Last night I went to Tim Murray’s kick-off fundraiser for his Lt. Gov campaign. A friend from Worcester has been talking him up for a while, so I went along. It was at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, which if you haven’t been there is an awesome place. Who knew such a great hall was in Worcester? It’s like Boston’s Symphony Hall, maybe 3/4 the size.
Actually, Worcester ain’t what it used to be, for anyone who hasn’t been there since Yaz was playing the carom of the wall. Worcester is happening– the restaurants, unbelievable. But anyway, the big city in the middle of this state is hopping, and Murray, who’s been mayor for a while, seems to be the reason. The Mechanics Hall event was SRO. I overheard a waitress say they planned food for 500 people and were running out– they figured 600, maybe 700 people were there. I believe it. And all the Central Mass pols were there — all lining up with Tim Murray. (No surprise)
He may be getting in later than the others, but I think this guy is the real deal. He can talk about actually doing things that work in government and making a difference. I’m keeping my eye on him.
Mike is right – Tim Murray has great potential, but he is not there yet. He is a good Democrat and is well on his way being a seasoned public servant, but it is a few years away. Turning out 500 people in a town where he is a popular elected official is not an expectation-beater – any mayor can do that. A part-time Mayor/full-time lawyer approach does not get one ready for the corner office.
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We need to look to the LG spot as one that compliments the Gov candidate from a skills, management, experience and ticket-balancing perspective and as I have noted on this board before, there is only one in the race right now who has real public service experience in multiple regions and towns in MA and that’s Andrea Silbert. Her work with vulnerable populations and economic development are proven skills that no other statewide candidate has – she has the management skills AND the policy skills to balance this ticket.
It’s nice to see other people interested in the LG race… but I have to go with FieldGuy on this one. There are both cosmetic and substantive reasons why Murray is not ready to be lite gov. Let’s review.
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1) Suppose Reilly gets the nomination and Murray also wins his little primary… that means that we have two irish white guys on a ticket against Healy and Brown. AND for those who think the cosmetics of a ticket dont matter see ANGUS v. BROWN. I suppose a Patrick-Murray ticket wouldnt be as tragic.
2) I was talking with Murray the other day about his fundraising goals and he said something around $750,000, which is all well and good except that it’s too low and 1/2 what Andrea Silbert is already well on her way toward raising.
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There are more but I’m sure there’ll be time for that later. Deb Goldberg, while a great woman, is totally not qualified to be LG… just because you inherit the stop & shop fortune doesn’t mean you should be a heart beat away from becoming gov… speaking of, how old is Reilly anyway… would there be a heart beat issue?
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Although Sam Kelley had the best food at his convention event, he only has like 7k on hand. Exit: Sam Kelley.
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Andrea is the leader who exudes 2006 potential. Now, let’s hope that she decides to campaign full time to match her excellent fundraising ability. On the experience front she’s the woman to watch — she compliments both Deval and Reilly because of her job creation skills and experience.
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The only possible benefit of Deb’s candidacy, now that I think about it, would be if she was willing to kick in some of her stop & shop fortune to the extent that Gabby did in 02.
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I think this will be a fun race to watch.
Field Guy and friend are missing the mark in a couple of key ways. First, Worcester is not only a very big city, with a day time population of 250,000 (second only to Boston) — it is the economic and cultural capital of Central Massachusetts. About a million people live in the Worcester metro area and more are moving in every day. That gives Murray a large and important political base. It extends to the South Coast because Murray has managed some of Congressman Jim McGovern’s campaigns. So Tim is a powerful political force– that helps the Democratic Ticket big time.
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As the chief elected official of Worcester, Murray has great influence and involvement in setting the agenda for the city and making sure things get done. He’s also chair of the school committee, presiding over a public school system with 26,000 students. He’s led innovative initiatives in the schools that have helped kids at risk, boosted graduation rates, improved instruction and reached out to adult learners as well. In Worcester about 80 percent of the families with school age kids send their kids to the public schools– that’s an incredible vote of confidence. Look at those numbers for Boston and you’ll see the gap.
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On environmental issues, Murray is clearly the leader. He is president of the state Brownfieldâs Association, because heâs taken on the issue in Worcester, launched cleanups of many sites, and his task force wrote legislation to improve brownfields cleanups across the state. Worcester is also recognized for its push to use renewable energy and for boosting commuter rail to help with auto emissions. All of these are Murray initiatives that wouldnât have gone anywhere without his leadership.
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For eight years, as a City Councilor and as Mayor, Murray has rolled up the experience and the impressive record of accomplishments on very difficult problems that clearly makes him the most qualified candidate in this field. The others are fine people and have done good things in their respective careers, but they don’t come close to Murray for public sector experience and accomplishments.