So, in a sign of Big Time Internal Strife, Trav says Deval’s agenda goes through him — i.e. over his dead body [my emphasis]:
According to the notes of one audience member, Travaglini said: “I told the governor-elect, if you’re willing to share and you care and you prepare and are ready to deliver, then everything will work out. If not, I have senators across the state who share my vision and my approach and if forced to choose, I’m comfortable with whom they’ll choose.”
The remarks were confirmed by five people, who gave similar accounts of his statements, but did not want to be quoted by name. Travaglini spokeswoman Ann Dufresne did not return repeated phone calls seeking a comment yesterday.
Delivered before roughly 300 people at a meeting of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the remarks were the first public sign of a fissure between the Democrat- run Legislature and Patrick, who ran aggressively against the Beacon Hill culture during his campaign.
Well, what did we expect? We shouldn’t have expected any different from Travaglini, who carried water for special interests in the health care law negotiations last year, whittling down the deadbeat-employer contribution to almost nothing. This is his constituency, his power base. Patrick has his, and a smashing 20-point victory on Election Day to prove it. Anyone who imagined we’d have a “progressive trifecta” in government was dreaming. Travaglini is old-school, old Beacon Hill, old-culture. That doesn’t mean he’s irrelevant — anything but.
The divisions in our government are no longer those of party: You think the Mass GOP is in good position to take advantage here? The cleavages are now based on interests: public vs. private, people vs. profit.
You just have to chuckle at this:
Travaglini said that in recent discussions with Patrick, he warned the governor-elect to stop making public promises to cut $1 billion in waste.
The Senate president said he told Patrick that the pledge insults the Legislature. If there is that much bloat in the budget, Travaglini said, then he hasn’t been doing his job.
UPDATE: Juxtapose that quote with this:
Legislators have also been concerned that Patrick may move to cut earmarks, money that is directed by legislators to local projects. “They are not pork,” DiMasi said earlier this week. “They are legislators’ priorities.”
Well, how about that. Gosh, have we had any recent evidence that tax money is being wasted? (Also, Patrick envisioned that a lot of those savings would come from efficiencies in providing health care. Those are structural problems, and not to pinned on the legislature.)
The description of that conversation goes on — unflatteringly to Patrick, of course. I’m taking Travaglini’s description of it with a big ol’ grain of salt.
Now that Travaglini has shown his willingness to obstruct Patrick’s reforms (whatever they may be), there need to be two approaches:
1. Talk the obviously-steamed Travaglini down a little bit. Somehow make him feel a part of the team, offer him something important to buy into. (Negotiation: find the Zone of Possible Agreement. Accentuate the positive first.)
2. Put pressure on Trav to play ball with Patrick. Have him pay a price for flying off the handle in public like this. Put pressure on other Senators to work cooperatively with Patrick, and not feel that they need to be under the thumb of the Senate President. Offer them ways to look good by cooperating with Patrick. (i.e. Worsening Trav’s Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.)
#1 has to be addressed by Patrick himself, in private. For #2: How do we make those “senators across the state who share [Trav’s] vision and … approach” think differently? Have the State House switchboard in your speed-dial: 617-722-2000. It’s not too early: ask your Senator if he/she intends to help Governor-elect Patrick cut waste from the budget, for example. Ask them for a comment on the record regarding Trav’s remarks, and if you get one, post it here. (No, I’m not expecting much.)
Yeah, all this is pretty vague so far. But those Senators will notice that you called. If this election actually changed how things are going to be done on Beacon Hill, a lot of Senators will have to be apprised of that fact. The fun part is just beginning.
UPDATE: In the thread below this one, GoldsteinGoneWild makes a poker analogy.
What is this all about? Power.
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Oh, I get it. So the “pork” must be the stuff that gets slipped into the budget when no one is looking, but that isn’t a “priority” of some legislator looking to prop up his or her standing with the district’s gazebo-lovers. Thanks to Mr. Speaker for clarifying that.
Bull/Trav/Finn didn’t NEED to threaten – it was ASSUMED they would be arm-twisting. And vice versa – we didn’t have to keep up the charade that they WEREN’T.
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It’s a tough line for Deval to walk, and it may get worse if he tries to follow throguh on some of his priorities.
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His best friend in the world (at a certain level) might be Mitt Romney – he should ask how Romney got the MDC abolition through in HIS first year…
Pork is all that money that gets earmarked to OTHER people’s towns. Somehow people never complain about the “pork” when it’s fixing up the bridge (gazebo, sidewalks) across the street from themselves.
Is that bridge or gazebo worth building in the first place?
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In Lowell, there was (was? not in like, a year now) talk about replacing the aging University Ave bridge. Only the plan picked (by the former city manager, thankfully ousted) would have changed the footprint of the bridge, knocking down a couple of historic buildings and connecting the bridge with a major road, which residents were concerned that it would turn Merrimack St into a much busier road (being a more direct route to the north of the city with the realignment).
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There was no resident input to the decision, and it looked like there was not much to be done to stop it until the whole administration came crashing down and that was the end of that.
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The bridge still will need replacing, but did it NEED all that fuss to do it? Nope! I bet it costs us much less now to replace the damn thing than in the original plan (seeing that at a minimum the city/state would have to purchase the houses that would have to knocked down).
There used to be the Gov, the House, and the Senate at the table, and under that scenario, maybe Trav holds a lot of obstructionist cards. But, the Patrick campaign may have given the organized grassroots a seat there too, which certainly changes the dynamic. We who worked like dogs to get him elected can, if we don’t vanish back into the woodwork, stay engaged and pressure our own legislators like never before. Challenge: mostly Patrick’s, to keep us networked and working. Our challenge: to realize the election was the beginning, not the end, of taking back government.
3. Give Trav lots of jobs to hand out to his constituents – that’s always been his first priority.
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4. Help Trav find a new job for himself – he’s ready to bail, just needs a soft landing.
You Dems (the socially progressive, good government types at least) have been out of power for so long in Massachusetts that you forget Rule #1: Don’t Ever Base Real World Decisions on Press Coverage. I was at this NAOIP event yesterday and Trav’s comments were taken out of context. He spent most of his time stating how Deval, he and Sal are the “Velcro Brothers” and are stuck together and need to make things work better. He said they need to be fast about getting something good accomplished so that people will overcome their fear of Dems having a monopoly (as if they didn’t for the past 16 years) in Massachusetts. Then, and impolitically perhaps, he started speaking in the hypothetical in the event Deval were not willing to work in partnership with the Legislature. Hence the quotes. As a socially progressive, good government Republican type, I look forward to the great fiscal and public integrity policy fights that we’ll have with the Dems over the next four years, but in fairness this was a cheap shot.
…so the Glob is staying true to form, eh?
Good that the GOP is no longer the sole focus of gotcha journalism in Massachusetts…
So sitback watch Trav school Deval.
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Guess What? Trav does not give a rat’s ass about Deval and his mandate. And really doesn’t see a hell of alot things he needs from Deval. But, does Deval need Trav?
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Charley, your post should be sarcasm.
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And I am sure Sal will be doing some tutoring of his own.
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This is going to be so much fun to watch.
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Aint it?
How’s that “schooling” going now?
I’m going to agree with LenStewart AND EBIII at the same time.
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I think Len overstates the power of the “grassroots” right now. EBIII is right in that Trav holds a lot of cards. Right now, Deval’s support is back to being only potential. The election was the end of the campaign. He won that battle. There’s a new battle starting.
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Deval needs to wedge himself between rank and filers in the House and Senate and the leadership. He needs to do it with a smile and in a surgical way.
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Deval doesn’t need an open revolt. He only needs a few votes on this issue and a few votes on that. Trav’s quotes were that of a man who felt like he had troop discipline. Deval’s going to need to use his skills, get some good lisason folks and use his campaign allies in the House and Senate to help him soften that loyalty to Trav.
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He needs to build momentum. Find issues where Trav and Sal don’t have a firm grip on their members. Let rank and filers know siding with the governor doesn’t make you a pariah anymore. After all, he’s a Democrat now.
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Having the grassroots folks come out can be helpful, but I think it’s a very hit or miss proposition. Elections are the most powerful voice for individuals and if the change you want to see happen requires defeating a lot of incumbents, you’re looking at a much longer range plan.
See Avi’s post for more on these ideas.