Boston.Com is reporting Kelley will announce this afternoon he is dropping out of the LG race. The reason stated is trouble with signature certifications.
On getting out of the race, this is hardly a text book example of how to do it. Apparently, few Kelley insiders were given much of an advance heads up that this was coming. I’m talking about people that have put in significant time into this effort.
The real test of character is coming up. That is how the candidate decides to close out this campaign. Of course that also depends on how the candidate sees the future for himself politically.
A word to the wise: Politics is all about character and keeping your word. If you say you are going to do something, people expect you to do it. So the question is, for those Kelley supporters (like myself) that might wish to support Sam in the future: How did he close out the campaign? With Honor or without?
Where does this leave Kelley supporters regarding those most likely to pick up Kelley’s one’s? The first candidate to get Kelley’s list of “one’s” and call through it to offer condolences and ask for support could find some nice low hanging fruit. Best of luck in getting that list…
I hope he gets his money back.
Totally outta the blue there.
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Hard to say how this really affects things, as he really wasn’t going anywhere anyway. I suppose Murray folks will be happy that there isn’t another dude in the race, but that seems to me to be about it. (Any glee felt in the Murray camp on that front would be unfounded, as we are way beyond being able to play the gender card, or any other card, in MA. Look at Cahill v. Cahill in 2002, and look at the women that have been elected either statewide (Murphy, O’Brien, Swift and Healey) or in a large area (Coakley). We’ve already answered the question “are we ready for a female ____ ?).
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Other than that wrinkle, I guess it will help everyone but Goldberg, who now won’t be able to stand out as much because the other two should be able to raise a bit more $$ now.
Kelley wasn’t really raising any money before, so I’m not sure why Silbert or Murray (or Goldberg, for that matter) should expect a significant bump in fundraising now – doesn’t make sense to me.
I am also not sure what you mean by the gender card being played by Murray. You seem on a little tangent there and I don’t see the connection.
Silbert and Murray can say to potential donors: look, it’s a less crowded field, if you give to me and I raise enough, I can compete on the air with Goldberg, so invest in me as opposed to someone else. I think (but don’t know) that this tactic could work well with donors who were non-committal before and wanted to see how things shake out. It seems that each of Silbert and Murray could rationally make this argument and have some success. Who knows.
Meaning no disrespect to Sam, whom I like a lot, but for those of us who have been following the LG race for a while, it’s been pretty clear (at least to me, I don’t mean to speak for anyone else), that Kelley has been coming in fourth in support in just about every area.
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I think part of his problem has been that he’s been seen by a lot of voters as a one-issue (health care) candidate. That’s probably unfair, but it is clear that his passion is especially strong there.
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For that reason, as well as because of his knowledge and experience (and the fact that I happen to agree with his positions), I welcome him to the Patrick campaign. I think health care is right up there as one of the (if not THE) most important issues in voters’ minds these days.
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As to who gets his “1s” I don’t see a natural magnet. I suspect they’ll spread around. This makes it more likely than before that there will be only one ballot for LG, although from what I’m hearing that’s far from a sure thing.
Statement of Timothy P. Murray On Sam Kelley’s Announcement
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Worcester, MA: Timothy P. Murray, Mayor of Worcester, released this statement today:
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âI want to thank Sam Kelley for his willingness to step forward as a candidate for Lt. Governor. Both his passion and professional experience surrounding the issue of health care access for all citizens of the Commonwealth were important factors in making health care such a prominent issue during the course of this campaign. While I will miss Samâs good-natured humor and passion on the campaign trail, I wish he and his wife, Maria, the very best. I know Sam will continue to play an important role in shaping the debate and future of the Democratic Party.â
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as some people have noted already, was three-fold:
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1) He was more of a one/two-issue candidate;
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2) He didn’t fill any separate political niche (i.e. like Patrick fills as the “liberal” candidate in the Gov. race vs. Reilly’s “establishment/moderate” candidacy);
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3) Points 1) plus 2) equalled no money, and thus no name recognition.
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Pretty much recipe for disaster, so I can see why he dropped out here. I wonder if he’ll endorse any of the other LG candiates?
I saw Dr. Kelley speak a few months ago in Framingham. I was impressed by his knowledge of the intersection of medicine and public policy — and kept thinking that he’d make a good candidate for Commissioner of DPH or DMH. As a good politician who can be the back-up to the governor? Nope. He didn’t have a prayer.
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If there’s one thing we should learn from the last sixteen years is we should visualize the Lt. Gov. as a governor-in-waiting. The candidate needs to communicate that he/she IS a leader who can articulate a point of view about more than one matter, and at the same time can subordinate his/her ego to that of the governor’s. So far, NONE of the LG candidates have met that test for me.
To be honest, I have very little interest in the Lt Gov race, except if there is any one of the candidates who can help Dems win back the corner office. Kelley wasn’t going to do that. As far as I can tell, Goldberg or Silbert would help Reilly, if he is the nominee, and Murray might help Patrick or Gabrieli. Right now I think it best for them all to get their 15% and get on the ballot and let the Dem primary voters pick the best candidate. So who needs the 15% now?
I am not surprised Dr. Kelley stepped out of the race…from my experience, the campaign was disorganized, the candidate was not able to speak on a wide breadth of issues (as already discussed here), and honestly the Campaign Manager was not nice. Now, I know we are not in politics to be nice, but from my intereactions with Bob Colt, he should seriously consider taking a class on manners!
I did think Sam Kelley was a nice guy, but the next potential governor? Nope.
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And I find it ironic that someone with the username of “wonkette” is talking about adding manners to politics. 😉
This forum is for the exchange of ideas and frank discussion about issues, not taking cheap shots at people you don’t like. If you have a personality conflict with someone, have the courage to confront them directly, not anonymously on BMG.
I wasn’t suprised by the news — just suprised that there was no communication to those involved in the campaign prior to the news coming out. I’ve been volunteering for Sam since the state convention in Lowell and really believed in him. He’s an incredibly smart, compassionate, passionate man.
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Throughout the campaign though, there has been disorganization and dropped opportunities for internal communication. Top people and handlers would come and go from the campaign with absolutely no announcement to anyone else involved. It was REALLY frustrating. Since this was the first election I’ve worked with though, I thought maybe it was par for the course.
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I’m really sad/disappointed at how this has all turned out.