Two astute columnists at the Herald – Wayne Woodlief and Brett Arends – have columns that are well worth perusing today. Woodlief raises a bunch of questions that he – and I – would like to see addressed at tonight’s debate:
- How will Reilly – who wasted some of his precious TV dollars by rebuking millionaires Patrick and Gabrieli for not releasing their tax returns (a non-issue that usually makes most voters yawn) – deal with Patricks rebuttal in a session with Herald editors and writers Tuesday? Patrick said Reillys raising a red herring and snapped, If hed shown that much curiosity about the Big Dig, wed all be better off. …
- Will Gabrieli pull back the curtains on those backroom negotiations he had with Reilly on forming a team last spring, before Reilly jilted Gabrieli for lieutenant governor and turned (for a one-day campaign) to the tax-challenged Rep. Marie St. Fleur? …
- On taxes, Id like more detail from Patrick – who spurns an income tax cut in favor of lowering property taxes (with beefed-up local aid) – on exactly how hed persuade mayors and selectmen to cut the property tax instead of just spending the new money from the state. And how will Patrick and Gabrieli answer Reillys ad on the tax rollback? The spot says it would save the average family $200 a year and adds – in classic class warfare style – As millionaires, 200 bucks is nothing to them, but thats real money to us. …
- Reilly should be pressed on just how he plans to finance a fall run against Healey. Megamillionaire Gabrieli can match her from his own pockets. Patrick plans to tap his broad grassroots support that brought in a record $700,000 for August and on making this a national race, with the likes of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former President Bill Clinton coming in to raise big bucks. But Reilly – not even mentioning the $2 million the state Democratic Party seeks to raise for the nominee – simply told the Herald, You can always find a way. Well have enough to compete. Corner Office-starved Democrats may demand a stronger answer than that.
Good questions, all. Arends, for his part, says Gabrieli is the guy Christy Mihos and Kerry Healey are most worried about.
Unofficially? As a senior Republican strategist put it, Wed be happiest with Reilly or Patrick. And no wonder. Recent polls show Gabrieli doing by far the best against Healey in the November election.
The Republicans believe Reilly is a poor campaigner, while Patrick is too liberal and would be vulnerable on the issue of taxes. They also wonder if either could unite his party by Nov. 7. Patrick Democrats, in particular, are almost by definition anti-Reilly Democrats. Its why they first rallied to the rebel standard.
That’s the conventional wisdom, no doubt, though I don’t know of any real evidence that all Dems won’t rally around whoever wins on Sept. 19. Ginny Buckingham, as I noted earlier, disagrees with Arends and the CW – she sees Patrick, the outsider’s outsider, as potentially the biggest threat to Kerry Healey (and she really wants Healey to win – I don’t know who Arends is backing).
And the punditry never stops! It’s getting tough to keep up with it all.
