Seems Lt. Gov. Candidate and Worcester Mayor Tim Murray picked up an endorsement on his bus tour today. Congressman McGovern and Murray traveled from Springfield to Worcester to Boston to Fall River today and picked up a “surprise” endorsement from Mayor Lambert of Fall River.
Last week he picked up the endorsement of Mayor Barrett of Northampton…seems Murray has some ‘Mo.
Please share widely!
And every day I hear his campaign is getting stronger. He’s been a rising star for years now and I think it’s exciting to see him breaking out! I’m tellin’ ya this guy’s going to make a serious splash come the convention…
There’s a good story in the Globe about all four candidates. It seems like it’ll really come down to Murray and Silbert. I wonder if Reilly will choose a Lt. Gov candidate as has become the practice. What about Senator Montigny who’s long been rumored to be interested? That guy has a HUGE war chest.
I know we’re a bit sensitive here in the “real” (Worcester is central…) west, but John Barrett is NOT the Mayor of Northampton. He is the “dean” of MA Mayors and is from North Adams, which is, although not geographically, about as sociologically distant from Northampton as you can get! Actually, not really, but to explain the similarities and differences would take a lifetime. But read “Hometown” by Tracy Kidder someday and you’ll see that NoHo is not just a college/equal rights town.
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I’m also a HUGE Tim Murray fan. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. If Deval is ever nominated for VP, to whom would you want to turn over the Commonwealth?
pmbakid beat me to it – John Barrett III has been Mayor of the City of North Adams for over 20 years.
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I live in NAMA and have visited NoHo quite a bit, and there is indeed a world of difference.
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WF
One would expect that Murray would do well in the endorsement game among mayors and others in central Massachusetts. We also know too well the limited value of same, especially on a down ballot race. Our primary example of that would be Jim Segel, who had just about every endorsement worth anything, losing to ads exclaiming Tim for Treasurer.
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When the question is phrased as to whom one would want warming up in the bullpen, if Deval ascended further, it is fair to note that being mayor of Worcester is really a ceremonial title. To quote the Worcester T&G:
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“The Worcester mayor’s job is largely ceremonial: A professional city manager serves as the city’s executive. The mayor, while elected, mainly functions as chairman of the City Council and School Committee, and acts as an advocate for economic development and state and federal funding for the city.”
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Indeed, Murray also is a practicing attorney, not something one would expect of a true mayor, but he has the title, he may as well use it.
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Murray has been seen as the fair haired boy in the party for some time. He has a number of positions that are pretty compatible with the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, but I was curious as to what Worcester T&G columnist Robert Nemeth meant when he described Murray’s political philosophy as moderate.
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Finally, he will have to make a very strong show at the convention. Given the make up of delegates in the past, I would think that the two female candidates, Silbert and Goldberg, would be appealing. And of the two, Silbert has raised a pretty substantial war chest.
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Game On and don’t we love it 🙂
The Worcester paper also said this about Murray. “His professional and executive experience, solid political support base and record of accomplishment in Massachusetts’ second-largest city will serve him well on the campaign trail.”
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The paper is hardly a Democratic booster– editorials are often far right, so this is high praise.
That said, given the opportunity to have the endorsement or not…I’ll take it every time as would Silbert and Goldberg.
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As for the Montigny possibility, although I have no inside info, I think the Lambert endorsement would signal that he’s not getting in.
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It hard to believe that people are talking about Deval moving on when he is facing fairly significant odds in even getting the Democratic nod come come the primary.
The Lowell Sun today sees “Signs of a Meltdown” in the Tom Reilly for Governor campaign. The editorial written by editor Jim Campanini coins a new term: “Operation Dial the DA.” Reilly’s connections to John Conte, who has been in office for 30 years, rears it’s head yet again.
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Politically this puts Reilly in a difficult position in Worcester County where both he and Conte plan to be on the primary ballot in September, Reilly facing Deval Patrick (who already has the endorsement of Rep. Jim McGovern) and Conte facing Joe Early Jr..
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Murray considered running against Conte, so he’s probably no fan. By deciding to go for Lt. Gov. instead he left the field open to Early.
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The Reilly/Conte connection has some fascinating implications for the political calculus in the quest to get Worcester County votes in the Democratic primary. Conte undoubtedly has a base in the county. The man has been in office for 30 years! Does Reilly decide to cozy up to Conte in the campaign? Or will he distance himself? Their boat has sprung a leak. Will either of them throw the other one overboard?
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What about Bonifaz? Might he see an opportunity to make at least a dent in Worcester by coming out strongly against the DA? Which leads to the question of whether Murray might try to diffuse that opportunity by criticizing Conte first. There will be both costs and benefits to that.
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Reilly will have the opportunity to distance himself from Conte. Will he denounce the muck in the Worcester DA’s office? And there’s plenty of it. Just take a look at the anti-Conte Web site http://www.conte2006.com. Reilly has the chance to turn adversity into opportunity by acknowledging that it’s time for Conte to retire. He could thereby redeem himself among Worcester County voters who take both teen drinking and clean government seriously. Let’s see if he grabs it.
The top tier of the LG’s race is giving us a very clear choice.
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Andrea Silbert vs. Tim Murray. Anybody described as an heiress or with less than $10k in the bank will be left out.
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Good political skills:
Andrea: yes
Tim: yes
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Good fundraiser:
Andrea: yes
Tim: yes
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Great rolodex:
Andrea: yes
Tim: yes
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Years in full-time public service:
Andrea: 15
Tim: 0
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years as a full-time attorney:
Andrea: 0
Tim: 15
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Experience in statewide public service management
Andrea: 10
Tim: 0
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Cities served as public servant:
Andrea: over 100
Tim: 1
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Campaign message the same as Deb Goldberg:
Andrea: no
Tim: yes
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Campaign message that has been cited as top issue by seemingly every politician in the past week:
Jobs and the Economy
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What we need to fix if you want health care, education, local aid, transportation, clean environment :
The economy
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What that will do:
grow the state revenue
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What Deval and Tom are:
Lawyers, guys
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What the LG candidate should bring to the table:
Skills and attributes that complement Deval or Tom
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What that looks like to me:
Andrea Silbert
It is evident that there are people from the Silbert campaign posting on this Blog in large numbers and they are simply putting out a campaign message and spin onto this BLOG, which I strongly resent. Yes, I agree with the fact that is seems that the race will be between Murray and Silbert, but your breakdown on how Silbert is “the better candidate” is shear spin and misdirection. Let’s break it down for you, using fieldguys assumptions and campaign rhetoric.
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“Years in full-time public service: Andrea: 15 Tim: 0”
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I mean come on, saying that Silbert has 15 years of public service and Murray has zero. What do you call serving as mayor and city councilor in Worcester since the mid to late 90s. I don’t know about you, but I consider working to strengthen and bring back the 2nd largest city in the state public service.
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“Cities served as public servant: Andrea: over 100 Tim: 1”
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I think it is great that Silbert started a Women’s group that has a couple thousand people find jobs, but as Mayor of Worcester, Murray has lead and aided the city’s population of almost 1 million people. It is more important how many lives are touched and improved, due to public service. As Mayor, Murray started literacy programs, brought industry and jobs back a fallen city, promoted economic re-growth and improved public schools.
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“Campaign message the same as Deb Goldberg: Andrea: no Tim: yes”
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I’m sorry, but this is BS. How can you compare a billionaire heiress to a man who grew up in a working class family with parents who worked two jobs to provide for their family, and who worked to put himself through law school at night.
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“Campaign message that has been cited as top issue by seemingly every politician in the past week: Jobs and the Economy”
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Hmmm, I wonder why? Maybe because MA is one of the only states that is currently loosing population because people can’t afford to live here? Maybe, because unemployment is a major problem specifically hitting working class citizens across MA, from Boston to Springfield?
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“What we need to fix if you want health care, education, local aid, transportation, clean environment : The economy”
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Yes, we know. “It’s the economy stupid.” The difference is that Murray already has a history working and getting results on all of these issues. Education: One of Worcester’s public schools was chosen as one of the top 10 schools in the nation. Local Aid: Murray has been fighting for cities and towns to receive the funding they need to provide for their residents, and he has the most municipal experience to do so. Transportation: He has always been a strong proponent of expanding the commuter rail across the state. Environment: As an environmentalist he has worked to clear brown fields across the state.
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“What Deval and Tom are: Lawyers, guys”
Yes, they are two men. But they both come from working class backgrounds and worked hard to get where they are today. I am a woman, and I believe there should be more women in office – but they should be the most qualified for the job. And I don’t think that Silbert is the most qualifies candidate for LG.
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“What the LG candidate should bring to the table: Skills and attributes that complement Deval or Tom”
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What that looks like to me: Tim Murray
PolFem and FieldGuy:
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You’re right: FieldGuy clearly is a Silbert fan, and has made no bones about it. And you’re clearly a Murray fan. Both of you are still good democrats and are allowed to have your preferred candidates. But unfortunately, both of you got carried away in hyperbole. Fieldguy, you exagerate the numbers in some of your items (communities touched, etc…); PolFem, you did too (Worcester population is maybe 200K, not nearly 1M). What’s amazing is that we have BMG to thank for offering this forum. It’s clear that BMG is going to be the place where people look to for Mass. Dem info – it’s the DailyKos/AmericaBlog for MA in 06 – and that rocks.
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Look, what’s clear is this: there’s a 2-tiered race between Silbert and Murray (unless Goldberg pumps some that “heiress” cash that everyone keeps talking about – does it even exist? Why wouldn’t she have done so already? I digress…) and there are 2 messages: local aid (Murray) vs. jobs/economy (Silbert).
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Both are core Dem issues, both will attract voters, both are legit, and it will likely come down to who raises more $. If they’re equal in their ad buy, it’ll be on who has a more memorable ad. Period.
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Now let’s go all get ready for the caucuses.
Except for fieldguy, I haven’t noticed any recent pro-Silbert comments. As a pro Silbert person, I figured I’d sit out Murray’s recent wave of ink…let him (and his supporters) bask in the glow of announcement week. It’s early and things will get back to normal soon. So, I’m not sure what you’re talking about regarding recent pro Silbert posts.
I just want to apologize if my post was taken to be negative in anyway. This was not my intention. I sometimes forget that my comments don’t read the same way that I see them. I am fairly sure I said nothing negative about Silbert, and I am sorry if the tone of my comment was misunderstood as negative tension rather than sarcastic humor/rebuttle. As for my lack of fact checking, that was an obvious mistake from which I am embaressed. I truly respect Silbert for all the work she has done, and I believe she and Tim Murray are both strong candidates. I wish them both the best of luck.