The Somerville News, in a rather oddly written post that makes very creative (and possibly unintentional) use of fonts, has endorsed Joe Mackey for the 2nd Middlesex Senate seat.
Who is the Somerville News, anyway? Do they have a print edition, or are they only a Typepad blog? They seem to have inside sources who like to whisper to them about the goings-on in Somerville – at least, they claim to – but are they a real paper? Just askin’…
Please share widely!
The Somerville News is a weekly paper, with a real dead-tree edition that is distributed free around the city.Its journalistic standards are not especially high. They publish a lot of rumor and gossip, and don’t seem to do much fact-checking.
The Somerville News’ editorial slant is very heavily directed by the owner, who is a conservative Republican and a friend of Vinnie Ciampa’s. Since there’s no Republican structure to endorse or campaign for in Somerville, he sticks to lampooning liberals and choosing his favorites from among the choices at hand.They make the Somerville Journal look like the Washington Post.
The odd thing is, in recent years they’ve reached out heavily to the local arts community, co-sponsoring poetry readings and other literary events. They provide much better coverage of the local arts scene than the Journal does. It’s quite a contradiction with their politics (such as they are).
Also, the paper was started decades ago by Robert Publicover, who is openly gay and is HIV-positive. Publicover took out papers for the Senate race but then dropped out.
the Somerville Journal also endorsed Mackey today.
I can’t find the Journal editorial online. Was it only published in the paper edition?
You guys know of course that Bill White is hoping to take on Pat Jehlen. She is devisive. This district has voted repub before.Hmm.I know nothing about Bill White, but the right (moderate) repub could beat her. Not so against any of the other dems.I have been meaning to mention this. But hoped to have some info on White.REmembr, a dem vote is not needed in the state senate and a guy like trav likes a repub ally or 2 in the senate.
I think Bill White’s only chance is if Casey or Callahan wins the primary. Should that happen, he’ll get many of Mackey’s and Jehlen’s votes.
The Somerville Journal’s endorsement of Mackey is in today’s print edition, although I dont understand why it wouldn’t be at townonline.com also.Do people think this endorsement will have much of an impact on the election? Most importantly, I think this signifies Mackey’s momentum heading into Tuesday’s election. What do the rest of you think?
Did the Winchester Star or Medford Transcript endorse anyone? How about the Medford Daily Mercury? Is the Medford Citizen still published?
First of all, I have a very hard time seeing White beat ANY of the 4 dem candidates. Of the 82,000 registered voters in the district, I think around 10% are registered republicans. In order for White to win, the dem candidate would have to go completely AWOL between the primary and the general and that’s just not going to happen.And yes, that’s even if the dem nominee leaves a good number of dem voters unsatisfied. Any claim that one (or any) of the candidates won’t beat White is a joke.
If Casey or Callahan won the primary (a very doubtful prospect at this point), I’d say: who can best represent Somerville? Who is most intelligent? That would be Bill White.
I’d agree, but I think that too many people vote along party lines for it to make a difference.
To get some idea of the attitude of the Somerville News’ publisher, check out the comments by James Norton on this page.
eury, eury, euryMaybe I should just let the troll straighten you out. This isn?t rocket science?.anything can happen and yes that includes a Senator White. You know Sen. Shannon was elected as a Republican. You know there is a strong anyone but Jehlen group out there (there is trust me). You know the senate leadership isn?t looking forward to a Senator Jehlen.
Have any of the people here talking about Bill White’s chances (other than Ron Newman) actually seen this guy speak? Yes, he has his fans, but he’s not a candidate anyone wants to get behind. Rumpled, earnest, and hysterical may appeal to some people, but it’s not going to beat Pat Jehlen or anyone else.
You know Sen. Shannon was elected as a Republican.Uh oh. Now you did it. Everyone, get the plywood up over the windows.
Britain33, that’s the funniest thing I’ve seen here in… well, ever!
Bill White is Somerville’s token Republican alderman, and he’s pretty well liked, but anyone who suggests that he could beat Jehlen is on serious crack. Or simply has a decade-plus-old view of what this district is like. Somerville and Medford are very high turnover cities, especially Somerville. In the Somerville/Medford of the 80s, yeah, someone like Bill White would’ve had a chance. But I’ve looked at census data for both cities, and it jibes with my gut feel from personal familiarity (I know over 60 people in this district from social contexts, not political campaigns, in all four towns) – literally a majority of the current residents of Somerville+Medford were not there in 1990.In today’s Second Middlesex, the only chance Bill White would have is if Casey won the primary, and White came out strongly in favor of gay marriage. Because that’s about the only issue flashy enough and pressworthy enough to get a significant number of people to cross party lines.P.S. Eury: you overestimate the Republican contingent. It’s something like 7,300 out of 82,000 total registered voters.
Correction: I forgot that the ConCon date got set earlier this week, for September 14th. By the time people vote in the general on September 27th it’ll be a done deal, so White wouldn’t be able to use that. The only hope he has of winning is if the Democratic campaign is asleep at the wheel.
Cos said, “simply has a decade-plus-old view of what this district is like. Somerville and Medford are very high turnover cities, especially Somerville. In the Somerville/Medford of the 80s, yeah, someone like Bill White would’ve had a chance. But I’ve looked at census data for both cities, and it jibes with my gut feel from personal familiarity (I know over 60 people in this district from social contexts, not political campaigns, in all four towns) – literally a majority of the current residents of Somerville+Medford were not there in 1990.”Cos, You poor poor pathetic man. Not to mention an elitist bastard.By the way, how many of these high turnovber types will becoming out to vote in this special election. I bet alot of ole timers Bill white knows, and alot of Casey, Callahan, and Mackey supporters will to. And guess what? They all hate Jehlen. 1990 was not a long time ago for many many many many many voters. The type of voter that actaulklly shows up and votes. Medford and Somerville are crawling with them. And they don’t like Jehlen.
The above is if Jehlen wins the primary. That is only chance White has.
Hmm, you think Bill White’s only chance is against Jehlen, while I think his only chance is against Casey or Callahan. That probably means he has no chance 😉 I’ve seen no evidence of his campaign, but he’s probably waiting to see who he’ll be running against. (Brittain, why did you call him “hysterical” ? That’s not the Bill White I think I know.)
Watching him speak at the Green Line meeting at the High School a few months back. I’m sure he’s not hysterical in person, but he came across very badly, in my opinion. He may just be passionate but it doesn’t serve him well.
Troll, sure lots of people don’t like Jehlen, but if the sentiment was as widespread as you think it is, she wouldn’t have beaten Dane Baird 4-1 last year in the general election. Or are all those people so eager to vote against her for State Senate willing to support her but voting for her for State Assembly?You can’t gauge a district’s voting habits by taking your own opinions and multiplying them by the number of voters in the district. That’s a pretty elitist way of looking at things.
Dane Baird was pretty lame even for a Republican candidate. Near the beginning of the Somerville News debate at the Independent, he accused Pat of never having worked for a living. He never recovered from this and went downhill from there.
State Assembly….you guys crack me up!Let me put my crack pipe down long enough to suggest that Cos is correct in suggesting that someone doesn?t have a good grasp of the demographics in this district and let me suggest that dear old Cos keep away from all mirrors.
Britain, that race was completely different against Baird. In facty, it wasn’t a race. This is. Difference like her running in a claim’s race at suffolk downs v. a Grade 2 event at Santa Anita.And when the lion appears vulnerable even people she thinks are with her will strike. Privately, in the ballot box.