilly writes for the Phoenix. Here’s an article about who’s got Tom Reilly’s ear, and who might have been responsible for St. Fleuriasco: Ultimately, however, the collective importance of these individuals and groups pales in comparison with the influence exerted by three old friends of Reilly’s: [...]

And neither really deal with the current DiMasi-Trav compromise, such as it is: *Eileen McNamara wonders how the working poor will fare under the eventual bill. These would be the folks most helped by an honest-to-God Medicaid expansion, which Mitt and HHS Secretary (and apparent world-class stat-mangler) Mike Leavitt rule out, because it goes against their free-market fundamentalism. *Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, one of the main forces behind the MassACT ballot initiative (and with which I have been active), says it still wants to go to the mat with the ballot initiative: Members of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, a coalition of 65 local religious institutions, and Health Care For All said they would press ahead with the ballot initiative until they were satisfied that the legislative compromise had been enacted and that it represented, in the words of one activist, “a true expansion of healthcare.” The tough talk raised the prospect of an expensive ballot fight that could pit liberal groups like the interfaith organization against business groups and perhaps tobacco companies. GBIO members have gathered 113,000 signatures for the ballot initiative and said yesterday they would continue mobilizing for an additional 20,000 to ensure the proposal makes the [...]

The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities reports that yesterday in 1872, a brand new newspaper hit the streets of Boston: The Globe.

Here is the history, according to the Foundation: “On a February evening in 1872, six wealthy Bostonians gathered to plan a new commercial and cultural venture. The group included men from old Boston families, Harvard professors, and successful businessmen. Besides their wealth and social standing, they shared a common goal. They wanted to establish a newspaper ‘of the first class.’”

This weekend’s excellent Democratic political campaign training sessions, held at the Crowne Plaza in Worcester, featured facinating expert panels, a large turnout of the Democrat faithful and eight(8) breakfasts, lunches and coffee breaks sponsored by eight (8) current statewide candidates starting off with Tom Reilly and including Senator Kennedy, Deb Goldberg, Tim Murray, Sam Kelley, Bill Galvin, Martha Coakley and Andrea Silbert.  Noticably absent from the sponsors was the recent Democratic gubernatorial caucus winner Deval Patrick.  Pericles and many others wondered why the Patrick campaign was not sponsoring a coffee break or breakfast or luncheon.  If the Patrick campaign was invited to be a sponsor and thereby post many signs and pass out brochures and speak to the entire group as did the other statewide candidates and passed up the chance then they missed a great opportunity to address the active and eager Democratic faithful.  On the other hand, if the Patrick campaign was not invited to be a sponsor at this highly visible and important Democratic event then the Democratic Campaign Institute poorly served the Democratic party and should apologize.  Its hard to believe that the savvy and active Patrick organtization would pass up such an opportunity – but [...]

David handles a dynanic round of discussion very well at the Democratic campaign institute.

At today’s DCI conference David of BMG is presenting, along with Cyndi Roy of Mass Dems the topic: Politics and the Web. The discussion will focus on issues, and organizing.  I have sco of .08 and Andy of Mass. Revolution Now!  on hand with me, and although they didnt’ bring their computers (bad bloggers!) I hope they will chime in too!