Blue Mass Group

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Nancy Fernandez Mills is out

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State House News via David Bernstein (via my hairdresser’s sister’s best friend Marsha, etc.) says Nancy Fernandez Mills is out as Patrick’s communications director.

Can’t say I’m surprised. I don’t know much about the work she did day to day, but I did notice two things:

1. She botched a press briefing a few days after the ICE raid in New Bedford, saying that the governor had been unaware of the raid when the governor had been saying different from the get-go;

2. The governor’s podcasts, presented as Mills “interviewing” the governor, have been not so exciting — mostly nothing you couldn’t learn from a press release. They might be more exciting if they used them to really drop some serious 411 on us … I don’t know, something provocative. But right now they’re kind of tame.

Anyone know who’s getting the job?

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Comments

  1. Nothing is coming from Beacon Hill positive or negative. One way or the other. Seems like no one is home and it isn’t June 15th yet. Even the Solons are unusually quiet. I’m waiting for a shoe to drop.

    • which takes you back to a recent time when the office really was vacant (although as I understand it, the salon was operating full-throttle).

      • I’m no defender of Romney. He was AWOL. I call a spade a spade. Romney was an embarrassment. Shame on him.

    • This is the conservative media at work. The TV stations, newspapers, and talk radio will not cover Deval Patrick unless there is something that can be spun negatively. His extension of the circuit breaker tax exemption, tax incentives to keep companies in Mass., expansion of all day kindergarten, etc. are not being covered. But if his tie is crooked they will cover it like vultures.

  2. when Mills blew the statement to the press about ICE.  Joe Landolfi took over communications and Trav’s deputy chief of staff Dave Morales joined as a senior advisor.  Mills was then relegated to making videos.  Maybe they didn’t want to outright fire her and instead having her to later decide to “spend more time with family”, “want to go private sector” excuse du jour to leave.

  4. “Reason office seems vacant 
    This is the conservative media at work.”

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    uh, HELLO?

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    I live in Massachusetts. What about you?

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    Could you please do us all a favor and identify the conservative media working hard to make it seem like the corner office is vacant.?

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    Are you referring to the Globe? Nope

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    Channels 4,5, 7, 25, 38 or 56? Nope.
    NECN? Nope.
    The Phoenix? Nope

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    Worcester Telegram? Nope. 

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    Come on, help me here. And don’t say it’s right-wing talkers on wrko or Fox 25. do you really think that in massachusetts today there is ANY conservative media that has any sway with anyone?????

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    do you think howie carr’s listeners were big DP fans until carr started bashing DP for the Caddy, the drapes, the fill-in-the-blanks, etc?

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    i AM SOOOOOOOO DISAPPOINTED WITH DEVAL PATRICK.

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    I just wish he’d told us from the start: My media guy will come from sal dimasi’s staff. my policy guy will come from trav’s office… BUT i will bring change to beacon hill!

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    ha! i’m laughing all the way to vermont! 

    • Don’t bother even looking, all those crazy liberals over at the Herald, it’s like a PETA lovefest over there.  Fox 25 with their Faux Fox News crazies doing segments with opinions disguised as news.  Then it’s all of that liberal radio, I can’t turn the dial once without hearing all that liberal talk on the radio.

      • C’mmon. This is massachusetts.

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        Remember the Manchester Union-Leader. THAT was conservative!

  5. Charlie I have to disagree with you on this one. “She botched a press briefing a few days after the ICE raid in New Bedford, saying that the governor had been unaware of the raid when the governor had been saying different from the get-go” The way I see it the only person who botched the ICE press briefing was Deval and his inexperienced staff. If Nancy had been told the Governor knew she would have said so. She may not have been a seasoned state house operative, but she was an experienced reporter. I think she had no idea about the number of meetings Deval had with ICE because no one told her. This was not done intentionally, but it still made her look the fool. 

    • Wasn’t Deval quoted in the media saying he knew? And wasn’t her comment about him knowing a day or two after he was quoted in the paper saying he knew?

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      I can understand if she wasn’t in the loop. But I’m guessing she would’ve been reading the coverage.

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      That was the embarassing part.

      • I agree with you. I am sure she read the coverage that Deval knew, but if your boss is the Governor wouldn’t you wait till you heard it from him or an aid. She is your communications director and should not be left in the dark. She was going on what they had told her to say. She cannot go off message because it is reported Deval knew by out side sources. I would bet she even tried to contact Deval or his aids about the reports that he knew, but her calls where not returned. I still think the situation was so new to all of Deval’s staff that they panicked and forgot to call Nancy.

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