I’m not sure if this gets exactly at my request for a snappy, easily encapsulated agenda for a prospective Coakley governorship. But it’s compelling. From Pablo:
If you scroll back a couple of years, you will find that I supported Michael Capuano when he ran against Martha for the senate seat. I love Capuano, and I thought he would be a kick-ass junkyard dog that would have turned Scott Brown into kibble and presented a bold progressive agenda in the senate.
That was then, this is now.
Some of the things I discounted in Martha Coakley in the senate race are just the things I admire about her in this race. She is not the poet, she is not the one throwing red meat onto the floor (and the nosebleed seats ) of the DCU center. She doesn’t speak in bold words. She just works hard and advances progressive issues one step at a time in the day to day work of public governance.
She wasn’t a very good senate candidate, and Don Berwick speaks with much more poetry, but this is not a contest of oratory or poetry. This is a campaign about selecting the next governor of Massachusetts, and everything I know about Martha Coakley tells me that she will govern extremely well.
My heart and soul is in local government and K-12 education. In my world, every single thing we do depends on the state. Money. Mandates. Regulations. The state has a profound influence on what we do at the local level. I want somebody who understands local government, and somebody who will support our work.
Martha Coakley is a diligent progressive who will govern well.
I look back to Martha’s time as Middlesex DA. I live and work in Middlesex, so I had a front-row view of Martha’s leadership style.
First, on the school district level, Martha was not the kind of elected official who drops in and tells you what she is going to do. She walks in the door asking about your problems, asking about issues, and asking about ideas for possible solutions. From a prosecutor. She came in with a staff who was concerned about helping, not ideology. She developed programs at the local level to help with families and students at risk, in cooperation with local school districts. Quiet, under the radar, hard working, progressive action.
When Martha started to run for governor, I told her directly that her platform was unsatisfactory. She genuinely believes in universal PK, I was questioning her understanding and ability to deliver on this issue. She asked me for my views on education. She asked me to tell her what I would push for if I were running for governor.
I emailed her my list. I told her I didn’t expect 100% agreement, but I wanted a thoughtful response that indicates an understanding of my work and the state’s role in supporting public education. She doesn’t align with my views 100%, but I know where she stands and I know she will work diligently to do the hard work of improving the context where I live and work.
She understands. She listens. I absolutely believe, based on past performance, she will use the power of her office to support pubic education in Massachusetts. Nothing flashy, just good old fashioned hard work.
Martha may be the leader, but the folks I deal with on a day-to-day basis in the AG’s office have all been first rate, dedicated public servants. She hires great people who are committed to the common good. Her history supports the claim that she hires smart, capable, energetic people who gain results for all students. She will make progress as a progressive, solid, steady, strategic, incremental progress.
I have faith in Martha’s dedication and work ethic. I have faith in Martha’s efforts to put together a great team that works extremely well together. I have faith that Martha can carefully, strategically, and thoughtfully advance a progressive agenda.
I have confidence in Martha Coakley, and confidence she will put together an excellent team that will help to enact progressive legislation.
Martha Coakley is our best choice to attract a wide range of long-term election. I know Martha Coakley will be a low-key, determined, dedicated, and effective. She is our best candidate if we want to move progressive values forward in Massachusetts.
I am excited and inspired to support Martha Coakley. I hope you will join me in supporting her.
JimC says
Part of me wants to say “This is largely an interpersonal argument,” but the older and more bitter I get about the disconnectedness of politicians, the more I appreciate stories like this.
Good luck to Martha in the primary, and I will certainly support her if she wins.
coopdavis says
I feel like you just laid out a case for how she will be dismantled again by a Republican challenger. Nothing has changed from 2010, correct?
Pablo says
I am making the case for how she will govern. I think Martha’s strength in polling is that voters see her as a steady leader with a mainstream progressive agenda. I think she matches well against the Pioneer Institute agenda Charlie Baker was pushing as a founder and co-director. Charlie’s record as a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (when he bothered to show up) reflects the Pioneer privatization agenda.
I think you are going to see a boatload of photos of Charlie Baker with old friends Chris Christie and Mitt Romney. On our side, we just need to remind people who voted for Martha for AG why they liked her and why they voted for her.
doubleman says
Counterpoint: Name recognition.
Pablo says
Voters like her, and for good reason.
jconway says
That didn’t work out so well in her last campaign, and it won’t work this time for the reasons Charley has been questioning. She is not running for a third term as AG. Governor is an entirely different office with a drastically different set of skills required, and she needs a real vision to move the Commonwealth forward and I can’t think of any.
Even her supporters end up descending into Deweyisms when discussing what she will do, she is opposed to income inequality, she favors equality, she calls herself a progressive, she favors better mental health, and our streams are full of fish.
Pablo says
A legislator is a very different job than an executive.
People feel comfortable with Martha in her role as an executive. She has used her office to move progressive issues (marriage equality, homeowner protection, among others) and will be able to use the power of the corner office to make steady progress on issues we care about.
Or, you could get this:
jconway says
I just don’t buy it. I think it’ll be another ‘centrist Republican outsider v Beacon Hill insider’ race and we lose. Just like O’Brien, Romney had Bush campaign for him after all and he was a bigger pariah around these parts than Christie ever could hope to be.
Unless she offers a bold, detailed, progressive policy plan. I just don’t see it.
seamusromney says
A lot of people who voted for her for AG voted for her because there wasn’t really a viable choice. Charlie Baker is no Jim Mckenna.
petr says
… Have either of her erstwhile opponents in the primary nor the putative challenger in the general. So I fail to see the relevance of holding against one, and not the others…
Christopher says
…had a contested primary for Treasurer and as I recall our one statewide candidate thought most in trouble in the general. I thought Coakley had a contested race the first time she ran for DA.
petr says
… which is distinct from ‘contested’.
Christopher says
It was 55-45% over Karyn Polito, but I don’t draw as much of a distinction anyway. You either have an opponent or you don’t and I subscribe to the view that the only two ways to run are scared or unopposed.
blueinsaugus says
As an undecided, I appreciate this.
williamstowndem says
… and a plan to turn that vision into reality, but with Martha I fear it’s 2010 all over again. We need to move on to new candidates and new ideas. Fortunately, here in Mass. we have both in Steve Grossman and Don Berwick. Let’s take advantage of our good fortune.