The Cape Cod Times reports that Harwich resident Andrea Silbert has thrown her hat into the ring for Lieutenant Governor. The former head of the Center for Women and Enterprise says creation of new jobs is her primary priority. The newspaper reported: "Silbert knows a great deal about job creation, having founded the Center for Women and Enterprise, which since 1995 has helped create 14,000 jobs and $400 million in new wages here and in neighboring Rhode Island. That?s an impressive accomplishment when compared with this state?s ranking of 48 out of 50 states in job creation, Silbert said. The number of jobs in this state is down by 170,000 since 2001 and 20,000 under the Romney Administration. ‘He (Romney) campaigned on a strategy of bringing large business to Massachusetts,’ Silbert said. ‘The only way to create jobs is through small business. I didn?t support Romney in the election, but I thought he?d get the economy rolling. He didn?t do that.’"
The ever vigilant readers of BMG should know that Silbert and I went to college together and have been friends for more than 20 years.
I (and the Silbert for Lt. Gov. bumper sticker on my car ) thought Ms. Silbert’s hat was already in the ring. I guess that makes me an early adopter. đŸ™‚ I first saw Ms. Silbert at the DSC meeting in Ayer and was impressed by her message of being a more visible Lt. Gov. and her experience with CWE in creating jobs. She stood out from Deborah Goldberg and Sam Kelley. I can’t remember a single thing from either of their speeches. I met Ms. Silbert at the convention at Lowell, and had an opportunity to talk to her about education, child care, health care and creating jobs. We had a good discussion about how they all tied into each other and a greater sense of quality of life here in MA. Andrea Silbert is a very strong candidate and I came away wondering why she wasn’t running for Governor.
The one thing I remember about Andrea Silbert at the Lowell convention is that she scolded the crowd at the Kennedy breakfast/rally for not being quiet while she was speaking. I know that the crowd was being rude, but it left kind of a bad taste in my mouth.That said, Rep. Kaprielian is apparently a fan of Silbert’s, and I have a lot of respect for her opinion.
Good timing, I just had noted the Chronicle’s article on my blog; I, too, have been impressed with what Andrea brings to the table and will be helping her with some events here on the Cape. Goldberg has been pretty adept at raising money in and around her Brookline axis. The type of work Andrea has done, I believe, is very compatible with what we need coming from the State House. That said, the race is still fluid, with other names (Montigny and Mayor Murray of Worcester are 2 I’ve heard) being bandied about.
I really like Andrea, having met her a few times. I think she really would bring something powerful to the Lt. Governorship. It’s too bad that she’s a green politician; Goldberg has done a much better job working the insider connections that are really what this race depends on (e.g. Andrea didn’t host a party at the DSC, but Goldberg did), and as Sco notes, Andrea committed one of the greatest crimes a candidate can at the DSC Kennedy breakfast.So she’s one of those people who’s better qualified but a worse candidate, and so probably won’t win.
Assuming poster Bob Neer is correct, Andrea Silbert “says creation of new jobs is her primary priority.” She also sayd, according to the Cape Cod Times article quoted, that “The only way to create jobs is through small business.” While improving the employment scene is certainly a priority in Massachusetts, it is certainly not the only issue facing our citizens. Our public education system, for example, has taken a beating under the Romney administration. Police and fire departments are under-funded, contributing to increasing crime rates, outrageous insurance costs, and more. Libraries are closing or cutting back hours, homeless women and children are finding it harder to pull themselves out of poverty, our roads are in a shambles…the list goes on and on. Yet, Ms. Silbert chooses to concentrate on just one of the Bay State’s problems — and just small businesses within that one issue (many small businesses are started when desperate unemployed folks stop looking for work and “go into business.”). We need a lieutenant governor who will listen to the needs of the people of this Commonwealth…who knows the struggles at the local level…who can and will find ways to fund the government services that affect each and every one of us, every day of every week. My vote is going to Deb Goldberg because she’s already indicated that she hears us and cares.
If Deb cares and hears so much, why hasn’t she worked a day in her life? Her lack of experience in, well, just about anything is kind of alarming as a potential replacement governor. Tim Murray or Andrea Silbert are much better candidates.
I did a google search for Tim Murray’s campaign website, came up empty.Has he announced? Does he have a website?
He does http://www.timmurray.org. Some things that are glaringly missing from Tim’s website are his positions on core dem issues such as death penalty, choice and gay marraige.He doesn’t seem like statewide material or a good ticket balancer at this point in his career. Maybe in a few years.