Just caught Martha Coakley’s ad for Deval. It was pitch perfect. Next up was the Emily Rooney show offering an entertaining segment on Deval’s unprecedented endorsement from Lawyer’s Weekly. Both arose in response to Healey’s embarrassing ad campaign. Now…(to the tune of “Where’s Waldo?”):
Where’s Reilly?
Please share widely!
If Reilly needed his time after the primary, that’s totally cool and understandable. But, all candidates did agree to support each other and…
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It’s been weeks since 9/19. I’d love to have seen more and heard more from Chris Gabrieli. I think that he’s a vital voice of the party right now, he brings a segment of the party with him, and he needs to speak clearly again in support of the elected candidate. However, he has been there somewhat since Primary night, and I truly respect him for that. I told him so when I ran into him on the Common last evening…We didn’t have a long conversation about it, he was out with his kids after all, but I know he supports the ticket. He’s made it clear by being out on the stage Primary night, and I know that in talking to his supporters they have been encouraged to work for and vote for the ticket.
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Reilly? I want to know that he supports the ticket, and I want to know that he’ll ask his supporters to do the same. As Deval said, all are welcome…I know that it was a rough primary, I know that Reilly was the heir-apparent, and I know that it must’ve devastated him to lose. But, we’ve got a ticket now.
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Gabs isn’t out every day on the stump, from what I saw he’s enjoying some family time…Good on him. Reilly made a great concession speech, but I have not seen him since. I know some will be upset for me holding him to this standard, but I’m not asking for much. Particularly, I still am holding out hope that he will publically refute the usage of his statements in ads put out by the Healey campaign.
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I know he’s in his own place, and I know I can’t pretend to understand it. However, I know that if my voice and my statements were being used to put forth a Republican agenda I would have no choice but to speak out. Not doing so affirms everything the Healey campaign has done, and it allows it to be done in his name. Just once, Reilly must come out and defend his name and his party. This is the end of his political career unless he is to surprise us, so what does he have to lose?
I drive through West Roxbury to get to work and I wonder whether some of those Healey-Hillman lawn signs replaced Reilly signs — there’s one on the VFW Parkway that’s sprouted up next to a big Galvin sign. An appearance from Reilly endorsing Patrick would do wonders to shore up Patrick’s support among moderate middle-class whites, who are in danger of going over to Healey.
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I really don’t get what’s going on with Reilly. I assume Patrick’s people are calling him — they must know how helpful he could be to the campaign. Is he just bitter about losing the race? Does he think he’ll gain anything from Healey winning? I don’t get it.
I have a neighbor (unenrolled) who wanted some Deval Patrick bumper stickers before the primary because she cannot stand Reilly.
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She now has a Healey/Hillman bumper sticker in her window. (And she had a Re-defeat Bush sticker in her car’s rear window in 2004.)
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I’m pretty sure that she is anti-Deval because of his position on in-state tuition for immigrants.
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So, I’m just saying that there may be more people like her who didn’t like Reilly but voted for either Gabs or Deval and now are supporting Healey. Fact is stranger than fiction indeed.
I’m confused, and I disagree with your assessment. Reilly was one of the most pro-In-State tuition elected officials in the state, coming out public way early on the issue. In fact, he was probably one of the most prominent Democrats to do so. I get a laugh when I hear that Deval is out of the mainstream on this one. It’s as if he invented the issue. It’s been around a lot longer than his time running for office, and Reilly needs to do more to show that he was an early supporter of it.
To be fair, Gabrieli’s Primary Night location was right across the street from Deval, so he was able to get there in time to be on stage with him. Tom’s was in South Boston, he couldn’t have been there in time even if he wanted to.
and he got there pretty quickly, didn’t he?
It’s been a month. Is he lost?
Perhaps he does not think Deval Patrick would make a good Governor. That would strike me as a pretty good explanation as to why he is not out there campaigning for him.
Back on 10/2 you said you were sure we’d see ol’ Tom again. Well, what happened? Of course this was the same post in which you hilariously referred to Healy as a “prosecutor”.
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But, you’re probably right. He probably doesn’t think Deval Patrick would make a good Governor. And as we remember from his St. Fleur episode, he sure knows how to pick ’em.
I did indeed incorrectly refer to Healey as a prosecutor, because I thought she was. I wasn’t trying to give her credit for something that she is not, I simply was wrong about her bio.
And I did say that we will probably see Tom again, and we still may. However, I am not his spokesperson or his scheduler. If he chooses to campaign for Deval, then we’ll see him, if not, we won’t. Simple as that. Has every single prediction you’ve ever made in politics turned out to be right?
That all that talk from Reilly supporters about “party loyalty” when it looked like he was a lock wasn’t just for show. Thanks Aaron.
…and the democratic nomination was Reilly’s “woman”.
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Imagine your a hometown boy – never worked for a president, never worked in New York City for huge firms making tons of dough, just public service in Boston. You have eyes for a beautiful woman (or man) for years and years, and finally, you took a chance, and with patience you were engaged to be married. Then a charming, handsome, worldly upstart of a man returns to Boston and slowly charms the pants off your angel of a fiance as you watch, powerless to stop him.
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Now this new man is on TV every day, dancing and fondling your ex-fiance and she is beyond thrilled whith her new love.
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I don’t know what is going on with Tom. But it is not hard to speculate what it may feel like. We all know it was Tom’s dream job that he lost. We’ve all seen someone we thought of as “our” man/woman arm and arm with someone else; we know that pang, that raw burn in the pit of our stomach when we see them together.
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Biterness. It takes along time to heal.
It was just getting good. 🙂
…when I remake “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Tom Reilly as George Bailey, the Democratic Party as Mary Bailey and Mitt Romney as the evil Henry F. Potter.
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At the end of my version (the Auld Lang Syne scene), Mary leaves George unappologetically for Sam Wainwright (played by Deval Patrick); they procede to galavant around Bedford Falls displaying to everyone unabashed and agressive public affection. It is love true and pure.
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Clarence, the angel, (played by Chris Gabrielli) reminds George (Reilly) that he was sent to help George win Mary for ever, but George spurrned his help. Now, the town rallies around the new couple while George (Reilly) is doomed to finish out his years in Pottersville.
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Coming in November to Fox! Or perhaps it will just be a letter in Penthouse Forum, I’m not sure yet.
The state of Massachusetts is a much better place today in the wake of Deval’s Primary win.
Tom and his good old boy network can not take the heat of losing; remember they have gotten their way for far too long.
Tom has never been an AG of the people and that was clear on Primary day.
Favoritism, cronyism, and support for unions who profited from his office were all that Tom could muster.
Yes it would be nice to have everyone in line, but I think we donÂ’t need his type and that is what this race to the Governors office has been all about.
Yes we Can!
Yeah, he managed to “Muster” rescuing Harvard Pilgrim health care for more than one million members.
And was he an AG of the people when he used consumer safety laws to keep guns off the street?
He has fought and won numerous battles with tobbacco companies, esp. those that sell online to underage kids. Protecting children has always been one of his top priorities. In other words, you make a pretty strong claim, do you have a shred of evidence to back it up, or is your whole argument “Yes we can?”
The primary’s over.
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And trying to refight it when there are more important things going just reinforces the worst images of the Democratic Party.
To me, the most devastating, and insightful thing written about Tom Reilly during the primary came not from this site, not from the pundits, and not from any of the political writers for the Boston dailies.
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It came from the technology writer of the Boston Globe. In his weekly column he wrote up how utterly behind the times the AG website is. He wrote how many states have their website tooled up to handle consumer complaints: to increase efficiencies in consumer protection enforcement–to service, if you will, the electorate (and those who cannot vote).
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The AG site for Massachusetts, the column went on, is nothing but a passive information site, and even then, ain’t too informative.
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It spoke volumes about Tom Reilly. Hard working? Maybe. Dedicated? Yeah, maybe. But visionary and having the skills that it takes to lead Massachusetts out of WHERE IT’S AT? No. If Reilly had ANY vision, if he had any savvy, he would have lead his office to use internet technology to create GREAT consumer protection reporting and enforcement, and possibly include criminal reporting and enforcement. He did not, because its out of his purview–it’s outside the boundaries of his experience. No one thinks Reilly himself should be designing a spiff-o website, but in 8 years of running the office he sure as heck should have found someone who IS cutting edge.
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He didn’t. Why? No vision. Limited abilities. Consumer Protection? Who cares? Prosecuting criminals is where it’s at. Well, except for Elliot Spitzer, I guess.
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John Kerry is now in EXACTLY the same place Reilly was in: In desparate need of a good friend and counsel who can tell him: Don’t Run. Just because you want it does not mean you deserve it.
The Secretary of State web site is no prize either, especially the elections pages. Many states have far better than we do.
I received a letter from his campaign recently that was a thank you for supporting him in the primary. A nice sheet mentioning his and his family’s gratitude.
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Oddly enough, though, there was no expression of support for Deval. His name wasn’t even mentioned — you’d think the campaign was over. I don’t know if this is due to some arcane rules on endorsements or campaign finance, but I doubt it.
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I think it is quite possible that Reilly thinks Deval would make a poor governor. Plenty of Reilly’s former supporters do (where do you think Mihos’s support is coming from?). Maybe Reilly feels embittered, and isn’t subject to the forces that make most people grit their teeth and endorse and pump up the victor in the primary, even if they think s/he’s a complete loser. What does Reilly care what the Democratic Party thinks of him? He’s not looking to pull a Nixon.
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It’s disappointing that Reilly has such a low profile. It would be interesting to see what he does if the polls continue to tighten. Deval hasn’t “needed” him yet — what happens if he does now?
Have you no compassion
…it appears he’s observing the GOP’s 11th Commandment.
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Mebbe we can coax him out of the closet.
Candidly, his post-primary behavior indicates that he has neither the maturity nor the temperament to deal with the myriad complexities and betrayals of governing. I have no patience with his inability to put the greater good of the Commonwealth ahead of his own bruised ego. Politics is not for the faint of heart, and that’s a lesson he should have internalized years and years ago. No one is owed an election victory merely by the concensus of those insiders who think it’s time someone received their due.
I thin you are all wasting time that could be spent phone banking for Deval, writing letters to the editor, or doing something productive.
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Who cares where Tom Reilly is? He lost a tough election. If he wasn’t at least somewhat bitter afterward, he wouldn’t be human. Who knows how he feels about Deval. If he doesn’t want to be out in public any more, you can hardly blame him. He was everyone’s favorite whipping boy for the whole primary, far more so than Gabrieli. The Globe columnist’s had a field day with him.
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Most importantly, he is an honorable man. I know for a fact that they had a lot of the oppo research that the despicable Healey campaign is basing their campaign on and chose NOT to go with it. Say what you will about him politically, he leaves the field with his honor intact, which is far more than anyone will be able to say about Kerry Healey after Nov. 7.
can disagree. The fact is, however, that post-primary unity is an important element of any election cycle. Reilly’s absence reflects poorly on him, and that’s fine, I guess.
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Choosing to post a comment on this site is not “wasting time,” as you say, and doesn’t reflect, in any way, the level of time, effort, and money many of have invested in the Patrick campaign. Some here are quite heavily involved, actually, but thanks to the anonymity of this site, our identifies are obscured. Lastly, sharing thoughts is productive, in general, and is the major reason why we post or visit this site.
The primary is over. Piling on a defeated opponent when Healey is tightening the race day by day reinforces the worst images of Democrats. Plus, saying that
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Funny, don’t remember much of this during Healey’s attack on Deval’s family. But I’m sure that’s all different.
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Finally, be careful in choosing those for whom you have “no patience”. Those same folks may decide that folks around Mihos or Healey will show them the patience that you don’t.
the primary is over, words you, yourself, since you uttered them, might do well to think about, too. Defensiveness over your candidate’s loss is all understandable, but he does, nevertheless, have a responsibility to support the nominee. Period. And he’s not doing that. Sorry, it’s not me who needs to get over the primary, now, is it?
LightIris, I hate arguing with you. I really do.
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Deval’s got a large lead in the polls, Bill Clinton doing fundraisers for him, and he’s fresh off a huge rally. And people still go out of their way to slag Reilly. And I’m the one whose stuck in the past because I defend him?
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By the way, one of the reasons I defend him is that moments like this are when Mihos looks the best in my eyes. I’m partially trying to remind myself that there’s still room on the Massachusetts Democratic Party for folks who aren’t enthralled by Deval.
I’ve been around a lot of elections for a long time. I’m middle aged–oy. Reilly is hurting himself here. He has something to offer; he should have stayed engaged so that he could parlay what he has to offer into something effective. You’re right. Patrick doesn’t need him, but Reilly needs Patrick–and everyone knows it. That’s why it looks so bad.
After all the vicious attacks Deval laid on Reilly and his family, how can we expect him to not be bitter? Sure, that didn’t happen, but other than the fact that the two points you’re referncing have no connection to each other whatsoever, it’s a marvelous analogy. Tom has twice as much right to be upset at Deval as Deval has to be upset at Kerry. It’s perfectly clear.
Tom Reilly is still the AG. Perhaps he is working on things that he feels conflict with taking too active a role in the campaign? There are some investigations out there. Just a thought. Deval seems to be doing just fine the way things are now.
very much agreed, I think it’s absurd that you’ve all been bantering about this, and that it took THIS long, until someone finally mentioned this prospect. Unlike Gabrielli who can take off as much time as he wants when he wants to do what he wants…Tom Reilly actually has an important job to do.
If his absence is due to the press of his “day job” as AG, how was his day job going during the primary? And how was he expecting it would go during the general, if he won the primary? You don’t seriously think he would have resigned, do you? I don’t. I agree that his job as AG comes first, but would it have killed him to say something about actually appearing in a Healey ad?
I do believe that Reilly could have said something about the ad. That’s the least we could have done, but also the least he should have done.
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That said, the fact that Reilly was the only working man in the primary is a big reason he didn’t get around like Deval did. I remember lots of folks crowing about how well-traveled their candidate was in comparison. If Tom didn’t travel to win his own race, why would he travel to win someone else’s?
Do you think he had to punch a clock?
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Re: This thread. It’s a guilty pleasure ’tis true. Most of us enjoy being armchair quarterbacks. And throwing a few shots “after the bell” isn’t really so bad, is it?
Every time someone says “Tom Reilly has to do X or Y” it makes my job trying to convince Reilly supporters to get on the Deval bandwagon that much harder.
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Do I wish Tom would come out strong for Deval? Of course I do. Does he have to do anything? Absolutely not. We have to make sure that we are welcoming to Reilly supporters. We have to reach out.
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Tom will come around on his own time or he won’t, no matter what we say about him. So clam up and worry about the things you can control, like how you look to people who supported Tom.