It’s below the fold, but there’s a photograph. On the front page of today’s Globe, readers saw the following:
Running after a little respect
Political newcomer seeks to unseat Galvin
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff
MEDFORD — The ornate Alden chamber at Medford City Hall buzzed with anticipation.
After months of mostly ignoring his earnest and relentless opponent John Bonifaz, Secretary of State William F. Galvin had finally agreed to debate him, at a candidates’ night, Medford Democrats said.
Bonifaz arrived early, primed for combat.
“A person who holds that post ought to know how important debates are,” he said. “I’m glad he’s joining me tonight.”
The 7 p.m. start time approached. Galvin had not appeared. Everybody anxiously eyed the clock. The minutes drained away.
Finally, at 6:50, organizer Joyce Ball urged Bonifaz to take his seat. Bonifaz hesitated, still watching for Galvin.
“It’s late, and I don’t know where Mr. Galvin is,” a worried Ball said, adding, “You’d think he would have called or something.”
The rest of the article – which is quite long – talks about the dispute between the Bonifaz and Galvin camps regarding debates, and more generally about the “under the radar” race for the Secretary of State primary.
Confusion over whether Galvin was or was not confirmed to attend the Medford event continues. According to the Globe, “Medford Democrats said” that Galvin had agreed to attend, which is consistent with what BMG reported earlier this week. But, the article says, “Galvin had told the Globe earlier Wednesday he had never agreed to appear in Medford.” Who knows.
As the Globe correctly states, “there are good reasons for [Galvin] to avoid direct debates with Bonifaz, which would only raise the visibility of a race few voters have been watching.” Raising the profile of the race of course benefits Bonifaz, so today’s article must be making the folks at Bonifaz central happy.
I still think Galvin should debate. And until he does, or at least promises to do so, it seems appropriate to move Bob’s excellent graphic from the comments up onto the front page:
You had better run and hide because Galvin is going to be really ticked off at the chicken thing. The Prince of Darkness usually likes to be portrayed as a goat’s head.
Does anyone know why Galvin has that nickname? I have heard it from some other people, but they could not remember how it got started. Should someone who has the nickname of “Prince of Darkness” even be the Secretary of State whose office is responsible for ensuring fair elections and public records law compliance?
was floated here.
I, for one, am very happy to see a major newspaper give this important race some attention. On the other hand, I’m saddened that it took Bill Galvin’s refusal to give the race the attention it deserves, to get it into the news, and that consequently, the article is more about that than it is about the issues and the candidates. If Galvin had engaged sooner, we could’ve had some articles in the Globe about what the Secretary does, about the two candidates’ backgrounds, about their different plans and visions for the office.
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I encourage people to write the Globe a letter. Thank them for covering this race. And while you’re at it, suggest that they follow up by writing more pieces that will inform voters and help them decide who to vote for.