Well now, this is interesting. Newt Gingrich, who alternates between stone-cold sober clarity and nutty Homer-Simpsonesque anti-genius, seems to dial up Massachusetts pretty well:
“Massachusetts is caught between not wanting to be Republican and not wanting to be machine Democrat. And so I think the voters were looking for a third path, if you will. And we’ll now see if he can become that.”
Well, how about that. Despite Sen. Moore’s suggestion to the contrary, there sure as hell is a mandate for a strong, hands-on governor that can deliver the goods of a more responsive and more transparent government. The new mandate crosses ideologies, putting us in the same camp as (dare I say it?) Howie Carr, who between loony xenophobic rants, actually does a great job at sniffing out hackery in state government. And it definitely includes earmarks: To paraphrase Patrick, let’s call a gazebo a gazebo.
After all, the machine only works when it can dole out enough favors to keep 51% of the voters happy. That has long since lapsed, since at the state and especially the national levels, big money interests control the game at the expense of everyone else, using the government as their ATM. The resources we actually have are quickly funneled up to the wealthy and/or well-connected. The machine can’t serve two masters; and in Massachusetts recently, Joe Q. Public has consistently voted to bring the machine to heel. (Indeed, the public thought it was doing so in voting for GOP Governors for 16 years … so how’d that work out, anyway?)
So, now there are those of us naive and foolish enough to take Deval Patrick at his word that he’s going to shake up the Big Dig Culture in our state bureaucracy and on Beacon Hill; that he plans on using the grassroots (and vice-versa) as a “new way of governing”. Well, in spite of the continuing cynicism of Those Who Are Paid To Know Such Things, we’re going to continue to be so naive and foolish to expect that things will actually get better. Not by accident or grace, but because the public has voted for it and damn well deserves it.
If we don’t demand a higher standard from our government, we’ll never get it. Now there is no more reason to say “It’s just Massachusetts” as the catch-all response to things that never seem to get fixed. Some problems are trickier than others, for sure; but I look forward to a new degree of responsiveness in state government: No more Amorellos, no more hidden budget gazebos, no more excuses. And Sen. Moore can feel free to lead, follow, or get out of the way.
social movements in American politics. There’s not a lot about Newt that I like, but what I do admire is that he really understands very clearly that people respond to organized, positive, articulated, and visionary social movements. He recognizes that people don’t like political machines on either party. I think Deval understands that too, which is why he always said something to the effect that, “Frankly nobody buys 100% of what either party is selling.”
<
p>
I’m always interested, if wary, in what Newt has to say.
I think he has a very shrewd, clear viewpoint on the Civil War that fits his political framework, but I think there are much better scholars out there like James MacPherson.