Blue Mass Group

The Telegram & Gazette reports: “Worcester Mayor Timothy P. Murray is lagging significantly behind Andrea Silbert of Harwich in fundraising in the race for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination. “While Mr. Murray has narrowed the gap during the last few months, he trailed Ms. Silbert, co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Women and Enterprise, by $124,408 as of March 15, according to state campaign finance records. “Ms. Silbert had $382,700 in her campaign account while Mr. Murray had $258,292.”

So on a whim, off I went to Minneapolis to see the BC Eagles do battle with Villanova.  Great game, even if the result fell a bit short. (And it was nice to see BC with Big East competition again, as it should be …) Anyway, bought the local paper on the way back to Boston, and there was an article about one of the Democratic (actually Democratic Farmer-Labor) Party candidates withdrawing from the race for governor.  (http://www.startribune.com/587/story/328684.html) What I found interesting in the story was that at least one candidate in the race talked about how, if they didn’t get the party’s endorsement, they would drop out and not compete in the subsequent primary. My guess is that it’s happened that way before in Minnesota. Could you imagine that in Massachusetts? If the party endorsement actually meant something, would candidates take the caucuses more seriously?  Of course, some also believe that we shouldn’t have a convention in the first place.  What say you?

US Representative Michael Capuano, of the 8th district of Massachusetts (Cambridge, Chelsea, Somerville, and most of Boston), today announced that he is endorsing Deval Patrick for governor:

It is my great pleasure to join your campaign to make Deval Patrick the next governor of Massachusetts. Deval is a candidate who shares my dedication to the core values that define the Democratic Party.  Massachusetts will truly benefit from his desire to bring economic prosperity and growth to all residents of the Commonwealth.  In joining this campaign, I will work hard to get Deval elected, and I hope you will continue doing whatever you can as well. [...]

[I got the endorsement in email through Capuano's mailing list, I can't find that text online yet, but here's the Globe article yesterday about his endorsement announcement.]

This is a particularly significant endorsement, in my view, both for what it signifies about the dynamics of the race, and for what Capuano brings to the campaign practically.  We’re clearly not going to have the establishment vs. progressives campaign some of us thought might happen, a year ago.  And Capuano’s support can bring in significant money and votes.

In a huge victory for political speech on the internet, the Federal Election Commission has decided to keep the internet largely exempt from campaign finance law.  The only area in which FEC regulations will affect internet sites is paid advertising, to which the usual rules regarding coordination and disclosure will apply.  Perhaps the biggest win is that websites will be eligible for the same media exemption enjoyed by newspapers and other media that engage in political commentary.  Even a blogger who urges readers to donate to a candidate will not be regulated. The AP report is here, and a longer write-up by Kos’s very well-informed Adam B is here.

AP reports today that Joe Ganley, Chris Gabrieli’s spokesguy, says Gabrieli has succeeded in collecting the signatures of 500 delegates needed to put himself in contention at the convention in June. Well, clearly Gabrieli is running for Governor.  Should make the convention interesting!

“Iraqi authorities warn of exploding candy distributed by gunmen in Baghdad.” The Kuwait News Agency reports, “BAGHDAD, March 26 (KUNA) – Iraqi Ministry of State for National Security on Sunday warned of touching explosive-packed candy bars found on Baghdad streets. The ministry said that unknown gunmen threw candy bars that contain explosive materials nearby schools and residential areas in Yarmouk Neighborhood. It cautioned citizens against touching these candy bars, asserting that the first layer of which contained cocoa, while the second layer contained explosives.” Hat tip Today in Iraq. Meanwhile, according to Bill Fisher, Iraq is now spending about $6 billion annually to import oil. A stark contrast from the predictions of the neo-cons that oil revenues would pay for most of the rebuilding costs. Check our counter in the left column for a current update on how much this war has cost YOU instead. The Massachusetts tally is edging toward $8 billion at the moment.

Chris Gabrieli will be on NECN tonight at 8PM with Chet Curtis. He will be followed by Deval Patrick on with Jim Braude at 8:30. Get your popcorn ready . . .

No, really, he did!  (UPDATE: see clarification below.)  Check this out, from today’s Boston Herald: Minutes after receiving the Eucharist at a special Mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had a special blessing of his own for those who question his impartiality when it comes to matters of church and state. “You know what I say to those people?” Scalia, 70, replied, making an obscene gesture under his chin when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.  “That’s Sicilian,” the Italian jurist said, interpreting for the “Sopranos” challenged. Although it’s not 100% clear from the article, it sounds as though Scalia did this while he was still inside the Church!  Apparently Scalia and Dick Cheney share, in addition to a fondness for duck hunting, a fondness for inappropriate behavior in formal public spaces. And apparently, the whole thing is on film: The conduct unbecoming a 20-year veteran of the country’s highest court – and just feet from the Mother Church’s altar – was captured by a photographer for the Archdiocese of Boston newspaper The Pilot, [...]

On Saturday we welcomed our 1,000th registered user – aptly named “LividPatriot,” which some days is probably a pretty good description of many of us.