Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Early Afternoon Open Thread

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Wow! Great stuff in the Comments for the Morning Open Thread below. People posting in from all over with reports about who is out holding signs, anecdotes about how “folks” are voting, and impressions of which candidates are lining up together. One theme I noted was that Patrick and Silbert signs are often described as being held by the same people. Interesting. But there are comments all over the place and from supporters of every one of the candidates, as well as excellent reports from races and districts that have received less publicity. Since a thread with over 100 comments seems to be long enough, here is a new one for all those dedicated afternoon poll workers, volunteers, observers and voters — even Republicans (how is that vote going?). Don’t forget the BMG Unity Party next week at a location TBA!

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  1. Earlier today, one of our volunteers called in to say that Diane Wilkerson’s people were inside the gate at the polling place even though the warden had told everyone they needed to stay outside the gate.  We advised him to approach the warden, which he did.  Apparently, she (the warden) eventually needed to call the police, who came by and got the Wilkerson people to clear out and stand outside the gate.
    Just now I heard that at another precinct, some Wilkerson volunteers were crowding the door, but they moved pretty quickly when the warden there asked them to.

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    Have any of you seen other instances of campaigns getting too close to the polling place door, or even crowding the door?  How have the local elections officials dealt with it?

    • P.S. With the 150 foot limit, sometimes voters approach from different directions and having more people at a polling place allows them to split up and cover more of the approaches.  So join us!  We can definitely use more people in the evening.  Call 617-848-0875

    • You’d think the incumbent clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court would know this one little bit of election law, but apparently not – she was right at the steps leading up to the entrance to the Holy name polling station this morning. Same thing happened there during the mayoral election last year. Every so often, a cop would come out, look around, smile, then go back inside.

    • I heard complaints that Andrea Silbert was camped in front of Arlington Town Hall this afternoon, and that the cops didn’t chase her out of there.  Townwide candidates would have been chased in a heartbeat.

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      Arlington
      strong turnout
      steady stream of Patrick voters

  2. I noticed from reading the morning thread that several people identified Reilly signholders as “known Republicans”.  Since the Dem primary is basically the only game in town today, I wonder how many non-Dems are actually voting today for strategic reasons.

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    From a moderate/conservative’s point of view, would it make more sense to vote Reilly to hedge your bets a little… i.e. you get a moderate/conservative in November no matter what?  On the other hand, do you vote Patrick on the belief that he’ll be the easiest to beat?  (Whether or not that belief is well-founded is a different question).

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    On the other hand, it’s also interesting that the Suffolk poll last weekend selected 400 Dems and 200 Unenrolled to make up their sample of 600.  If in reality participation today is roughly 50/50 Dem/Unenrolled, wouldn’t that result in a shift toward Gabrieli?  This is assuming of course that Patrick has his strongest support among committed Dems, but that seems like a fairly safe assumption.  The fact the Unenrolled voters outnumber registered Dems by a wide margin also makes such a 50/50 split sound like a more reasonable estimate than the 2:1 ratio measured by Suffolk.

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    Are we going to end today with a razor-thin margin between Patrick and Gabrieli?  I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing results posted here tonight!

  3. Hello all. Great open thread – I’m going to link to it on my blog.

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    My two cents aren’t as juicy as some of the other things seen at the polls today, but I passed one Second Suffolk polling place on the way to the one where I vote, and there were people handing out stickers for Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, Sonia Chang-Diaz, and Samiyah Diaz. But no Kelleher supporters/sticker-hander-outers anywhere. Is he still running or did he give up?

  4. Looking for info on other races; anyone, anyone?

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    Peabody- Fitzgerald vs. Spiliotis
    Saugus- Grant vs. Falzone
    Suffolk- Hennigan vs. Dello Russo
    Middlesex- Sullivan vs. Desmond

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    Are they working the polls & GOTV?

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    Anyone, anyone?

    • my parents’ yesterday feeding their cats (they’re out of town) they got a robocall from Spiliotis.

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      Today, there were people at the polls for both Spiliotis and Fitzgerald. (And that was it–nobody for any of the Gov or LG candidates at all).

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      I only have a cel phone so I don’t get robocalled 🙂

    • I was hanging signs last night and checking polls this morning for O’Leary (vs. John Rogers in Norwood and Walpole). Not that anyone is paying attention to that race, but… I will say this, there were a lot of “unenrolled” but self-identified Republicans turning out specifically to vote for Rogers in that election.  I had a couple folks who were registered repubs get angry that they weren’t allow to vote on a Dem ballot so that they could vote for Rogers.  WTF?

        • I know YOU noticed, that’s how I found out about it: thank you!  But I haven’t seen much followup discussion on it.  Understandable, I guess, with “bigger” races going on, but I had my eye on this one both because Leah is a friend of mine and because John Rogers…um, isn’t.

  5. I voted for Patrick/Murray this morning. But I am thinking that some how Reilly is going to pull this one out of his a**. I am in general a severe pessimist when it comes to elections such as these so take that for what its worth, but I really think Reilly is going to take this. I really, really hope I am wrong.

  6. I am leaving work early as I need to do a few errands before voting.  I still don’t know for whom I will vote.  I would identify my ward and precinct but for the fear I have of lolorb, aliceinflorida, stomv, Ryan and so many other Deval zombies.  I know if I told them where I was going they would form a gauntlet through which I would have to pass in order to vote.  I envision purple nurples, wet willies, nookies, shoe laces being tied, Native American burns (don’t want this post deleted like so many of my other ones), de-pantsings and wedgies galore.  You bullys.

  7. As of 3:45, it’s pouring in Pittsfield.  That can’t be good for WMass turnout, but it probably doesn’t matter cuz there ain’t that many people out there.

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    Will it get to Worcester before the polls close?

  8. Went back  to our polling place an hour ago to check the vote countand talked with election officials.  We’re on pace to exceed the 2002 primary turnout by roughly 15-20%.  Given that Deval will win the town in a landslide, that’s good news for the campaign.

  9. pulled off a culmative 5 and half hours of visibility so far today (at Waltham W9P1, break for class, and then W7 across from Brandeis). taking a break for some nap and rest legs. Heading back out around 5…

  10. The globe has a place where you can submit where you voted, how you voted, the quality of the baked goods at the polls, poll problems, etc.

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    At 4:00 some 104 had responded.
    Patrick 75%
    Gabrieli 21%
    Reilly 4%

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    Does this mean anything?

    • it means that i can have fantasies of Patrick winning by 50% o more.. but some dreams just aren’t going to come true. I’d be happy to see him hit 40-45% with a clear victory.

      • I would like to help you out Ryan, but the cold shoulder you have given me, along with countless zeroes dissuades me from doing so.  I look forward to your giving this post a zero as well.  Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.  I myself, would never give you a zero or even a three because I believe that every voice deserves to be heard.  Anyways, contact your little group and zero away.

        • a 0 means I think the comment should be deleted. I’ll allow others to decide whether or not this constitutes a direct, personal attack:

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          I would identify my ward and precinct but for the fear I have of lolorb, aliceinflorida, stomv, Ryan and so many other Deval zombies.  I know if I told them where I was going they would form a gauntlet through which I would have to pass in order to vote.  I envision purple nurples, wet willies, nookies, shoe laces being tied, Native American burns (don’t want this post deleted like so many of my other ones), de-pantsings and wedgies galore.  You bullys.

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          As far as I can remember, that’s the only 0 I’ve ever given. If I’ve ever given more than that, it’s just 1 or 2.

            • Dear Ryan

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              I did not mean to mount a personal attack on you.  It was a joke.  I like you.  I see that you really believe in your candidate and in the progressive movement; the fact that you work hard is evident.  I don’t always agree with you though. I am sorry that I offended you and apologize.  This is a legitimate and sincere apology. I am not trying to be sarcastic.

    • I posted for my town, which is west of Worcester, at noon, and it has yet to appear. But a report from West Springfield was posted, so who knows what criteria they are using.

  11. A comment from one of the poll workers was that the number should about double by 8:00pm; they’re expecting about 1200 voters, though I wasn’t able to get a sense of whether this is light, heavy, or somewhere in between.

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    There was one truck with Deval Patrick signs on it by the entrance to the school where the polling took place, and three or four hand-held signs closer to the school. There were also two Andrea Silbert signs about 20 feet further along: one leaning against a wall, and one held by an extremely cute little girl who was very excited when I waved back at her and smiled.

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    I didn’t see any other signs or indication that supporters of any other candidates were present. There was nothing in this week’s mail supporting any of the candidates, which surprised me.

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    There was also a quartet of fire trucks: they’re doing some construction at the school, and the masonry saws kicked up enough dust to set off the fire alarms. Second time today, too; the first was apparently just as the polls were opening. I didn’t find out whether that delayed the start of voting or not; the voting was certainly continuing during this second alarm.

    • The reported totals are 1019 votes for Governor on the Dem side (102 of those voters did not vote for Lt. Gov.), and 57 for Senator on the Rep side. So the poll worker’s estimate was a little high, but not bad.

  13. I think there maybe some homes with Deval signs whose residents may end up voting for Gabs or perhaps Reiily? I’ve seen this before. Hous sign locations can be gotten with a little effort. You would be surprised how many people say yes because they’re nice or feel pressured.

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    The Spirits from beyond are telling me the following:
    (yes, I have the gift)

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    First Place  Reilly
    Close Second  Deval
    Distant Third  Gabs

  15. Turnout is apparently low in Central Massachusetts which has sent the Tim Murray camp scurrying.

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    Tuesday, September 19, 2006 
    Primary turnout low

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    By Shaun Sutner
    TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
    ssutner@telegram.com

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    WORCESTER— With three hours until the polls close at 8 p.m., voter turnout across Central Massachusetts appeared low.

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    When officials in Worcester Mayor Timothy P. MurrayÂ’s campaign for lieutenant governor realized that turnout was going to be on the light side, they redeployed extra volunteers to Milford, Southbridge, Fitchburg and the Worcester-based House district where incumbent Rep. John P. Fresolo, D-Worcester, is in a tough fight with challenger Melissa Murgo.

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    Meantime, from a city phone bank with 36 lines, the Murray campaign targeted voters in urban ring towns such as Auburn, Millbury, Leicester and Shrewsbury, said Mr. MurrayÂ’s campaign manager, Joseph OÂ’Brien.

  16. …for Deval.  It turned out that I was working with Charlie Chamberlain of the DFA.  The material was Deval/Murray/Bonifaz.  Charlie made it extremely easy for a first time volunteer.  I was too bashful to do so before today… but I just called and within the hour I was doing my very small part.

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    As for the calling itself… alot of confirmed votes, alot of families voting together for Deval and alot of people who had been called 4,5 or 6 times that day.  Word was (at 3) that turnout was high in Gabrieli areas but that may have been just rumor.

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