Following on the heels of his no-show in Medford, Secretary of State Bill Galvin did not appear at a forum in Worcester last night. My understanding (which may be wrong – feel free to correct) is that Galvin had not actually committed to the Worcester event. Many, however, were under the impression that he had committed to attend the Medford event, though a representative of his campaign says that isn’t the case. I have made inquiries of the Medford Democratic City Committee to see what their understanding actually was, but I haven’t got anything definitive yet. I’ll keep trying.
I’ve also emailed the Galvin campaign, not about these two events, but about the next two and a half weeks. I asked whether Galvin ever intends to appear with Bonifaz at a candidate forum between now and primary day. So far, no reply. I’m not holding my breath, but maybe they’ll surprise me.
Here’s where I am on this. I think that in general, Bill Galvin has done a respectable job as Secretary of State, and on some issues he’s been quite good. (Is there room for improvement? Sure. There always is.) And, as I’ve said elsewhere, I have some reservations about Bonifaz.
Nonetheless, unless Galvin shows up at some kind of public candidates’ forum with Bonifaz between now and primary day, at which the candidates have to stand together in front of an audience and answer questions, I’ll be voting for John Bonifaz on Sept. 19. No one owns these offices. The candidates owe it to the voters to appear with their challengers and to discuss the issues that matter in their respective races. Refusing to do so is arrogant, it’s anti-democratic, and voters shouldn’t tolerate it. Running out the clock is no way to run a campaign.
I know Galvin and Bonifaz have appeared together in the distant past, and that they’ve both been in attendance at non-forum events recently (like last Sunday’s Falmouth DTC dinner). Not good enough. As Galvin well knows, people are only now starting to pay serious attention to the election, particularly the down-ballot races like Secretary of State. Like I said yesterday, the office of Secretary of State is in significant part about ensuring that elections are conducted fairly. Part of that is ensuring that voters know who they’re voting for. A debate, forum, call it what you will, is one of the best ways to do that. Galvin owes it to the people he works for – us – to participate in at least one such event.
There are two “candidate forums” listed at Bonifaz’s website, one in New Bedford on Sept. 6, and one in Springfield on Sept. 14. So there are at least two good opportunities for Galvin to do the right thing (thereby moving me back into the “undecided” column). Come on, Bill, it’s not that hard. Just do it.
into wrongfully believing Galvin has accepted an invitation to these events?
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That is the question.
I don’t care whether Galvin did or did not “accept” either the Medford or the Worcester event. But I do think that he needs to show up at at least one such event before the primary. Don’t you think so too? Is that really too much to ask?
what actually were the events where he “shared the stage” with Bonifez?
Hasn’t there already been such events? Isn’t that Galvin’s claim?
From what I see Galvin has given this non-credible candidate much more respect than he deserves. The “play book”, which Galvin knows well, says to ingnore him.
Of course it does. But we’re all about changing the play book. Play book bad.
He’s done enough. He has not ignored his opponent even though the “play book” tells him to. You missed the point David. Galvin has been more than open.
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Tell me David. What do you need to see to make you a better informed voter? Have you had the opportunity to see Galvin and Bonfez at different times? Why do you insist that 12 times on the same stage does not exist? What information do you need that you have not been able to find?
What makes the event sponsors so special that the Secretary of State should be available and attend their event? Are you saying Galvin has gone into a bunker? Does the public and the voter not have access to him?
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Or
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Is it that Galvin is not kissing the rings i.e. asses of all these self-important groups that claim to speak for me?
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I think I see a poll in this.
Any candidate who is too afraid to appear at a candidates forum so the voters can ask them and their opponent questions is ignoring the voters, not the other candidate. I think voters should be outraged by this type of behavior. It is particularly troubling when it is the Secretary of State who is not giving voters every opportunity to meet with him and hear why they should vote for him as opposed to his opponent. I have decide to vote for Bonifaz partly because I think there is an attitude in Massachusetts, apparently shared by Bill Galvin, that once you have been elected to public office, it is yours to keep without much effort on your part. It is similar to the attitude reflected by the statements I keep hearing about Tom Reilly, that somehow he is entitled to be the Democratic candidate for Governor because he has been in public office for so long and has worked his way up “the ladder.”
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p>They were both at a Plymouth County Democratic League candidates’ forum back in January. I suspect that since then there have been dozens of other similar events.
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p>That said, Galvin I think that should agree to do a more formal debate with Bonifaz. Then again, shouldn’t Galvin wait until after the primary to debate Bonifaz? It’s not like Bonifaz is an actual Democrat….
For a minute there, I thought you meant Blogger the PLATFORM, not Blogger David…
Who would have thought it. You heard it here first. As for Galvin, if he won’t debate Bonifaz he gets the first BMG Chicken Award:
We’re holding a Sec of State candidate forum on Democracy (we being Brandies, spefically the DFA chapter is sponsoring it) on (hopefully) Sept 12. Galvin’s campaign has been frustratingly difficult to get in touch with. Bonifaz and Stein’s campaigns were both confirmed within a week of us inviting them (around August 7 I think), but Galvin’s campaign said they would let us know by yesterday, and I haven’t heard from Ari if they contacted him yet.. I’m hoping for at least a representative of the campaign, but we’ll see…
In my mind, the best measure of an incumbent’s responsiveness to the voters isn’t what they do in the couple of months before being up for re-election. (In fact, that’s one of the knocks on Lieberman, that he only shows up to events during re-election season). It’s what they’ve done through their term. I’d judge Galvin on whether I’m happy with how he’s been running his office and whether he and it have been responsive to public needs throughout his years in office.
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I completley understand the desire to see candidates together in public debates and forums. That’s my preferred outcome as well. But I can’t blame a guy too much who’s light years ahead in the polls for following the playbook that says there’s very little to gain and only a risk of loss from providing a challenger with that kind of exposure. It may take more work for the voter, but if each of the candidates is available in public forums separately, that’s usually enough for me to decide who I like.
I agree with TheOpenSociety that Galvin is disrepecting us voters by not showing up. And no, there haven’t been dozens of events where they were together. Bonifaz has been seeking a debate since March or April, but Galvin has avoided it completely.
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I do believe that Galvin is quite capable, able to be a fairly competent Secretary and is a shrewd political strategistespecially when it comes to protecting or advancing his career. I don’t mean to demonize Galvin, others have done that for me, and Galvin has contributed to that by his own political maneuvering over the years gaining the nickname “Prince of Darkness”.
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I believe Galvin is a conservative-leaning opportunist, known for sitting back on issues and waiting to see which way the wind will blow before making a decision. I don’t like the fact that Galvin is personally Pro-Life. I think a woman’s right to choosewhich involves a lot of complex issuescomes down to a simple basic right over her own body that needs to be respected. And I’ve read and heard that Galvin can be quite vindictive when crossed, seeking retribution in an old school, “Taminy Hall Democratic Machine” kind of wayall the more reason to vote him out of office, in my opinion.
It seems to me that, when it comes to his most important job responsibility, Galvin often just sits back and doesn’t do anything, regardless of winds. When I was first thinking about this race last fall, after meeting John Bonifaz and talking to him, that was one of the things that brought me around to the view that I wanted Bonifaz to run even if Galvin did decide to run for re-election (remember, at the time we were expecting an open seat).
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One thing that was happening then was the scandal in Lawrence. There was a hotly contested mayoral race, and the city had sent out notices to all voters, which notified “inactive” voters that their status was “inactive” without making clear what that meant. You and I may know that it simply means that because they didn’t return their city census, they need to bring ID to the polls; many voters mistakenly but understandably thought it meant they couldn’t vote. A group of Lawrence city councilors, appalled at this, appealed to the state Elections Division (part of Secretary Galvin’s office) for help… and got nothing. Time passed, and still, nothing.
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John Bonifaz went to court on their behalf. He sought a change of the municipal election date, so every voter who received that mailing could receive another one. There was very little time left, and the judge did not grant a new date, but ordered the city to run radio ads. It wasn’t quite enough (and Lawrence did have record low turnout), but it was definitely better than nothing. Had Galvin gotten involved, he could have done more, because he had more authority over the situation.
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I also learned that John Bonifaz was the person who went to court to defend the clean elections law in 2002, and won. I remembered that situation very clearly, it was the most important elections-related issue in our state for a very long time. In the back of my mind, I’d wondered what our state’s chief elections officer had done about it… so I looked. And it turned out that yes, this was another instance of Galvin doing nothing, while Bonifaz acts and gets results. Even though it directly relates to Galvin’s job.
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So, I started to connect the dots. This is a repeating pattern. Like with the DOJ investigtations and voting rights act violations. Galvin sits back. I want a Secretary who will act.
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So there you have it, a large part of the reason why, when Bonifaz said he would run, I asked if I could work for him.