The anger on the ground is real. The fear is real. The sense of betrayal of promises made is palpable. We must provide a practical, real alternative to the lesson people will otherwise learn: that we are no longer participants in our own future, no longer the force behind and purpose of government, that we are, in fact, powerless and inconsequential.
I firmly believe that Tuesday’s election results tell us more about the inaccessibility and inaction of the Democratic Party than a new-found conservatism in the Commonwealth. Politicians ignored large constituencies at their peril. National and state Democrats have allowed big corporate interests to dictate policy-making, despite the suffering and organizing of large numbers of us, the regular “natural persons”. If there is any hope of restoring the political arena to the people, especially in light of the Supreme Court decision, we must engage the people. They must see concrete actions and actual solutions so they have a reason to believe their vote counts on election day and their more regular participation between elections matters. It must become real again that their representatives will protect the interests of their constituents, the people, not just those of their largest contributors.
As many people know I like Deval Patrick, but he is not the governor he said he would be when we debated four years ago. He promised property tax relief – he has not even proposed it. He promised bulk buying of drugs to lower medical costs for everyone; although the laws to do this were in place before he was sworn in, he has not managed to get his own administration to implement it. And he recently signed legislation that permits the decertification of units of teacher unions in municipalities around the state. That is three examples; there are plenty more.
For good reason, the people who came out in force for him in 2006, and for Barack Obama in 2008, are disillusioned. I suspect many people reading this blog have friends who want to elect a Democratic governor in 2010, but do not believe Deval can win. I also suspect that the party “elders” will assert that I have no chance of winning – just like Martha Coakley had no chance of losing. We can prove them wrong.
Lastly – why would I consider running as a Democrat, particularly when the party is, as a friend suggested, “damaged”? I have been outside the major parties because they have moved away from the centrality of regular people’s issues. Jack Cafferty of CNN recently argued that “Both parties stink. Our government is broken and no longer serves the needs of the people.” If I run as an independent, that would be more representative of the frustration expressed in Tuesday’s vote, but I cannot fix the government by myself. If I run as a Democrat, that would allow me to combat the broken structure, with the help of the many folks already in state government who are dedicated to serving the people. Many Democratic friends have urged me to throw my hat in the ring, but so have my Republican, Green and unenrolled friends. The decision I and my team make will be based on how I can best serve all of the people of the Commonwealth.
Grace C Ross
With all the politeness I can muster on BMG, talk to Bill Coleman. You’re becoming him.
Who’s Bill Coleman again? You don’t mean Norm do you? Let’s see that again:
Bill Coleman is a central Mass icon. Ask someone even faintly involved in Worcester politics.
There’s nothing wrong with longshots running for office, even if they’ve been unsuccessful in the past, even if they’ve run for mayor seven times and lost each time, it shouldn’t be a negative. If it’s not too many times for him, it’s not too many times for you. It doesn’t make him a joke, just because you get embarrassed at his dedication.
story here
He is like 0-21 in political races. I like him, I vote for him. He has good ideas. But there becomes a point when people hear the name and roll their eyes, start sniggering… you know what I mean. Yes, like Jack E. Too bad they just happen to be black. We need more minority representation in government.
To make you work. I didn’t want to embarrass Grace.
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p>First let me say I admire your dedication to progressive causes. Would that more people demonstrated a similar commitment to solving the myriad issues facing both the Commonwealth and this nation. As a liberal Democrat, I am generally supportive of folks who try to enter the fray and further the causes that I care about.
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p>Now, with that out of the way, let me also say this. I am greatly annoyed with people who want to start at the top of public service. Although you did win an at-large seat for the city council in Worcester at one point, you have yet to demonstrate commitment that would suggest higher elective office is suitable for you. Elected as a state rep? A state senator? Some other state office? In my view, your lack of elective experience is huge, and I certainly would not support someone so inexperienced in seeking the corner office of the State House. As a voter and as a citizen, I appreciate experienced professionals in virtually all aspects of my life. I want an experienced cardiologist, an experienced house painter, and an experienced mechanic working on my car. I want experienced and successful political candidates running my government, and especially my state.
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p>Now, as for running as a Democrat, I can tell you as a town committee chair, you won’t get my support or vote. I am sick to death of Green Party rhetoric about the shitty nature of the Democratic Party. I am sick to death of people who can’t manage to get more than 150 people elected to office nationwide and 15 people to office locally telling me that the Democratic Party is broken. And here’s what I really can’t stand about those, both as individuals and as Green Party members, who insist the Democratic Party has been and is too tainted, too corrupt, or too ill-principled to merit their involvement: your collective purity and sanctimony is galling.
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p>And NOW you think the Democratic Party might be good enough for you to mingle with because you’re tired of getting nowhere in your bids for elective office? Sorry, I’m not up for being used or exploited for your personal gain. I don’t for a second believe that you would be able to fix or change anything. Purists don’t change the world; pragmatists do.
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p>I’m not happy with my Party right now, but I also, as a rather realistic individual, value the big picture. We don’t have a good handle on the big picture right now. The vast majority of this nation does not share my-or your–political or social views.
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p>All we can do as liberal Democrats is try to convince people-and other Democrats–of the moral value of our positions and convince them to support our candidates. Partnering with people who have articulated such disdain for the work and participation I and so many other solid liberals have done from inside the Democratic Party is anathema to me. Sorry. I am not “damaged.” The people I work with in the Democratic Party are not “damaged,” either.
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p>I find your hate-you-but-I-need-you approach to joining the Democratic Party expedient and hypocritical. Others, however, will find it uplifting and empowering. Whatever. Do your thing. Deval Patrick, in my view, has done an overall good job and is going to get my vote for re-election.
From what I have perceived of you and Grace Ross, I’d consider Grace more of a pragmatist than you, unless I’m mistaken about you and her. Why are you not happy with the Democratic Party, for instance? Isn’t it because you are unhappy with their commitment to principles? I bet it isn’t because you think aren’t pragmatic enough.
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p>I think Ross’s priorities are sound, assuming she is the pragmatist I perceive her to be, and that those priorities have a better chance of being advanced if she challenges Patrick for the Democratic nomination than if she runs as an independent, which might result in a Baker victory.
is why we get stuck with bureaucrats and the status quo. They are different jobs, and should be filled by people with different passions and vision. I think it’s good for outsiders to fill the top jobs, and for people to value local public service as an end in itself, not as a lower position on the totem pole, just something that politicians just have to put on their resume before they can be taken seriously. That demeans public servants, if you ask me.
I grant you that Deval Patrick is perhaps a case study in why your experience argument has merit. At the same time, I strongly supported him as, apparently, did you. It seems to me that candidate Deval Patrick, who you now ringingly endorse, would have failed, in early 2006, the same test you now apply to Grace Ross.
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p>It appears to me that Deval Patrick has still not demonstrated mastery of the executive office he holds. I don’t say that to slam Governor Patrick, but to instead suggest that his on-the-job training has not necessarily equipped him to pass the same test you suggest we apply to Grace Ross.
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p>I hope that Grace Ross competes in the primary. While I haven’t abandoned my already lukewarm support for Governor Patrick, I continue to have serious reservations about his ability to effectively do the job no matter how hard he tries.
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p>It seems to me that a Democratic Primary challenge is precisely the right vehicle to learn more about both candidates. While I’m not sure that “damaged” is the word I’d necessarily choose, there is a lot about today’s Massachusetts Democratic Party that needs to be changed.
like cleaning your apartment, or reading a book, or anything else.
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p>You can speak about the parties moving away from the people and with the Republicans you’d be right, and with some Democrats also right.
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p>Deval is not the person to take it out on unless this is just a vanity run.
I’m not sure how to respond to Grace, but somehow holding forth about the somethingological purity of the party isn’t it. You mean Rep. Stupak is welcome here and Grace Ross isn’t?
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p>When I was phone-banking for Patrick four years ago, I spoke to plenty of voters who said, essentially, Patrick isn’t left enough, tell me why I shouldn’t vote for Jill Stein. Is our message to the left, give us your votes, but know your place? That’s really not a good idea.
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p>Yeah, Grace’s public-service resume is a tad thin, depending on how you define that. The voters will sort that out, as they did with a candidate whose credentials on that score are even thinner–Chris Gabrielli. As I recall that was not a problem for some people here at the time.
I’m saying Deval supports openly many of my lefty ideals. If he loses it’s not going to be Grace Ross who wins. She’s free to run (as anyone is) but if she does I hope it’s in the primary. I don’t think she’ll make a dent either way.
In fact, I think this dovetails nicely with recent discussions about whether to remain independent or join the Democratic party and try to move it closer to our ideal.
Would it be fun to run and collect two or three percent of the vote?
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p>Grace, you are a very thoughtful person, and you have a great command of public policy issues. The question is, how do you translate that thoughtfulness into influencing public policy?
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p>Let’s start with the basics. Are you an enrolled Democrat? If not, you can’t even play in the caucuses that will elect delegates to the Democratic State Convention. You would need to get 15% of the delegates to get on the ballot. If you had a statewide base (say, a network of Democratic Party progressives) you might be able to get there, but you haven’t cultivated this base.
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p>You could run as an independent, and you could do well in the debates (again), but where does that get you? I mean, you’ve been there and done that already, gained a bit of respect, and doing it again turns a good memory into a stale rerun.
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p>If you want to run for something, don’t run unless you have built the base you need to win. I think the legislature would be better for your service, but you need to actually get there. Also, you can do much to get other progressives elected, and help us to get other thoughtful and driven progressives into office. There are a lot of DINOs in the legislature who need to experience the joys of a primary, and you could inspire their challengers.
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p>Don’t go away – we need you. Just don’t marginalize yourself with a second run for governor.
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p>Yes. And if you want to run, only do so if you assemble a strategy team, preferably with experienced members, and come up with a strategy that leads to a possible win; you establish a campaign budget and start fundraising; you assemble a field team that will be able to identify your voters and get them out on election day, etc. (for more ideas, just look at all of the lists of things people said Coakley didn’t do).
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p>For the most part, I’m not a big fan of campaigns that are run for purposes other than actually winning. Too often they just pull votes away from voters’ second choices, as others in this thread have noted.
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p>So, unless you are willing to run a real campaign for governor, please pass this time.
…caucuses are just weeks away. A serious candidate would have needed to start lining up delegate slates a long time ago.
Grace, you are certainly better qualified to be governor than, say, Scott Brown is to be a US Senator. Yet it’s worth thinking through deeply — and quickly, as the caucuses are coming soon. What will the impact on the progressive movement and our state’s politics if you win? What if — as is, much, much, much more likely — you lose?
let us hear your voice.
I have so much respect for you and everything that you stand for, but please, do us all a favor and if you decide to run for governor this year, run in the Democratic primary and not on the Green or other third party ticket.
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p>The center-left is going to have enough of an epically uphill struggle to hold on to the Governorship without splitting the left-of-center votes between multiple candidates in the general election. That’s just a fact. We live in a nation with an imperfect electoral system, so let’s acknowledge that and try and make the best of it.
Primaries are a great thing and I would certainly applaud just about anyone’s decision to run a battle for a party’s nomination, but even for those who are disappointed in what Governor Patrick’s done, I think they should quickly realize there would be a big difference between Patrick versus Mihos or Baker.
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p>So long as we don’t have runoff or instant runoff elections, I hope people who want to champion the social justice issues and causes of this generation do so from within the Democratic Primary. For those candidates who choose to do so, I will consider their candidacy — but without instant runoff, if they choose to run an independent campaign, I won’t.
I don’t know if you remember me, but I walked into you and almost knocked you over because I wasn’t looking where I was going after the gubernatorial forum at umass dartmouth.
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p>You consistently seemed to be the most sincere and the most amiable person running for the guv position. I would have much rather had a beer with you than either kerry healey or deval. If you run again, I may consider protest voting for you just because you’re so nice I want to hug you every time I see you speak, and mostly because, regardless of methods, you honestly care more about MA than GR.
Cahill’s biggest mistake IMO was running as an independent and not against Deval in the primary, over 60% of registered Dems in the last poll disapprove. Had Cahill run he might actually have won the primary and possibly had a shot at a two man race. Now he just serves to spoil against Baker and split the anti-Deval vote.
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p>Grace, if you are reading this, i think the lesson is clear. Deval needs to be kept honest, he needs to be taken to task for the promises he has broken, for the ineptitude of his administration and its cronies, and for not being the progressive he ran as. Maybe, you can win and we can have a real progressive. Worse comes to worse, you lose but Deval gets his progressive voice back and is reminded who elected him. Either way sounds like a win win.
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p>If you want a winnable race, I’d recommend running against Galvin-plenty of people in both parties would support that run.
Grace, I think you should run in the Democratic primary. You would be able to participate in television/radio debates and community forums with Governor Patrick over the next few months (I would hope…). This would allow you more access to potential voters at an early stage in the campaign than if you ran as an independent.
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p>But, whatever you decide, more voices and choices is always a good thing.
Grace,
Many people who followed your run for Gov. last time out thought that you were a value added to the debate and issues discussion. You were new and novel. But, since then, especially in the Worcester area, you have been increasingly viewed as someone who wants to run for anything and everything just to keep your own name in the public eye. It has become less about issues and more about Grace-who-enjoyed-the-spotlight-and-attention-and-wants-it-back. That is a shame because you do have something to contribute to the dialogue on issues. I hate to see you become “just another needy gadfly searching for attention” in the public eye.
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p>How about becoming a TV commentator or, better yet, the moderator of political debates.
Right now, the best thing you can do is try to hold Gov Patrick accountable to progressive thinking…running in the primary is the best way to do that. Even a remotely strong showing by you (which is a very good possibility, IMHO), would be seen as a major weakness for the sitting Gov- he’ll pretty much have to at least look like he’s listening to you.