IMHO, none of Tom Reilly’s opponents can stand toe-to-toe with his record of accomplishment on behalf of Massachusetts citizens. They are each accomplished in their own right, but when it comes to Massachusetts, there is campaign rhetoric and then there is the only real record of leadership and results. . .
On Sept. 11, 2001, there were those in state government who wanted to call off a special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Joe Moakley. It was Reilly who said no. If there was one day that we were going to show the strength of our democracy, it was going to be that day, Reilly said during last weeks debate.
Someone had to be the grown-up. On that day and on countless other occasions it was Reilly who calmly and resolutely played that role. Thats exactly what he did to save Harvard Pilgrim Health Care from imminent collapse, and preserve health insurance for more than a million people.
Being a true leader is about more than simply doing what feels good. It requires the presence of mind and the higher sense of purpose to discern what is achievable, what is important, what truly matters in the face of complex issues, and a willingness to get the job done. . .
We shared Reillys obvious frustration at not being able to haul high-ranking officials of the Boston archdiocese out in handcuffs, still his report on clergy sexual abuse pointed the way toward reform, toward preventing such crimes in the future, and last week toward legislation aimed at extending the statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children.
Tom Reilly (a Maverick Dem in his own right!) has always been willing to stand up to our own Party, as a true Party leader should – a quality that our nominee absolutely, positively must possess in order to appeal to independent voters. . .
And when it became a public embarrassment to have the ethically impaired Bill Bulger remain as president of the University of Massachusetts, it was Reilly who went public, telling him it was time to go.
That kind of courage, that kind of integrity is hard to find in public life these days.
Tom Reilly is so much more than a successful prosecutor and Attorney General. He is a fundamentally decent man with a profound respect for the responsibilities of public office and faith in the wisdom of the people. He cares passionately about our children, especially those who – like the younger Reilly once did – need somebody to believe in them. That somebody should always be their Governor. Sometimes, representing those interests require taking a stand against traditional Democratic interest groups on sensitive issues, as a good leader must do. . .
Yes, being governor requires a grasp of a far broader range of issues. But there too Reilly has given every indication he is as solid as he has been for the past eight years as AG. He is a stalwart supporter of MCAS as a graduation requirement, merit pay for teachers and early childhood education.
On taxes, Reilly has heard what voters said in 2000 when they overwhelmingly approved the rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent. I feel very strongly about it, Reilly said. Wow, a leader who believes people mean what they say.
I’ll let the Herald’s strong finish speak for itself. . .
But a governor needs to be about more than policies and position papers. A governor needs to have strength of character. Tom Reilly does, and the Boston Herald is pleased to endorse him in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary.
NT
Perhaps reports of his campaign’s death appear to be premature…suffocation by wishful thinking is rare.
But the Herald didn’t mention my blogging addiction, so all credit appropriately goes to Tom Reilly! 😉
I can’t believe you have the time to waste commenting on a useless endorsement by an embarrasingly low-quality rag.
Hey, plenty of people read that “useless rag”…probably more Mass. voters than read the Globe.
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If we’re going to burn tons of time on the Phoenix‘s latest “investigation” that Reilly doesn’t trim his toenails evenly or whichever, I’m okay with highlighting the endorsement of what may be the most influential paper in metro Boston.
had more a circulation that was larger than the herald’s by over 150,000 last time I looked (which wasn’t long ago)… so I would say you’re decidedly wrong. Furthermore, the quality of that paper is dubious and pretending that’s not the case isn’t going to change that fact.
of the Boston Globe is about 1/3 more than the Boston Herald. Of course, add in the Springfield Republican and Cape Cod Times and maybe that gap is closed.
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As for the “quality” of the Herald, that’s subjective. I seem to recall many, many Patrick supporters complaining about the quality of the Globe’s coverage too.
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What isn’t debatable is that those who do buy the Herald likely enjoy its quality so nothing we say here is going to change that fact.
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The Globe has a significantly larger interstate circulation, and is read by powerful and would-be powerful people around the country and the world. The Herald isn’t. Once you take out the interstate circulation, the Herald has slightly more readers.
Even the Herald cannot be that…
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Actually, now that I think about it, the Herald is relatively conservative so why wouldn’t they endorse Tom Reilly during the primaries- someone Kerry Healey could actually beat easily during the general election. Brilliant!
I know how pleased I was the other day when I got the news about the Globe endorsing Deval — enjoy it. None of us know what the future will hold.
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We all put a lot of energy and emotion into our candidates, and all three of the Dems have admirable qualities worth that kind of investment. I say: keep on truckin’ until the voters decide.
I am always suspicious of the Herald’s motives when they endorse candidates in Democratic primaries – especially given their “Republican” leaning frequency. Reilly’s quote in this morning’s Herald makes me more suspicious.
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$ 0. Thats how much Attorney General Tom Reilly said will be left in his campaign war chest at the end of the primary race. Therell be nothing left in that tank, Reilly told the Herald last week.
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This sounds like a perfect guy to line-up for Kerry Healey. An insider (like Healey except he would be broke with many donors maxed out; also having Reilly instead of Patrick or Gabrieli takes the “outsider” angle away from the Democrats) who had a very tough night last Thursday. There’s enough material in that performance for a couple of Saturday Night Live episodes.
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That said, maybe the Herald is pure in their motives on this occasion. Congratulations are in order regardless!!
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PS Welcome back Mav Dem – we were concerned that we might have lost you after Thursday night! 🙂
Good to be back. Call of the search party (if there was one).
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I hope Tom Reilly spends every nickel. It’s like a one-game playoff in baseball. You don’t save your best starting pitcher for the next series because you need to win the game at hand.
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Plus, that’s why the good folks at Mass Victory ’06 are raising money to infuse our nominee’s campaign on Wednesday. There will be large sums of state and national money pouring into this race, regardless of the nominee.
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As for the money issue in general, I’m unpersuaded that a candidate’s wealth , i.e. Gabrieli’s, makes him any more deserving of my vote. It ranks low on my list.
…which is not just a report on the Herald endorsement, but a statement of your own support…and address why you still support Reilly in the face of all his disappointments, and why you feel others should support him in spite of them all.
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– Naming St. Fleur as his running mate; then turning away from her within 24 hours in an easily avoided debacle.
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– Coordinating media opportunities with a group trying to attack another candidate, a shady action which is almost certainly a violation of campaign finance law in both letter and spirit;
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– Choosing to make as the focus of his most-publicized debate performance a gossipy speculation that the Gabrielli campaign may have leaked news related to the afore-mentioned St. Fleur fiasco.
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– Displaying a lack of political savvy that would be, uh, helpful in a governor (“Politics isn’t my strong suit”)
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These are just the big problems in a campaign that has often been painful to watch. If you are serious about presenting a case for Reilly that I and others at BMG will consider, you need to address these issues.
any of my dozens of diaries or hundreds of comments to see why I support Tom Reilly for Governor.
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If you are looking for perfection, try God (although there are plenty of divisions within that camp as well).
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My diary focused on the Herald endorsement because it was about the Herald endorsement.
I was just giving my 2 cents on how you could actually address the thoughts of people who aren’t already in the Reilly choir. Your diaries highlight Reilly’s positives but do not appear to address his negatives. Accusing those who have issues with Reilly’s gaffes of looking for “perfection” is laughable. We’re looking for someone who isn’t going to embarass us.
this place is a bastion of Patrick support. That is to be expected, since blogs are typically liberal or conservative. You don’t find a lot of “moderate” blogs.
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Given the uneven numbers, if I were to spend my time here playing defense, it would be a full-time job.
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I think some readers (see: MFW below) appreciate my point.
…but I think you’re being lazy. And I feel I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t mention it. We all come here for discourse, let’s have some. If you’re tired or busy at the moment, fine. Come back when you have a moment.
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You work so hard to build credibility on this site, why don’t you make use of it, by addressing some of the real thoughts on people’s minds about your candidate of choice.
But you still seem to be missing my point, which perhaps i am not articulating effectively. The ratio of pro-Patrick commentors to pro-Reilly commentors is considerable. Personally, I think that says as more about the ideological leanings of the blogosphere than the current state of the primary campaign.
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I spend much of my time promoting my candidate because defensively fielding every question would occupy me completely.
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I’m not being lazy or disrespectful – just pragmatic about what I can accomplish with the time that I have.
when to go full steam ahead, and when to say, “Ok, that’s a problem, people are going to be avoiding my eyes and side-stepping towards the door until I address that; then and only then, I can proceed with my case.”
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That’s assuming you are trying to persuade the readers of this site. If you are saying the problem is there are too many Patrick supporters here for you to feel effective, then it’s not clear to me why you blog at all.
there are far, far more BMG readers than commentors. (Just look at the BMG Traffic Report).
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The commentors are hard-core supporters. Converting them is like asking a Red Sox fan to wear an A-Rod jersey – my time is better spent elsewhere because it usually leads to a useless, totally avoidable fight. (Not to mention that many questions are designed to evoke just that kind of scenario.)
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So, while the other commentors are certainly part of my audience, they are not my primary audience and most certainly do not dictate what I write about.
While I see your point, and believe it may apply to the most casual readers of those looking at BMG, most of the readers here probably read almost as much stuff as the commenters do, and so they can be considered from a similar viewpoint w’r’t how to persuade them.
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In any event, right now imho we’re all saturated and there is not much demand for yet another why-Candidate-X-is-cool piece on any of the gub candidates. Yet there might be strong interest in a well-written piece entitled “Why I love Reilly: gaffes and all” or some such that could speak to the flak he has taken recently, and make a thorough and compelling argument that the flak is misplaced, that it in reality showcases his strengths not his weaknesses, and that he is still the man for the job. I believe that’s the best way to talk about Reilly right now to just about anybody in MA who reads the news or visits this site.
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I’m not a Reilly supporter so I don’t care if you do this or not. But I do think such a post would be beneficial for the dialogue at BMG and for the debate in general.
that although I think vigorous backing for tom reilly is one of the more peculiar forms of collective enthusiasm to be seen in these parts for some time, and though I suspect its vehicle will be out of gas shortly, the above post contains one of my favorite rebuttals of this or any election season: “If you are looking for perfection, try God (although there are plenty of divisions within that camp as well).” It’s the parenthetheical conclusion that cracks me up. I look forward to the moment when that wit gets turned entirely on the common Republican opponent.
In the volume of my posts, it’s nice to know that I have produced at least an ounce of wit! 😉
Although disagreeing with just about everything he says, I have appreciated MavDem’s insights into the Reilly campaign and his willingness to stick his neck out in this somewhat hostile environment.
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I sincerely hope he has been wasting his breath, but I do want to tip my hat to his openness and (for the most part) constructive contribution to an open debate.
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At this time, when we are all remembering and contemplating what happened 5 years ago (see Sco’s eloquent post), I think it’s important to keep in mind what distinguishes our culture from the unattractive alternative, of settling disputes by means of force and violence. I’ll take MavDem’s slings and arrows any day rather than go there…
I wouldn’t be asking him for his thoughts if I didn’t.
rather quickly offered. . .but I hope you appreciate the point that I raised above. I could do nothing all day except field questions like this.
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So there you have it. I hope my answers were helpful.
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Now about that Herald endorsement!
Although, regardless of the outcome, I will never feel that I was wasting my breath in supporting Tom Reilly’s candidacy – and I still feel good about his prospects on Tuesday.
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I appreciate your high-minded approach, especially as the end of the Primary draws near.
“Goldberg as No. 2
By Herald editorial staff
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
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There is something enormously attractive about a candidate who has spent much of her career in the business world and then decides its time to give back to the community through public service.”
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Oh. So that’s why they endorsed Reilly. Clear as a bell.