Bob Massie has not led an ordinary life. You can read about his life experience on Wikipedia — most of which I won’t reproduce here. Briefly: He was born to author parents in 1956 with hemophilia, which caused pain and hindered his movement; he says that from a young age, it gave him a sense of empathy with the vulnerable. Bob went to Princeton, where he was heavily involved in South Africa divestment movement. He went on to Yale Divinity School and became an Episcopal priest. He later did doctorate work at Harvard Business School, while a minister at Christ Episcopal Church in Somerville. His work @ HBS was concerned with the intersection of business and ethics; since then he co-founded the Global Reporting Initiative, an organization which produces a framework for measuring corporate social resposibility — “a bald attempt to alter the way the global economy worked”, he says. To that end, he ran Ceres for years, and last year he became an advisor to Domini Social Impact Fund. He was an election observer for Nelson Mandela’s election in South Africa, and wrote an award-winning 800-page history of US-South Africa relations vis-a-vis the anti-apartheid movement.
As a politician, he’s best known for winning the nomination for LG in 1994 … only to be crushed by the Bill Weld juggernaut, along with gubernatorial candidate Mark Roosevelt.
In the 90′s, he was tested as HIV positive …. but miraculously, possessed a natural resistance to the virus. In 2002 he contracted a debilitating case of Hepatitis C, which took him out of commission for years. He’s now completely recovered, thanks to a liver transplant.
Is this a normal career arc for a politician? No. Bob Massie neither looks, sounds, nor acts like someone who is mostly concerned with ambition and power. He doesn’t speak in sound bites. He has never been an elected official; his public service has been in activism, the church, writing, and working with the private sector on social responsibility.
Massie believes in setting a bold goal, and reverse-engineering a sequence of practical steps to achieve it; and we have to not lose hope that the big goals are “important, worthy and inspiring.” He is interested in not simply the hot-button issue of the moment, but in underlying causes. He has a sense of historical arc that is rare among politicians, because he’s lived it and studied it, and in the case of South Africa, he’s seen and experienced a smashing victory for human rights, after long struggle.
In spite of his unconventional background, Massie describes himself as a natural campaigner. He describes his campaign as a block-to-block, person-to-person grassroots effort. He’s proud of his showing at last month’s state convention. Here’s his convention speech from last month:
He notes that unusual people have indeed been elected: Paul Wellstone, Daniel Patrick Moynihan … and Barack Obama. He says, “The frustrations of politics are not frustrations that are going to bring me down.”
A debate between Massie and Scott Brown would offer a stark contrast indeed. We asked him to assess how he matches up against Brown:
If people look at Scott and say, Is he a nice guy; is he genial; is he handsome; is he tall? and that’s what they want in a Senator, then he fits that bill pretty well. And if they say: And he’s not so bad … That’s the message his folks are putting out. And the other side is that he has a crushingly large amount of money, and do you want to lose the seat you’re in if you’re a sitting official …
… The alternative is that he could end up being seen as — as nice as he is — is just kind of out of his league … Reagan [or] Quayle is what he’s facing.
Massie is now working on a book, and also a vision statement for the campaign. He compares it to urban planning: If you could build a society from the ground up, how would you do it? How would you accomplish many goals at the same time — in a sustainable way? “First thing we need to do is stop doing stupid things,” he says. We need to be careful about doing things that slash consumer demand, like cutting public employees. We need to talk about the multiplier effect of public spending. We spend $20 billion on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance.
I asked him specifically about how to overcome the resistance to action on global warming. He made the analogy of global warming denialism to arguments for the positive good of slavery in the 1850′s. He says that historically there’s an intensification of resistance, with more and more desperate arguments, before there’s a breaking point. And regardless of whether US politicians believe in it, the rest of the world is “pedal to the metal” on creating technologies to adapt. And the worldwide consequences will become more and more apparent. He also sees that local groups will innovate and move forward, and the country will catch up — somewhat like gay marriage is doing currently.
“People always get threatened when there’s a major shift in thinking … This comes down to personal relationships … you have to figure out, one by one, where the potential for movement is. And that is an intensely personal process between leaders. I’ve been through it with the Global Reporting Initiative; I’ve worked with very big companies that thought they might lose hundreds of millions of dollars if they took any public step; and I just have the confidence that as a participant in a wider process, I could make a contribution.”
He points to his work on the Investor Network on Climate Risk, working with portfolio managers to understand and act — internally and politically — on the risks of climate change.
I can’t tell you that Bob Massie is necessarily my guy to win the nomination and go up against Scott Brown. I don’t know whether his temperament is suited to the ultra-intense rat-a-tat-tat of an election season. Even with a clean bill of health, I wonder if he’s physically up to the challenge, being so relatively fresh off a liver transplant; the next few months will bear that out, one way or the other. But I find his presence in this race extremely welcome: His perspective, life experience, and approach to problem-solving are valuable lessons for anyone who wants to see how progress is actually made.
Discuss
25 Comments . Leave a comment below.A “natural campaigner,” indeed. I can’t speak to the attributes of the other candidates, announced or potential, but when it comes to the kind of presence and communication necessary to win an election like this one, I can tell you that one-on-one, in small groups, on on the big stage, this guy’s a winner. I’ve followed candidates on campaign trails before, and usually find myself restless after the third or fourth pitch; not so with Bob–he doesn’t speak boilerplate. I’d actually be willing to put him in front of a Tea Party crowd–he could handle it, and I suspect he’d walk away with some support.
Couldn’t help but like this line: “First thing we need to do is stop doing stupid things.” This candidate is sufficiently savvy politically to run a serious campaign, but has just enough “outsider” status so that he isn’t as invested in some of those “stupid things” as others might be. And I tend to trust someone with such a long list list of accomplishments, in what’s a breathtaking range of private and public sector enterprises, to cull the wheat from the chaff. Throw in unimpeachable progressive credentials and you begin to understand why I signed on to support this campaign as early as I did.
Thanks to Charlie and others (here and elsewhere) for continuing to introduce us to ALL the current candidates in some depth. Paying real attention to their strengths can’t help, I think, but alleviate some of the “panic” around the roster. Rather than bemoaning their alledged weaknesses, getting onboard sooner rather than later will only help to start chipping away at Senator’s Brown’s potemkin facade. (PS: this comes from an enthusiastic volunteer with no formal ties to the campign).
Again, the inspiring story.
Yeah, but would you hire him, based on his amazing life story, to be a brain surgeon? Or even a sturgeon?
We are hiring a senator. We need someone who understands a broad range of public policy issues, can articulate them clearly, and can advance that position in a legislative body.
The cold hard facts. His video shows him with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and a much younger Ted Kennedy. He was an election observer in South Africa. But was he ever an election observer in Somerville? Does he have a picture with his alderman?
The last time I looked at his website, the issues section was empty. Now there are words, but I went to his education section and found it to be 100% content free.
When you guys put out the RFQ (Request for Questions) for Massie, I suggested it might be a good idea to ask why he doesn’t run for state senate, state house of representatives, alderman, or school committee. What makes him think he can go straight to the US Senate without any prior experience on any level of government?
Dramatic life story, some nice poetry, but nothing to suggest that he has the knowledge and skills required to be a United States Senator.
Underqualified and overreaching.
Or, as I also asked, when will he read the tea leaves and get out of the race?
Well, I can understand an argument that he’s not qualified. I don’t necessarily agree, but I get it.
However, schmoozing around in Somerville politics sounds like a good qualification for … Somerville politics. To an outsider, Somerville seems to be even more of a tempest-in-a-teapot than most other municipalities.
So … just as well, as far as that goes.
And there are some really good people holding elected office in Somerville. I really think that if you are interested in politics and public policy, you should know the people who are doing the grunt work in running your city or town. Case in point – I can guarantee that nobody on the Somerville School Committee read the platitude-rich and content-free Education statement on his website.
Mr. Massie notwithstanding, could the editors get back to putting things “below the fold”? This is a long post, and it would be nice if the whole thing wasn’t on the front page. A few paragraphs, and then save space for some other stuff, huh?
To me, founding the Global Reporting Initiative and heding CERES Corp, as well as the work done in South Africa is far more important and convincing than having been a school committee member. The ablility to build alliances, found major organizations that get former enemies to work productively together across national boundaries is spot on.
In my view, Pablos concerns are parochial and unconvincing – and what Bob Massie has done convinces me he is good to go, and would be ready to get to work effectively in the US Senate on day one.
I admit it is unusual to have a statewide candidate who is better known overseas than in his own state, but that is the reality in Bob Massie’s case. See http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2002/june/profile.html
And, yeah, I support him DESPITE the fact that he is a Harvard Alum.
So, um, maybe it’s the case that a Harvard degree doesn’t necessarily render the recipient an unworthy candidate for public office. And, given that, maybe it’s time to lay off the frankly unbecoming attacks you’ve leveled on that basis against Elizabeth Warren and others. You support Massie – that’s great. But it’s just not appropriate or constructive to attack other candidates based on, well, nothing.
For the record, I have never attended Harvard.
My good friend amberpaw knows me well – and I think the Harvard line is inserted as much for my benefit as for any of the US Senate candidates. The school committee reference is for me as well.
As an educator and former school committee member, I know the issues facing K-12 school districts. I can read through a policy statement and get a pretty clear understanding of the candidate’s understanding of the world that I work in on a daily basis. I called the Massie statement 100% content free. To be more literal and less metaphorical, I find the statement demonstrates a lack of any real understanding of any issues, but it attempts to wrap jargon around platitudes in order to please a multitude of conflicting constituencies. It’s pathetic, but it really doesn’t matter because Bob Massie has such a wonderful story. (Revert to Massie talking point.)
It is not parochial to want a senate candidate to understand the impact of federal policy on state and local government. It is not parochial to want to see if a candidate has had any involvement in his own community. I want a candidate that resonates in my world, with my concerns, and my left-leaning political orientation. And yes, I want a senator who will spend his or her time meeting with school committee members, selectmen, state legislators, mayors, councillors, educators, first responders, and all the people who make government work at the local level. But South Africa makes for a wonderful story. Did I mention that Bob Massie has such a wonderful story?
The small pond need not come first, nor is it necessarily better to have done time in small pond work (though Bob Massie has in NGO work). I do consider it parochial to require specific local government experience and consider that to be more compelling than founding and working on the accountability issues within the areas covered by the Global Reporting Initiative and CERES corp. It is not the “wonderful story” it is getting things done, and the capacity to get folks from divergent perspectives to work together to get things done. I do consider that valueing only local government experience IS a parochial, limited analysis that does not resonate with me.
I think Amberpaw is right to hold that against folks. There’s something toxic about that place and that label that pollutes your mind, much in the way that spending too much time in Washington D.C. does the same. It disconnects you from the realities of every day life.
But, look, I assume that you’d exempt yourself from the Harvarditis you describe. And surely you are not the only one to have been so fortunate. That’s basically my point.
And I own that bias, but haven’t yet seen anything to change my mind. I consider the mention of that bias by me to be “due disclosure” and the nature of that concern by me remains real. One blogger’s attack is another bloggers due disclosure and analysis. It is a matter of perspective and while we agree at times, we certainly do not agree at other times, same as with Pablo and I.
As someone extremely passionate about immigration issues, I recognize that he probably won’t lead on that, but I see him as possibly being one of the most experienced, effective, and passionate leaders in the U.S. Senate on environmental issues.
To those who suggest he’s not experienced, I’m not sure what type of experience they’re talking about. Do they expect a candidate to be a Senator on Beacon Hill for a few years or something? I’m not sure if I want someone polluted by that culture in the U.S. Senate.
than your original comment. Thanks. And I think he acknowledges that the issues/vision/whatever segment needs to be filled out more. He mentioned that more was forthcoming by the end of the summer. At least he has a placeholder to give a sense of his priorities.
I think the South Africa perspective is valuable as well — don’t you? Is that something to be lightly dismissed? I’m not asking you to passionately support the guy’s candidacy. But I do think his is an interesting perspective, and I look forward to hearing more from him.
Just what Massachusetts doesn’t need is a second senator whose view of the job extends across the ocean. Our senior senator, who was the third senator from Ohiowa for a few years in the last decade, is foreign-policy centric. We need a senator who understands local government, can talk with local officials, who can understand the impact of federal legislation on state and local government. When I lived in New York, much as I disagreed with his politics, Al D’Amato was a former town supervisor and he understood how things worked (maybe a little too well, but that’s another story). You just knew that, if you wanted to chat about philosophy you would talk to Moynihan, but if you wanted something done you would go to Senator Pothole (D’Amato).
Worse, when I see someone who is only willing to run for Lieutenant Governor and US Senate, I get the sense that all we do on the local level is just, plain, beneath Bob Massie. And I really don’t like that at all.
Massie has been a minister at a church up the street from his house in Somerville. I have a sense that he knows what happens in the day-to-day.
But rather than going on that vague sense of things, and then hating on it, why not just talk to him and find out?
Why not just talk to the guy? Despite my support for Bob Massie I am talking to and listening to all the candidates. Bob remains my guy. Have you talked with, do you support any declared candidate?
Very well.
I do not support any declared candidate, as I think all of the declared candidates don’t stand a prayer against Scott Brown. However, if Bob Massie wants to engage in a substantive conversation about local government and education policy, I’ll be there.
It isn’t “directly” after your run spot run (not sure I get the analogy, sorry ) post but is in the thread here. I know. I know. I worry too much, but I truly do believe if you talk with Bob Massie, you will get your questions answered upfront and with the honesty I have come to admire.
You used the phrase Spot On in your headline – so I played with it.
I see the post and am appreciative, and will respond.
See: http://www.bobmassie.org/events Many of the July and August events Bob will be at are posted. Also, like yourself, Bob Massie is on facebook; shoot him a message and set up a time to talk. Bob is (in my experience) accessible and willing to engage. He is also vigorously involved in what some call “retail politics” and traveling back and forth across Massachusetts talking to people like you who don’t know who he is, aren’t thrilled with him or any other candidate. I appreciate your honesty, and understand your snark so I don’t take it personally.
Happy to talk to you, Pablo. I am sorry that you have been spent so much time constructing some sort of fantasy about my life and perspective. And you have preferred to do this from a position of anonymity which has made it difficult to respond. Here’s the truth: I have lived and worked in Somerville for more than 25 years. I started off as someone who, while he was in graduate school, went from home to home visiting seniors who could not get out of their houses to make sure they were all right, to visit with them in their extreme loneliness, and to connect them to city services. I have helped many different candidates in their races for school committee, alderman (ward and at-large), mayor, state rep, and state senate. I have been involved with local political issues in Somerville for decades. I have attended aldermen’s meetings, drafted and helped pass initiatives, and supported local organizations, from housing and econ development to the arts to education. My wife and I held the first big grassroots meeting for Deval Patrick in our home and brought together 100 people in our house to introduce Somerville to him, since he was unknown. My three children attended the local public school (the Healey) and I was involved with their programs and their teachers. In addition my wife was a leader in the biggest issue affecting Somerville at the time, the redevelopment of Assembly Square. I know all of the local officials and count them as friends. So while it is true that the largest political impact I have had is at a national and international level, we chose to live, to raise our children, and to invest in this incredible community. When you first began your critique, I thought you had already chosen another candidate and that you were using this space to try to undermine me for that reason. I would be particularly happy to talk, especially if you have an open mind. Please send me a message at bob@bobmassie.org and we will find a time. I gather you must have a lot of local experience and I am sure that I could learn from you.
And, yes, I do have an open mind. I am a policy wonk for local government and K-12 education, as this has been my life’s work. I’ll send an email from my personal account.
Also, I think it does provide the detail that explains “who you are” in a way that brings home just how deep your understanding really is of how communities work.
While Bob Massie was driving to an event on Sunday, I had a conversation of about 30 minutes with him. Conclusion: I am still uncommitted, as there really wasn’t enough time to get into an in-depth conversation, but we will continue to talk. I also expect to be talking to his issues coordinator, and we will see if we can sharpen the education platform.
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