The primary’s getting closer, and I’m still undecided on the lt gov race. I know I’m not voting for Deborah Goldberg, but am still trying to decide between Murray and Silbert. So my latest tactic is to try to outline issues that are most important to me AND that I think there’s a chance the lt. gov might actually be able to affect.
Right now, I’m leaning toward Murray, in part because I don’t think the lt. gov. is going to be setting economic policy for the state. I think the governor’s going to keep primary influence on that. It’s great that Silbert is focused on job creation, but I don’t think that’s something the LG will actually be doing. I think the LG is more likely to have influence on relations with cities & towns, which is where Murray could have an effect. But I’m definitely open to other opinions here. This is a tough call for me.
1) I think Silbert will help peel away some of the suburban soccer mom vote that might otherwise be drawn to Healey.
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2) An immensely important issue for me is campaign finance reform (one of the reasons I support John Bonifaz). Silbert has called the way we privately finance our campaigns as the “single greatest threat to our democracy”. I’ve heard nothing from Murray on the issue.
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3) Silbert supports Cape Wind. Murray still tries to portray himself as “undecided”. How long can he honestly say he’s undecided on such a hot-button, much-discussed issue?
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3) Murray ruled out-of-order a Worcester city resolution against the Patriot Act.
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4) One of the key roles of the LG is the governor’s “attack dog”. Silbert seems to have a pretty tough demeanor and willing to through some verbal punches if need be.
“Building the Bench” of the Democratic Party is another angle to consider in your choice. First of all, I commend you on your choice on not considering Goldberg, she is no where near the talent, experience You have a clear choice for LG between a career politician who has come up the traditional way and has been a good and honest leader in Murray and a a career public servant who has chosen innovative and entrepeurial non-profit work in social and economic justice as her route in Silbert (it’s worth noting that jobs is not her sole message, just her main focus. She’s also discussed the environment, housing/homelessness and transportation – all things an LG can impact).
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Massachusetts has been a generator of strong Democratic leaders, but gender diversity and non-politician political paths have been few and far between. Look at our congressional delegation. Diverse it ain’t. One of the reasons I am supporting Andrea Silbert is that we need to make sure that political offices are not limited to career politicians or the wealthy. Andrea Silbert is a middle-class mother of 3 and a wife. She lives like most of us live. Tim does too, but he has chosen the career politician path. I don’t begrudge it, but we can’t let this be the only way we choose leaders unless they are wealthy.
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We need to build our party’s bench and we can’t only do it with the career insider or the wealthy. Andrea has the smarts and experience to be a tremendous LG. She has also has the gender, lack of obligation to institutional insiders and life experience to shake up our party and our state in a very good way.
Murray has been a Democratic activist, worked to replace Peter Blute with Jim McGovern, got elected mayor of Worcester. He has done good work all the way up the ladder. How does it build the bench to bypass him for someone without a track record?
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Andrea Silbert should start with a little less ambition. State rep? Selectman? School Committee? Library trustee? Traditionally, the lieutanant governor has lots to say about the relationship between the state house and local government, but has no real role in creating jobs in the private sector.
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I’d rather have someone who has worked his way up, done well, and has earned his shot with a track record in government. Bypassing the hard working local people for someone like Silbert actually discourages Democrats from acting locally.
First, Andrea Silbert has been very active politically her whole career, working with legislators to create funding for her job training programs in Massachusetts and nationally to organize job training centers for women and making Congress and the Small Business Administration support them. Beyond that, she was a very active political fundraiser, helping make sure candidates can afford those signs people hold.
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Secondly, I will puke if one more person attempts to make the case that someone has to be dog-catcher before being a statewide candidate. I’ll bet you wouldn’t say that to Deval Patrick, so it sure as hell doesn’t apply to Andrea. She’s every bit the prepared and qualified candidate. You don’t have to be a city councilor first.
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As far as working one’s way up, starting an organization from scratch, as Andrea did with Center for Women and Enterprise, and winding up 10 years later having had a tremendous impact in thousands of peoples lives and a real bottom-line effect on the state’s economy definitely qualifies in a big way as a working one’s way up.
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When someone defines experience solely based on electoral experience, it is narrow, shortsighted and completely ignorant of the state we live in and the many non-political contributors to public service.
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As far as ambition goes, Tim’s younger than Andrea, so she’s actually a few years more experienced. And, maybe he should wait more than 3 weeks after being re-elected city councilor before announcing his LG candidacy and finish the job he asked the Worcester voters for. You want to attack ambition, make sure you don’t ignore the ambition in your own candidate.
But Pablo, here’s the fatal flaw in your analysis: by turning our backs on people with proven experience in both the public and private sectors, we as Democrats turn our backs on what is actually the most important element of our capitalist democracy: the private economy. In the LG’s race, no candidate has the combination of for-profit, non-profit and public service experience that Andrea Silbert possesses.
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While an attorney in private practice, Murray lacks the executive experience Silbert possesses in spades, and we need the new Democratic team to be ready to hit the ground running. As a full-time Councilor/part-time Mayor with no executive authority, we simply cannot afford the on-the-job training in executive leadership that Murray, and to an even greater extent, Goldberg will require.
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And despite Deb Goldberg’s futile claims to the contrary, Silbert’s experience successfully working with state and federal officials to expand funding for small business startups, as well as her experience working with state officials to advocate for and obtain funding for her own non-profit job creation organization, both position her better than either of her opponents for the unique responsibilities of governmental executive office.
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One of the reasons Deval Patrick has been so alluring to people, I believe, is because he has demonstrated to people that he has the necessary combination of private and public sector experience to be prepared to lead. While no one in any statewide race has the amount and diversity of experience Patrick has, Andrea Silbert’s combination of for-profit, non-profit and governmental experience best complements his experience and will help form a dynamic team that will be positioned to make Massachusetts history.
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The era of the “Career Politician” working his way up the elected office ladder is, happily, dead. Tom Birmingham will soon be joined in that mausoleum by Tom Reilly. Tim Murray is, fortunately, young enough that he’s nowhere near that fate, because he’s smart enough to realize that he’s got a bright future that he can still define. If I’m Tim Murray, here’s what I do on September 20: go join a biotech or medical manufacturing business in Worcester as a senior executive in charge of strategy and governmental relations, bring in some bigtime R&D bucks to the compnay, make some dough, set up his new daughter’s college fund, get some executive experience, and run for Jimmy McGovern’s seat in a decade. I’d happily support that candidacy because THAT”S the kind of bench we need: multi-faceted, well-rounded candidates, not people who think that because they have been elected they automatically deserve to be elected to a higher office.
Boy, or boy what ever your on I want some. If you can say with out laughing that Andrea has leadership experience, then you have to be on something. Folks, she has NEVER played this game of public service. Her role as a CEO for a nonprofit was the simple fact that she recieved federal/state funding to open up the business, and guess what we the taxpayers footed the bill. Yes, she “helped” create jobs,but one not need to be a Harvard grad to figure out that it was our dough she was spending. And by the way the business did not pay taxes.
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Mayor Murray has chosen to serve the public, and as Mayor of the 2nd largest city in the state he has had to make decisions sometimes not that popular, bu the point is he was in the business of public service. Silbert has no experience whats’ soever in working with city budgets,school budget,personnel cuts etc…
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Be honest at least give credit where it’s deserved, we all are not that stupid, although most of us don’t have 3 degrees from Harvard without any student loans, like Andrea. But she is a middle of the road person who will fight for us, please. Murray, is the oldest of five and was raised with the family values like most middle class people, his mom a nurse and his dad a school teacher. All 5 kids went to college and worked to assist in the paying of the tution.
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Mayor Murray understands first hand what it is like to struggle to make ends meet. I would like the Fox media to do a fly by to view the LG’s houses/property. It will great to see what type of place they reside in. I think it would be interested to see what type of neighborhhod they live in???? It might be an eye opener for the voters.
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Murray is the right leader and is the only one who needs no on the job traingingfor this job.
But unless you’re George Bush, saying something over and over again doesn’t make it true.
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BTW, how do you know she has no student loans?
Check her financial records,not bad 3 degrees from Harvard and no loans. Not bad, but everyone can afford to send their children Harvard and not have any loans.. Keep up the good work, we will campaign on the issues that really matter, and you can stick rolling down the rivers.
Look, I live in Worcester which obviously provides for a bias, but…Tim Murray is the best choice for the job in my estimation. Here’s a few reasons-
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In terms of cities and towns… When we get down to it, I think we can realize that, provided the governor doesn’t drop dead, the LG’s most likely active role is as a liason to cities and towns. Murray leads the pack in this most important respect. All I can say is that the man has taken a weak mayoral system like we have here and done more with it than most of those with the actual power. Worcester is making strides towards its post-industrial identity, and Mayor Murray has been a huge part of this. Never have I seen so many viable, non pipe dream constructions going on in this city…Gateway Park, the new Voke, the new courthouse, hotels, etc…All of these initiatives which propel us towards Worcester’s new lease on life are thanks in no small part to Tim.
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As I have said in previous posts on the subject, I feel like Deb is a candidate with little in terms of attributes, other than the sacks of money she can lay on the barrelhead. Personally, that’s not how I wish to select my leadership. Silbert I see as a good candidate for another position. I just don’t see how her specific experience will help us in the role of what an LG actually does. I also think that her breadth of experience is rather limited.
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Lastly, I hate the electability argument but…Murray will bring many right-center folks into what is likely to be a left-center ticket. People know who he is and he’d make a great match for Patrick or if need be Gabrieli as an insider who isn’t old hat and systematic in the ways that we all love to hate. He represents the perfect combination of recognizability and fresh air, in terms of actually having an LG with some solid ability to accomplish something.
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Just my two cents…
I am puzzled why Murray supporters keep touting the “traditional” LG with cities and towns as if it’s written in the state constitution (sp?). It was a role given to Kerry Healey by Mitt Romeny. It is not “what and LG actually does”. John Kerry focused on state federal relations with he was LG.
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The talking points of Murray supporters make’s it seem the local city and town relations are part of the fabric of the job and that is so untrue.
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In fact, the only thing Kerry HJealey did in the first 3 years is deliver bad news to communities.
Stop setting your benchmark at Kerry Healey, and you’ll start seeing how things are more possible for the LG to accomplish.
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p> Jeez, I know you’r a Silbert supporter, but do you want to slam what our Democratic Gov. candidates would do on the job using Mitt as a measuring stick? It makes about as much sense as the approach you have here.
Mayor Murray is the only practicing attorney on the ticket, who clearly has the education and understanding of the law to take on this position. Goldberg also has the law degree (looks like she was a perpetual student for awhile), but never really practiced, and Silbert is sans legal background.