In bold type above the Secretary of State title is the name “William Francis Galvin.” To the right is his picture.
At first I thought this was a campaign site then I realized it was the State owned site. Thinking this might be a bit odd, I visited the state treasurer site, the state auditor site and, the state attorney general site…
Guess what. Two of four had their names above the title (Galvin, DeNucci). Three of four had their faces in the header (Galvin, DeNucci, Reilly).
Only Treasurer Timothy Cahill showed restraint. He had small picture of himself and it was below the header. Check out all the “constitutional offices” sites here.
This strikes me as wrong. These sites are about the office not the occupant. Yet, in two (arguably three) of these sites, the first thing you encounter is the seat holder (and in one case, Galvin, a candidate).
Since Galvin is up for reelection, I find his site in poor taste. I also feel that DeNucci has overdone it as well. What do you think?
Big surprise: on the Governor’s site, you get a whole lotta Mitt. What’s funny, though, is that on poor Kerry Healey’s site, it’s still pretty much all about Mitt. To look at her page, you’d think she was appointed rather than elected.
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Since it’s coming from Mr. “me, me, me”, I’m not surprised.
This is why Galvin doesn’t need to spend money unless Bonifaz can spend very large amounts to force him. As the incumbent, he’s been able to use state resources for name recognition for a long time now. He’s had that banner at the top of the secretary of state and elections division web sites since the first time I saw those sites, years ago. And since this is a downballot race, for a relatively obscure office (unfortunate, because it’s an important office), we’re gonna get a lot of voters who don’t know anything about the candidates. But they’ll recognizr Gavin’s name, and thus probably vote for him.
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Have you noticed that all Massachusetts voter registration forms have his name in full size print on the top right? Kinda seeps into voters’ background memory…
And thats why you havent made the bet, and thats why if you did Id gloat on election day. A competent candidate could beat Galvin, sadly in MA we have to choose between an entrenched mediocre incumbent or a very inexperienced disaffected Kerry lawyer whos main platform has less to do with the office he seeks and more to do with the bully pulpit he hopes to use.
I noticed that sometime in mid 2006, the MassPike toll tickets had “Matthew Amarillo, Chairman” boldly printed on the back. Heh…it’ll probably take the Pike years to work through the inventory.
Mr. Secretary Galvin has had his mug on every pamphlet, brochure, et al for over a dozen years!
As I noted above, he’s got his name at the top of every voter registration form. Talk about targeted name recognition!
…Go into any senior center, and look at the free pamphlets – How to Avoid Bank Fraud, the Facts About Blood Donation, Why You Should Get an Osterporsis Exam, etc.
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Galvin is on ALL of them!