In an AP article reprinted in the Springfield Republican newspaper, Chris Gabrielli accuses Deval Patrick being supported by a “small group of rabid supporters”.
I don’t see why he feels the need to go negative. The article clearly outlines the differences between Gabrielli and Patrick:
- Patrick wants to lessen the impact of charter schools on communities, Gabrielli wants to lift the cap.
- Gabrielli supports casinos in the state, Patrick says that casinos hurt the very people we should be helping
- Gabrielli now implies that he wants to immediately roll back the income tax to 5% (he implies this by criticizing Patrick’s opposition to an immediate rollback); Patrick wants to restore aid to cities and towns, and also wants to have room in the budget to spend to move our state forward
- Gabrielli opposes giving in-state tuition to the children of illegal aliens who have spent three years in Massachusetts high schools and who want to attend a public university. Patrick supports giving these students a break since Gabrielli’s position ultimately dooms them to the shadow economy.
Gabrielli should have stopped there. But he didn’t. He incorrectly smeared Patrick’s supporters as a small group of loonies. I guess he hasn’t been paying attention to the volume of donations, he hasn’t been paying attention to the lawn signs, he hasn’t been paying attention to the ground organizations in every corner of this state.
No, Chris Gabrielli seems to believe that getting involved in a campaign makes you a fringe lunatic. That does the political process a huge disservice.
While we are back here (Gabrieli is a charter school investor as well as an advocate), it’s interesting to note that 16 charter schools are on this year’s DOE NCLB list for schools in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.
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Berkshire Arts and Technology
Smith Leadership Academy
Benjamin Banneker (Restructuring)
Champion
Conservatory Lab
Sabis International
Neighborhood House
Lawrence Family Dev (Restructuring)
Lowell Community
New Leadership (Restructuring)
New Bedford Global Learning
North Central Essential (Corrective Action)
Salem Academy
Seven Hills (Corrective Action)
South Shore
Uphams Corner
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Charters get to set your own rules, get a premium price, and promised results BETTER than the public schools. 70% of the schools were at or below the traditional schools operating under the pressures of local aid cuts and all the evil union rules. 70% failed in that mission, and now we have a long string of charters on this NCLB list.
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Almost $200 million for a parallel school system, for what? Gabrieli’s profits?
So I guess going negative will? High risk, low reward panic mode sets in! When you start to hear that faint rumble of the millions of dollars spent once again going down the drain, desperate acts follow. IMHO, I surely wouldn’t be looking to alienate Patrick’s organization and I mean that in the big picture. There are a lot of decent people that just don’t make great candidates.
… he saw the Channel 4 poll?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Gabrieli launches his harshest attack on Patrick
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff
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Democrat Christopher Gabrieli this morning described gubernatorial rival Deval Patrick as “out of touch with the mainstream views of Massachusetts,” launching his harshest attack yet on Patrick.
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Speaking at a charter school* in Roxbury, Gabrieli said many voters were trying to decide between him and Patrick, and he thought it was important for him to describe the differences between them.
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*’nuff said?