In an interview to be broadcast tonight on NECN, Kerry Healey told host Jim Braude that she backs efforts to expedite citizenship for the children of Milena Del Valle, who was killed when the Big Dig tunnel collapsed on her car. She also said that she would sign the recently-passed $8 minimum wage bill.
On the Del Valle family:
JB. I assume you read this morning that the Mayor of her hometown in Costa Rica has said the mother’s dream was to have her three children come to America. Democratic congress people, Kennedy are saying we are going to try to get those kids fast-tracked to come to America to become citizens. Do you support that?
KH. I hope they do do that. She was working so hard to bring her family to America. Obviously her death was a terrible tragedy and we in the government have contributed to that in some way. So I think its important to do something for her family.
JB. How are you going to respond to a lot of people who support you on immigration issues and say “no exceptions ever; it’s horrible but if she wanted her kids to come here she should have brought them here.” How do you respond to those people?
KH. I think this is an extraordinary circumstance and I think this is just a compassionate thing to do.
On the minimum wage:
JB: Let’s assume it made it to the Governor’s desk and you happened to be that Governor in late January rather than right now, at $8 with no indexing, do you sign it?
KH. I think I’d be talking to some businesses about some of their concerns…
JB. You’ve heard their concerns, you work with these business people. This is not that complex of an issue. It doesn’t include what you don’t like, indexing, it’s $8, does it get a signature, Governor Healey, or does it not get a signature?
KH. It gets a signature.
JB. It gets a signature?
KH. It gets a signature.
I agree with Healey on her positions here (though I also support min. wage indexing), but I wonder how her stated position on the Del Valle will impact any “make-immigration-an-issue” strategy in this campaign.
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I think this may go a little bit in validating what I stated here earlier, which is that immigration will NOT be much of an issue in this campaign. If it was, then even given the circumstances, she just made the conservatives who feel strongest about the immigration issue (i.e. the “no compromises! crowd”) much more unconfortable about her. Why would she say that if she’s planning on using immigration as a wedge against the Democrats?
she needs the votes of people who have, you know, a soul. Immigration won’t be the issue, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an issue.
Also an indication that she won’t be, perhaps, as lightweight a candidate as some think come the general. On the other hand, the fact that she couldn’t even get elected in Beverly suggests maybe some of those latter prognostications have merit.
Don’t forget Mitt Romney’s unfulfilled campaign promises, and his pre-election and post-election positions on things like abortion.
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Governor Romney is very different from Candidate Romney. Let it be known that this is typical Republican chicanery.