Blue Mass Group

(Just realized Charley covered this interview this morning — sorry! Nonetheless, I find the “pond scum” remark noteworthy enough to get its own headline.)

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. On Wednesday I posted about Gabriel Gomez’s new ad, which refers to “Dirty Ed Markey” and accuses Markey of “comparing” Gomez to Osama bin Laden and “blaming” Gomez for the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Yesterday, at the Needham-Newton Chamber of Commerce, Gomez spoke with a reporter and what he had to say was pretty astounding.

Transcript (best I could do):

Reporter: “You mentioned your ad, the campaign says it’s up and running now. There’s some Democrats talking about it’s a ‘sign of desperation,’ going after ‘Dirty Ed Markey’…”

Gomez (scoffing): “Ed Markey is ‘Dirty Ed Markey.’ Let me frame it this way: For a guy to come out with his first web video, to put me next to Osama bin Laden. A former Seal. Maybe he doesn’t understand, perhaps, who killed bin Laden. The Seals. All because I criticized the President. I was critical of him because they released so much classified information about that raid. And even Secretary Feinberg, uh, Senator Feinstein, came out and agreed with me. And it puts the troops in harm’s way. It not only puts the troops in harm’s way, but their families in harm’s way. Because now we know what unit conducted the raid, we know what kind of tactics, what kind of aircraft they flew in there. And even made a movie about it afterwards.”

Reporter: “So the offense was putting you side-by-side on the same screen?”

Gomez: “I don’t think there’s anything more… You know, I’ve got four young kids, and they’ve got to sit there and they’ve got to see an ad with their dad, who served honorably. Talk to anybody I served with, whether it was a pilot or as a Seal, or anybody I’ve worked with. And for him to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to…like…put me up there next to bin Laden, he’s just gotta be called what he is.”

With apologies to those who aren’t interested in polls. Read no further…

The Emerson College Polling Society has a new survey, fielded this Monday to Wednesday (5/20 to 5/22), showing Ed Markey leading Gabriel Gomez in the U.S. Senate race, 44.8 percent to 33.1 percent, with 22.1 percent still undecided. That’s an improvement from their poll taken right after the primaries, which had Markey up by 6. I don’t believe I saw the first Emerson poll, but it fits well with PPP’s poll showing Markey up 4 just after the primary, and the subsequent polling showing him ahead by 7 or 8. Suffolk’s poll showing Markey with a 17-point lead (52-35) remains the outlier, though this new poll shows movement in that direction.

Read on for nuts and bolts…

Conventional wisdom – and the recent spanking that Elizabeth Warren delivered to Scott Brown – suggest that the more a Senate race in Massachusetts is seen in national terms, the less chance the Republican has of winning.  And I think that’s probably accurate.  People may think Scott Brown or Gabriel Gomez or whoever is a nice enough guy, but really, nobody with any sense wants Mitch McConnell running the show down in DC.

So I find it interesting that national Republicans are trying aggressively to nationalize this race.  Check out this email that landed in my inbox yesterday, ostensibly from Jerry Moran.  (Who?  I had to look him up too.  The junior Senator from Kansas, as it turns out, and the current chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.)

From: Senator Jerry Moran
Subject: Fire Reid
Date: May 23, 2013 12:59:54 PM EDT
To: blue@bluemassgroup.com
Reply-To: info@nrsc.org

Blue,

The Massachusetts Senate special election is heating up. This race is neck and neck, even the Democrats’ own polling shows just a few points between Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Congressman Ed Markey.  We need your support to help us secure the resources necessary to win critical Senate races.

Ed Markey’s career is a living testament to failed Washington policies. Throughout his 37-year career in Washington, the Congressman has voted to raise the debt ceiling 31 times and in favor of higher taxes 271 times. He was an architect of the Wall Street bailouts. He was involved in Congressional check bouncing scandals to the total of $63,000, and he has repeatedly voted to give himself pay raises with taxpayer dollars. To sum it up, Ed Markey isn’t needed in the Senate, but new leadership is.

The son of immigrants who received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, who became a decorated Navy SEAL and successful businessman, Gabriel Gomez is exactly the kind of new, results-oriented leader we need to fix Washington today.

Contribute $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can afford today to help us win on Election Day and build a new Republican majority in the Senate.

With your help, we can fire Harry Reid and put America back on course.

Thanks,

Senator Jerry Moran
Chairman, NRSC

This is a paid solicitation being sent by Brown for U.S. Senate, Inc. and is not an endorsement by Senator Brown and does not represent a contribution to any candidate or political committee. This message reflects the sole opinions and representations of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who is responsible for the contents of this message. You are receiving this message because you are a member of Scott Brown’s online community.

A couple of points jump out at me.  The big one, of course, is “Fire Harry Reid.”  That means only one thing: the GOP sees a Gomez win as a critical part of retaking control of the U.S. Senate, removing Harry Reid from the position of majority leader, and replacing him with a Republican – presumably Mitch McConnell.  So someone needs to ask Gomez post-haste whether, if elected, he will support McConnell for majority leader.

I also love the fact that the fine print declares that the email “is a paid solicitation being sent by Brown for U.S. Senate, Inc.”  Somehow, the zombie that is Scott Brown’s Senate campaign will not die, but rather continues to stagger mindlessly around the highways and byways of Massachusetts in search of brains, or failing that, campaign donations.  I wonder if Brown or his campaign committee is making any money off of the NRSC using his mailing list?

Relatedly, Roll Call reports that the NRSC has dispatched a handful of staffers to our fair state.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has committed at least four staffers to help nominee Gabriel Gomez in the final weeks of the June 25 contest…. Money remains a major hurdle for Gomez to overcome against the well-funded Markey. So the NRSC sent two fundraisers to help Gomez open some financial doors. Sarah Morgan, a regional political director, arrived Wednesday to organize volunteer efforts over the next few weeks. And Kevin McLaughlin, a senior adviser, is in Boston to assist with communications and general strategy.

Say, I thought Gomez was a new kind of politician who doesn’t care for the old Washington ways of doing things.  Since that’s true, I’m sure that he will promptly tell the NRSC “thanks but no thanks,” and send those DC hacks back to Washington where they belong.

Riiiiiiight.

Oh Lordy. This is getting painful. I know politics is humiliating, and I truly feel for everyone who gets into the field — even the barely-competent, even those who are “just happy to be here, folks”, even the small-minded and laughable. There but for the grace of God …

So, there’s this. Gomez responds to Markey’s very normal, sober, and fair ads, with a flailing one of his own.

Today Gomez calls Markey — yes, this is true — “pond scum” for actually airing an ad based on Gomez’s attempted Swift-Boating of Obama with regard to the killing of Bin Laden. Yup, Gomez went there, wherever *there* is.

Now, let’s take a look at what Gomez really objects to: Purportedly, it’s that his face was shown opposite Osama Bin Laden’s in Markey’s web ad. I guess without seeing it, if you squint your brain really hard, you could entertain the possibility that there’s some kind of subliminal guilt-by-association going on there …

OK, but really. Look at the ad. LOOK AT IT.

Who shows up opposite Gomez’s face right before Bin Laden? The dude with a 61% approval rating in Massachusetts. For crying out loud, Markey might as well have had Gomez next to a picture of Ted freakin’ Williams and a case of Sam Adams. (You want a dirty Bin Laden juxtaposition? Try this one — never been surpassed.)

And in other events, David Bernstein notes the genius work from the Parachute Patrol at GOP HQ:

Eye-Roller of the Day

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) put out a release today screaming that “Ed Markey is the first to violate the “People’s Pledge.”” That would be the pledge that is not in effect, because Gabriel Gomez refused to sign it.

I mean, wow.

Here’s what it all boils down to: Gomez has a problem, kind of a Martha Coakley problem, actually: He’s got no particular reason to run. He doesn’t really know why he’s in this, except that gosh he’s a really swell guy with a nice resume (Navy SEAL – at least party true!) and he wants to be a Senator well just because it’s the next thing to do.

And so he’s attacking Markey for not signing something he himself refuses to sign. He’s making goofy, easily and widely disproved accusations. He attacks Markey for, well, a long and distinguished career in public service, by campaigning with another fellow with a long and occasionally-distinguished career in public service.

And so we have an utterly trivial campaign so far — at least as presented in the media. Markey goes around the state talking about the Brain State, climate, guns, innovation, yadda yadda and it’s all great — good sensible things I like to hear. And yet his opponent — who strategically needs to start a fight, in order to get attention — engages him on the level of such inanity. Imagine the campaign that we *could* have, as if ideas and policy actually mattered. But this goofiness exists because Gomez has so little to challenge Markey with.

Last January, I posted on Blue Mass Group “State Senate Votes Go Online” and I am pleased to post today that “State Senate Votes Are Online.” If you are following the Senate’s debate on the budget and on various amendments, the Legislature’s website posted votes online within 24 hours after votes were taken. Here is the link to view the votes. Unfortunately, as the Senate finally puts votes online in a timely manner, the Senate didn’t vote on a lot of the key votes that deserve an up or down roll call vote.

-Paul

House Republicans today advanced a proposal to end federal subsidies for student loans and let market rates dictate their costs. This is idiotic. America is competing in a global economy where success at the high end is largely dictated by the education of workers. Our rivals from Sweden to Singapore know this: that is why they pour money and resources into education. It is an investment that yields rich rewards, as evidenced by the relative success of the Massachusetts economy among many other examples. NYT:

At stake is a subsidized loan rate of 3.4 percent for more than 7.4 million students with Federal Direct Stafford Loans. That rate would jump to 6.8 percent if Congress fails to act; Democrats set the lower rate before Republicans swept to control of the House in 2011. Last June, Republicans buckled under political pressure and extended the subsidized rate for one year, just two days before its expiration.

This time, Republican leaders insist they will hold firm, but they face Senate Democrats who are dead set against their approach as well as a threatened White House veto.

“Who’s going to set interest rates, politicians here or the markets?” asked Representative John Kline, Republican of Minnesota, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

By the same argument, why not abolish public education and replace it with private schools for everyone — “who’s going to set education budgets, politicians here or charter schools funded by vouchers plus cash from parents?”  That way lies a narrowing of educational opportunity, less effective use of our greatest resource, American minds, and increasingly direct competition with the world’s less educated workers. That is a fight we will lose: there are hundreds of millions of intelligent, disciplined people around the world willing to work for $5 a day. A primary factor of national differentiation for us is our superior and more widely distributed educational system.

I wonder what Gabriel Gomez thinks about this plan? Interestingly, he has no position on education issues, even though that sector is one of the largest employers in the state.

Is this ad from Gabriel Gomez coming soon to your TV? Gomez released the ad on YouTube yesterday; it was scheduled to start running on television statewide today. (I was able to see the ad a couple of hours ago but YouTube later said the video was unavailable; it remains up on Gomez’s campaign website.) In it, the narrator accuses “Dirty Ed Markey” of comparing Gomez to Osama bin Laden and blaming Gomez for Newtown. In other words, more baseless whining that should be transparent to anyone who understands the English language.

As discussed here, Markey’s recent ad does not “blame” Gomez for Newtown. It says that one of the proposed responses to the Newtown shooting and other massacres has been to limit high-capacity clips, “like the one” used in Newtown. And it shows Gomez, on television in his own words, saying he does not support such a proposal. That’s it.

Likewise, it has been shown that the bin Laden claim is absurd. It refers to Markey’s May 2 video criticizing Gomez for his 2012 swift-boating of President Obama. That video (which is kind of awkwardly done) showed Gomez for a moment in a split screen with bin Laden, but also showed him in a split screen with three separate images of President Obama and with a fellow guest on MSNBC. Gomez did not call Markey “despicable” for comparing him to the President or the fellow guest. It takes a Professional Whiner to turn that video into a “comparison” of Gomez and bin Laden. (Making this claim particularly rich is that the footage of bin Laden in Markey’s video actually was taken from…the video Gomez and his Tea Party friends made to criticize Obama.)

In a bit of a shell game, the Gomez camp release tax returns and called out Markey for not releasing his returns yet.

But the funny thing is, Gomez, just by chance I guess had his cutoff of tax returns released as 2006. Gomez made headlines with his questionable historic home $281,500 tax dodge in 2005. Funny how that worked out.

The best excuse that Gomez’s team could come up with is that a Senate term is 6 years, so he’s going to release 6 years of returns. See, he’s not trying to hide his bogus, slimy tax filings in 2005 at all.

Gomez did not release his tax return for 2005, a year in which he claimed a tax credit worth $281,500 for maintaining the façade of his historic home in Cohasset, as the Globe has previously reported. Gomez’s campaign aides said he had agreed to provide six years’ worth of tax returns, the duration of a Senate term.

That’s pretty weak.

If Gomez wants to show any credibility at all, he’s going to need to release his 2005 tax returns, playing the public for fools is not a good campaign strategy.

Fact Check: Gomez Claim On Markey’s Effectiveness Doesn’t Hold Up

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez made headlines Monday for attacking his opponent, Democratic U.S Rep. Edward Markey, on national security.

But he also dropped a line he’s offered up several times of late: Markey, he said, hasn’t sponsored a single bill in the last 20 years that became law.

It’s a sweeping claim, designed to undermine the central rationale for Markey’s candidacy: that with experience, the Democrat has developed into an effective legislator.

. . .

Independent observers say the argument doesn’t hold up.

“It’s, at best, a shaky attack,” says Norman J. Ornstein, a resident scholar at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute and one of the country’s most respected Congressional observers. “I’ve watched Markey since he came to the House and I’ve written many times before that he’s one of the most effective legislators” in Congress.

Mr. Ornstein clearly needs a dose of unique perspective.

There are already 9 links “out there” that Lt. Gov. Murray will announce his resignation plans at 2:00 PM today.  Here is one such link.  I cannot speak for anyone else, but as for myself I understand that public life, its scrutiny, and the reality of lower pay then in the “royal tribe” of the CEO and private sector elite can be difficult with young children.  For myself, when I support someone for public office, I do so trusting them to serve, to stay the course, and to put the public interest first during their full term.  I can understand disagreeing as to what “the public interest” may be, and do not expect to dictate to those who are elected.  I have, however, been gravely disappointed by the large number walking away from elected office.

I am interested in a pledge from any candidate, before I support them, that if elected, they will serve out their full term.

Photo taken by me when Marc and I marched with a Patrick/Murray contingent in 2010.  As many know, Marc died in September of 2012.  At least he did not have to see so many of those he supported walk away from elected office to have a greater income.

The status quo is not working. “Something” has to be done. Generous direct “donations” from the Waltons and Koch Brothers, as well as strong support from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) have helped “Citizens First” realize our goals. Truly, public safety is a civil right; we shall overcome.

CF proposes a national movement to ensure that no citizen be protected by a single union stifled Police Officer or Firefighter again. For too long the patrolman and firefighters unions have stifled innovation in our neediest municipalities. We need reform. We need to put citizens first, and not put the needs of adults before public safety.

Studies show that the US is not safe, and we rank near the bottom of international rankings as defined by the Public Safety Metric (PSM). Bold action needs to be taken.

CF, in conjunction with our affiliates at AEI, propose a trailblazing new vision of Public Safety Reform. Our lobbying networks have dubbed our reform efforts No Citizen Left Behind. Below is a synopsis of how our federal legislation will work to ensure national safety proficiency for all by 2025.

Firstly, we will track all police stations and fire stations in every municipality in the United States. We will collect public safety data and then grade all states, cities, towns, and municipal districts accordingly using our public safety metric (PSM) devised by public safety scientific experts. Underperforming police and fire stations will now be held accountable. As part of a “turnaround” plan these stations will receive a “fresh start”. All police officers and fire fighters will reapply for their positions. Department Chiefs at these stations will hire no more than 50% of the former staff. Certainly, accountability will shake up the status quo.

Through this “incubator of innovation”, new charter stations will rise from the ashes. These charter stations will create a board of directors, most notably bankers and politicians who have no experience in police work or fire. These stakeholders will create charters that will operate outside the jurisdiction of traditional stations. Police facilitators and Fire Stoppers will be non-union employees at will. Licenses, experience, pensions, and pertinent training will no longer be a barrier for stakeholders to create a culture of innovative transformation. The charter board of directors will ensure that the safety improvement plan is carried out. In this way real accountability will be realized on a national level.

In order that this bold, innovative, and trailblazing venture be realized a few earmarks must be incorporated into NCLB. Most notably a corporate enterprise tax credit must be adopted in order to stimulate reform “buy in”. Listen up hedge funders! After NCLB passes an enterprising tax loophole, which will benefit ALL citizens, will be enacted. Through venture philanthropy bankers can now raise money for their innovative charter stations. These monies can now be used as tax deductible donations for your “for profit” companies. Other benefits include real estate, building contracts, and inside knowledge of public safety buying trends. We encourage all police and fire related corporate enterprises to hop on board this gravy train. If you don’t, one of our subsidiaries certainly will and you may be on the short end of our free market! Remember, SAFETY FIRST!

PS: If this post doesn’t make any sense to you, research how education reform has “worked” since 2000. Hopefully, readers can make a connection.

On his website, Gomez falsely claims to be President of the Navy SEAL Foundation of New England. And it’s still up, three months after he got caught (screen-capped to avoid mischief). Add that to recent news of his financial dealings and his general willingness to put himself about principle, and it makes me wonder:

What else is he lying about in his biography? Was he ever really a Navy SEAL/pilot? Let’s see the proof before we believe it.