Personality
The first thing that comes through when listening to Andrea is her alert engagement with whats in front of her. She exudes energy and enthusiasm, and also has the edge we need when fighting off the attacks from the Republicans in the general election. Shes smart and quick, and understands how to get her ideas across without losing the interest of the average voter. She has rapidly become a polished speaker; though some on the blogs had doubts about her intensity at the beginning, she has proven that it is an asset, one that we need if we want to defeat the Republican ticket.
Positions
Although most of the candidates share my values, I find most often my exact views are in line with Andreas. Even if the state does not have much of a say, for instance, in the Cape Wind debate, her strong position for Cape Wind appeals to me. And she has the strength of character to follow through and lobby for what she feels the state needs. I have no doubt that shell not only make her views heard, but understood, and will fight for them.
Presence
At the beginning of this race, I wondered if voters would respond to Andreas intensity or be turned off by it. But in the final analysis, I find her ability to appeal to voters emotions on the one hand, and her excitement for the race on the other, to strike the right balance. Her stage presence is strong and dynamic. She comes across as honest, and shes believable as a leader. Theres in doubt left in your mind after watching her; she will remain as engaged and energetic after she is elected and fill out the roll of Lt. Governor, defining for herself a significant roll in the next administration.
Any ticket should be proud to have Andrea Silbert as their second in command, and it is my hope she will be the next Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
BMG is going to get pretty blogged down if Bob headlines every “endorsement” written by one person to express one person’s personal opinion.
<
p>
Strange bias detected.
This is a blog, not a newspaper. Each editor has the ability to “front page” User Posts they like. I believe they don’t consult the others before doing so.
<
p>
Bob has said he’s a friend of Andrea’s and has supported her from the outset. Charley and David have said they are undecided.
<
p>
And in fairness, you’ll notice that Bob also frontpaged Tim’s week-old Needham Times endorsement that didn’t contain a link to the article.
<
p>
Let’s see what he does/they do with today’s endorsements that I’ve posted and that others will presumably post as well as they become known.
There are 3 regular writers on LeftInLowell — Mimi, KRS, and Lynne — although you could call Lynne “Editor-in-Chief.” Of course there is a good number (?) of regular contributors.
<
p>
I don’t know to what extent the LiL endorsement was a collaborative or individual affair, although I suspect the latter.
which is also noted on my sidebar where the candidates are listed.
<
p>
We were thinking about getting together to do a group endorsement but with everything going on, there wasn’t time to organize one.
Welcome on board, Lynne! (Although I still maintain we have 3 excellent candidates.)