The Republicans have another Senate candidate. In addition to BMG regular Dan Winslow, ex-Navy SEAL and current finance guy Gabriel Gomez has thrown his proverbial hat into the ring. Here’s his largely non-embarrassing introductory video, which plays the “outsider” card:
Amusingly, Gomez has hired Lenny Alcivar to run his campaign. Veterans of the 2010 races may recall that Alcivar briefly managed Charlie Baker’s campaign for Governor, until Alcivar decided that it would be a good idea to hassle Tim Cahill’s daughters on Twitter. He was fired shortly thereafter.
I do love this bit, from Gomez’s “Why I’m Running” page:
I’m not a politician, and there will be times when folks will ask me questions about the inner working of politics that I don’t know about. I’m a quick study, I’ll figure all the political jargon out, but I’m not going to adopt it. I’m not saying governance or being a Senator is easy, nor am I saying I don’t have some things to learn – I am saying I am up to the task. And let’s look in the other direction – maybe Washington has something to learn – they clearly need some new ideas and sending career politicians would be the same old same old.
That’s laying it on a bit thick, no? Reminiscent of Phil Hartman’s “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer” sketch from Saturday Night live:
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’m just a caveman…. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your “traffic” make me want to get out of my BMW and run off into the hills, or whatever. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder, “did little demons get inside and type it?” I don’t know. My primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know. When a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk in front of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than $2 million.
To Gomez’s credit, though, at least his website has a “Why I’m Running” page, as well as a bio. Which is more than can be said for any other candidate in the race, Democratic or Republican. *sigh*
… now can we get a page on “why I am a Republican?”
Frankly, I’m impressed with his bio. Those of you who’ve read what I’ve written will know that I’m not an uber-partriotic war fetishist who praises all things military: far from it, in fact, but I do respect the fact that such things as Naval Acadmy grad, carrier pilot and Navy Seal are difficult things to do. Those things tell me that he’s got a good education and experience making all kinds of decisions under pressure.
So far, so very good.
Why then, I’m compelled to ask, is he running as a Republican? Does he truly believe in Republicanism? Does he agree with Jim Inhofe on Climate Change? Does he violently disagree with Democratic principles? Is he going to brush the issue aside, a la Scott Brown?
He’s got a lot of education and experience making decisions and this is his first major public decision. If I’m going to seriously consider voting for him he’s got to justify it.
I suspect it has largely to do with this:
Gomez is clearly, as you point out, an accomplished guy, and he seems in some respects to be trying to carve out a centrist path – he famously donated to Barack Obama in 2008, and is at least in some respects singing from the bipartisan hymnal. But if he’s really on board with John Boehner’s view that the only thing taxes do is burden our “job creators,” well…
Gomez soiled his “reasonableness” brand by foolishly getting involved with “OPSEC,” a group (with ties to the Swift Boaters) that produced a 22-minute video about how Obama was taking too much credit for bin Laden. Please. Here’s Gomez’s appearance on Hardball, in which he did a lousy job of defending OPSEC’s mission.
No media attention, no budget, abysmal turnout…perfect primary for a complete outsider…
You could make a good argument, especially if Lynch is our nominee, that a centrist Republican suits Massachusetts. But they simply aren’t any anymore. Tisei ran against his record as a budget balancer to endorse the supply side voodo economics of Ryancare and endless tax cuts. Ditto Charlie Bass up in NH his second time around. And we will see if Winslow will as well.
Whats needed to get our house in order is first more job creating stimulus and then once the economy is recovered we can discuss budget balancing. This recipe worked well enough for Clinton in the 90s, got us out of the first Bush recession and on a path to prosperity. Don’t see why its so hard to repeat it.
I think it was Rachel Maddow who noted that he has donated to several (primarily?) Democrats in recent years, which gets back to the question of why GOP?
candidates I saw running for governor’s council. The governor’s council candidate claimed he would vote to appoint judges based, not on ideology, but on who was the most qualified. No problem.
The guy running for selectman in another town was a former cop from a small city near me. He claimed he wasn’t a politician and told the room of politicians and their supporters that he disliked all politicians.
You can’t make a decision without an ideology. Anyone who runs for office is a politician, whether they like it or not. And teaching Washington some new things? You’ve got to be kidding me. How long have people been saying that they want to change things in Washington? Who runs on saying they want Washington to stay the same?
The didn’t embarrass himself, I grant you, but there’s no there. He’s a demographic running for office.
Their unicameral legislature is ostensibly non-partisan. They all proclaim no allegiance. That would annoy the snot out of me.
Maybe all of you know Thermodynamics? Great I’m about to get my swerve on.
Sue me for using Wiki:
I know a well credentialed, military guy that recently enrolled in the MAGOP. For sure, he considers himself a ‘fiscal conservative,’ but he is no more a GOPer than, say Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Why did he go to the MAGOP? Partly, by his own admission, because they have a low threshold for entry at a high level. You can quickly push up the proverbial food chain.
Gomez knows this. Plus, Gomez has a handy ‘catalyst.’ He was a Navy Seal. Being Latino doesn’t not hurt, either.
Someone pegged Gomez to be a “demographic.” He is exactly all the right demographics at this moment.
Keep a strict eye on his warchest. You’ll discover whether the national rainmakers think the kid has ‘the right stuff.’