Video here, News Night w/ Jim Braude; I was on with David Bernstein of the Phoenix, who, you may notice, is a lot taller than I am. We talked about …
- Gov. Patrick and books …
Who cares? Legislators? Phooey. I will say that Patrick heading off to New York to talk about a book deal only proves what we already knew; that New Yorkers are the most parochial people in the world. They can't get up to Boston to talk with our freakin' governor?
- police details (is this symbolism that actually matters? A precedent?)
- whether the prolonged Dem primary is good or bad for the Dems.
I think on balance it is good for the Dems because of the increased interest, even though Obama has to be considered the presumptive nominee. Hillary's just waiting around for Obama to pull a Spitzer-like meltdown; if she goes after him in such a way to try to make that happen, she'll suffer the backlash.So, you know, it's a dog and pony show for the moment, but there are worse things.
Please share widely!
afertig says
Oh and a note to newsnight: I like April Fools jokes as much as the next guy, but, you know, only when they’re funny.
peabody says
Your admiration for Governor Deluxe knows no bounds!
jconway says
On Deval:
<
p>It shows that he like many other previous governors is waiting to high tail it to bigger prospects, possibly in an Obama administration. If Romney can be rightly chastised for abandoning the state to run for President certainly Deval can over the book deal, it looked like he was cutting and running from a fight after the casino deal died, he looks too scared to take on DiMasi, and it looks like he is checking his watch to see when the terms up.
<
p>He has less than two years now to accomplish anything before its time to run for re-election. Lucky for him the GOP has no bench but I challenge anyone to say, besides keeping gay marriage off the ballot, what has he done for the state? Anything really big? Anything Chris Gabrielli or Tom Reilly wouldn’t have done?
<
p>I signed checks for the man, I door knocked for him, I was a precinct captain, and this was the first progressive candidate I personally worked for that won and it felt great. I defended him during drape gate and caddy gate. But he has been a severe disappointment and there has not been a single accomplishment I can say I’ve been really proud of.
<
p>On The Prez Race:
<
p>Its awful, McCain is now leading in every major poll in the electoral college, any post convention bounce will be lost if the race goes that far, we are wasting time and money that could be spent fighting McCain. Clinton is, intentionally, weakening Obamas support amongst white working class voters and at this point Im a little nervous that either of them could beat McCain who IMO is a very beatable candidate. Hillary is really dragging him through the mud when there is really just a small window for her to win, too small to risk the party over, but it shows what Ive known all along the Clintons care about themselves first and foremost Democratic party be damned.
moonbatmass says
I am so disappointed in Gov. Patrick.
<
p>I wish to the stars that I could have a mulligan to vote for Grace Ross instead.
<
p>Sad. I mistakenly thought that he had such promise.
<
p>Now he’s being pushed around by Sal DiMasi and the rest of the Beacon Hill gang.
<
p>Imagine a person who got over one million votes allowing himself to be pushed around by a guy who got 10,000 votes? How can Deval be letting this happen. He just has no taste for being hit in the nose. DiMasi et. al. are scrappers and they love a good fight. Gov. Patrick takes off for NYC instead of mixing it up and fighting for what he professes to believe.
<
p>I am going to start a movement to draft Jamie Eldridge to run for Gov. He is someone who would not back down from a scrap. And he is someone who will fight for what he believes in. Run, Jamie, run!
bluetoo says
…the real problem is not that Deval is being pushed around by DiMasi and the legislature. The problem is that the legislature, and particularly its leaders, are powerful forces to be reckoned with…like it or not.
<
p>A governor can’t accomplish a whole lot in state government if a) he doesn’t want to work with the legislature or b) he doesn’t know how to work with the legislature.
<
p>It’s great to run on a platform of cleaning up state government, hope, together we can, etc. etc. etc. But, the reality is that you have so many other forces (legislature, lobbyists) in state government that wield a lot of power. If a governor can’t figure out how to either use or navigate around these forces to achieve his goals, it is unlikely that he will be very successful.
<
p>And I’m not defending the legislature, lobbyists or the status quo…I’m simply acknowledging that it exists.
kbusch says
We did not elect Deval Patrick to the post of King and Dimasi is not Lord of Lancaster. We have a system of government based on checks and balances and currently, yes, the checks are getting out of balance. That’s how most constitutional systems work.
<
p>A monochromatically confrontational attitude may very well pass a bill or two but it won’t pass an agenda.
pablo says
Charley wrote:
Charley, we have documented proof that New Yorkers are willing to hop the Amtrak train to go to Washington to meet with their own governor.
<
p>Okay, the visit to Spitzer in Washington was a business trip. Then again, so was the book deal.
dags says
Charlie,
You’re a disappointment to the slogan “reality based commentary,” or maybe that doesn’t hold up when you hit the TV screen.
<
p>1. You’re a shill for DP – any reality based analysis has to conclude that this was a poor move by Deval and his team. The fact that you opposed casino’s is irrelevant. DP took this on as a key component to revenue enhancement and then skipped town when the going got tough. It was hinted at last night (and by Finneran the other day) that if DP and his team were politically savvy, they would have announced the date of his book deal early and let the public presume that DiMasi set him up by scheduling the vote when he was out of town….Or of course he could have lived up to the “engaged governor” image on which he campaigned and just left the personal business for outside of critical work hours.
<
p>2. You’re towing the Dem party line on damage to the party. A lot of Dems are whistling past the graveyard, just pretending that everyone falls in line when the nominee is selected. That may be the case to some extent, but it’s naive to think that many independents and roving Republicans won’t go with McCain once the Clinton team finishes with Obama (If Hillary wins, by some chance, there’s no question that independents and Republicans will rally around McCain).
<
p>3. Finally, your “100 years in Iraq,” and “doesn’t know which side Iran is on..” are just silly Democrat talking points -not serious analysis. You advertise that your about serious debate and discussion, but don’t elevate your arguments above (or even to) the MSM banter.
<
p>We’ll look for improvement next time you’re on.
kbusch says
<
p>2. You apparently haven’t noticed the deep doo-doo into which the Republicans. They’ve had a funding advantage in every election since 1994 certainly. What’ll they do now when even John Edwards was able to out-raise all their candidates?
<
p>3. The “silly Democrat talking points” have — tragically — been consistently correct; the Republican policy has been a disaster.
<
p>May I welcome you to the reality-based community?
mike-from-norwell says
<
p>No serious commentator is intimating that if Patrick had stayed around that Wednesday the bill would have passed. Just poor form (and if I was a legislator who voted for the casinos and saw that type of support from the Gov on his bill, I’d be a little more hesitant the next time that DP heads into battle). When my daughter’s basketball team was being hopelessly blown out, I didn’t notice the coach heading for the door shaking his head saying “this is hopeless” with five minutes to go.
sco says
But neither do you see a coach clamoring to play the last three games after getting swept in the first four of a seven game series.
mike-from-norwell says
I didn’t notice LaRussa or the Rockies’ manager hopping a plane after game 3, either.
sco says
it all depends on when you thought the game was over.
<
p>”That’s why they play the games” is not always the same as “That’s why they take the votes”.
jconway says
I have six rebuttals to your second point
<
p>1) No real $ advantage
RNC has more money than the DNC for the presidential race, DNC according to todays Times has been quite low since most people are giving directly to candidates rather than the DNC
<
p>2) Existing $ wasted on primary
Clinton and Obama have indeed outraised McCain but all that money is going to be spent on the primaries, and specifically on the candidates bashing each other and bleeding throughout the race and the longer the race goes on the more money both candidates will exhaust on a race that should not be going on
<
p>3)Crossover votes are becoming less likely
<
p>Polls have shown that nearly a third of Clinton supporters would defect to McCain in the general and nearly a fifth of Obama supporters would do the same that hurts Dems in the general
<
p>4)McCain is getting a free pass
<
p>Nobody is attacking him, the media can continue to glorify him without any Democratic responses, the efforts from Dean and the DNC thus far have been quite pathetic and Gallup polls are showing most voters, including the majority of Democrats, still have a high approval of McCain, this late in the game that is a bad sign and it will only get worse as the primary continues and Obama and Clinton drag each other through the mud and down the polls
<
p>5) History consistently demonstrates this is bad
<
p>Since the modern primary system has taken place (1972) the party that settled its nomination right before or during the convention has consistently lost EVERY SINGLE TIME.
<
p>1972-Dems lost, McGovern and VP choice on last ballot in Miami
1976-Ford v Reagan, Ford and VP choice on last ballot
1980-Teddy v Jimmy, credentials fight, lost to Regan
1984-Mondale v Hart, credentials fight, loss to Reagan
1988-Jesse Jackson forced radical leftist concessions onto platform, loss to Bush I
<
p>6) Outside of the Blogosphere everyone knows Im right
<
p>With the exceptions of the Kossacks and a few people here on BMG, outside of the blogosphere every major Democratic politician from Howard Dean to Phil Bredeson, every major pundit, every major political historian and analyst knows this is an incredibly bad thing for the party.
<
p>Bloggers are living in a bubble and even though facts are clearly on my side of this argument it seems that the bubble shall not burst until John McCain is the next president.
kbusch says
Since everyone already knows you’re right.
jconway says
Feel free to concede the points since clearly your not on a blog where you know people actually have arguments and debate. Your childish concession proves Im right unless your actually willing to defend your arguments or rebutt me.
pipi-bendenhaft says
hurt by “radical leftist concessions”? Curious how you come to that conclusion. Explain please.
<
p>Bush 41 didn’t jump ahead until after the RNC convention. Here’s an article from Aug 23, 1988 NYT discussing Dukakis v Bush trends, and Bush’s RNCC bump. Apparently he was helped not by the “radical lefist concessions” at the DNCC but by his ‘thousands of pin points of eerily fading lights’ speech (I paraphrase), and his “read my lips, no new taxes” lies, spoken with a flinty gaze, straight into the cameras.
<
p>Hmm, like father like son.