A most interesting development in the 1st Suffolk race, the primary for which is next Tuesday. (By the way, if you want Gloribell Mota to win, here’s how to help). Here’s the party’s release (emphasis mine).
MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE VOTES TO HIGHLIGHT CANDIDATE BASILE’S PAST SUPPORT OF REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
Part of 1st Suffolk District Primary Field
BOSTON – Friday, September 21st
The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee passed a resolution Wednesday night to allow the Massachusetts Democratic Party to highlight candidate Carlo Basile’s past support for Republican candidates and Republican elected officials in Massachusetts. Basile, who is running in a four-way Democratic primary for state representative in the 1st Suffolk District, has donated $1,350 to Republican candidates since 2002, and campaigned extensively for gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey in 2006 in the same East Boston neighborhood where he is now seeking election as a Democrat.
“The Massachusetts Democratic Party cannot sit idly by while a man who has been supportive of the failed administrations of our past Republican governors pretends to represent Democratic values to the voters of his district.” Said party Chairman John Walsh. “We take pride in our party and what it stands for, and Carlo Basile has failed the party in that regard.”
Basile is running against Democrats Mary Berninger, Jeff Drago, and Gloribell Mota in a special election scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 25th.
And it’s not just a press release. The party is issuing a postcard to be distributed around the district. The back of it lists the local State Committee members, and says “Vote for a TRUE Democrat in the Democratic Primary.” And here’s the front:
Basile is said to be the front-runner in this race. Will this matter?
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That entire quote, but especially the last line, is positively Stalin-esque.
Sure, except for the part where all John Walsh is doing is persuading voters to vote for someone else.
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Stalin would have had the guy sent to the gulag in Siberia or shot in the back of the head.
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Carlo Basile’s health and freedom will be just fine. He’s no victim. He’s a politician who made alliances with Kerry Healey, and he’s going to have to deal with that.
“Stupid” characterizes your comment.
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I normally believe that a party should not take sides in a primary election, but, when a person purporting to be running for a position on one party’s ticket, that party would be remiss in not pointing out that that person had supported people of the other party for election.
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Unfortunately, a party apparently cannot eject someone from its primary. But if the person wants to run for office after supporting someone of another party, the party should be able to eject him/her from their roster. He or she would still be able to run–as an independent.
… “Progressives” can call other people’s comments stupid on BMG.
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Anyway, the line struck me as Stalin-esque. You can view it however you want but to me it sounds over the top.
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Remember, it’s all well and good to make sure everyone follows a strict party line until you yourself are in disagreement. When that happens, you’ll be the one outside looking in.
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Oh, and Raj? Congratulations on a making a comment and not mentioning you are in Germany. I think that’s a first for you.
“Stalin-esque”
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Can’t wait to see what you have for us tomorrow. Let me guess:
Mr. Weebles: It’s cloudy today.
Laurel: No, it’s actually sunny.
Mr. Weebles: That comments is positively Mussolini-ish!
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Here is a nice list of present-day dictators, should you wish to keep your retorts fresh. With this list of 70 names, you can avoid debating on the merits for over 2 months!
“Progressives” can call other people’s comments stupid on BMG
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…I have made it perfectly clear here on many comment threads that I am not a progressive.
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Your point being?
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BTW, the only reason that I report about my experiences in Germany is to try to give you an alternate perspective. Andere Laender, andere Sitten–other countries, other practices. If you aren’t interested in being informed about how people people in other countries have solved their similar problems, let me know. But it strikes me that it is a bit silly for the US to have to completely re-invent its wheels without having been informed about how people in other countries have invented their wheels.
you spend some quality time with Stalin up close and personal. While you may know who Stalin is, it appears you do not fully grasp what is suggested by “Stalin-esque.”
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IOW, your seizure on the bolded phrase reveals a fixation on the pop-culture ambiguity associated with the word “party.” The Democratic “party” of today bears no resemblance to the “party” of Soviet-era Russia.
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And the comparison is both lazy and offensive. Just sayin’.
Should have run as a Republican. He still would have trounced all comers. He is very well respected in East Boston. He’s got the organization to make this happen.
I’m assuming from your handle that you live in East Boston. Why is Carlo Basile so formidable? Who does he have behind him thats more influential than, say, Menino, who is supposetly with Drago? I’m just hearing the rumblings from across town in Brighton. Clue me in, please.
I don’t like this at all. We have an overwhelming majority in the House. I could see the state party raising a stink if, say, this were one of our two Senate seats, but pre-primary, in a state rep race?
when you’ve got a thin majority, it’s far too difficult to choose ideology over pragmatism. The Dems don’t need another vote to get anything they want… so now is a great time to ensure that candidates who want the support of the Democratic party support other Democrats.
although this is not strictly about “ideology” — if it were, the party would be urging folks not to vote for Mary Berninger, who is (at least based on the debate I attended) more conservative even than Basile. It’s more about party loyalty.
I’m just not sure it’s the right thing to do. Party loyalty is a hard thing to define.
i agree that party loyalty is a hard thing to define. however, making $$ contributions to multiple other-party candidates is questionable.
Wasn’t it Eileen Donoghue who gave to her Republican friend running for State Senate? I defended her, because it was a longtime friend, and I think friendship should be thicker than politics.
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As you say, this guy gave to multiple candidates, whereas she gave to just one, but again, it’s a hard line to draw.
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But all this said, if the guy is a Republican, he should run as one, like EaBo said.
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I believe in a two-party system. That’s why I think the party is correct to attempt to keep the DINOs from winning seats as Democrats.
The fact is, people in Eastie are tired of being told who to vote for. Everyone knows who is behind this nonsense. Hmm…if I remember correctly, didn’t many of the same folks that are backing Basile’s opponents also back Cellucci. Why is that different than what Basile has done in the past?
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Bottom line: Basile in a LANDSLIDE.
Care to enlighten us?
“The fact is, people in Eastie are tired of being told who to vote for.”
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Why are you here, then?
Drago and Mota are virtually unknown in East Boston. Berninger is somewhat known but is having difficulty building broad based support. Carlo, on the other hand, is extremely well known not only in East Boston, but also (to a lesser extent) in the North End, Winthrop, Revere, Saugus, etc. The race is really only a “race” in the media’s eyes. In reality, Carlo will win by a substantial margin. Furthermore, if he wants to, he can take on Anthony P. next time around as an Independent. He would most likely win that race too.
It’s hard, if not impossible, for someone who was the Neighborhood Services Coordinator for East Boston, or any neighborhood to be “virtually unknown”. Whoever holds those jobs is out at neighborhood meetings just about every night, takes phone calls from residents and businesses during the day and is on call at all hours. Whether you vote for Jeff Drago or not, please respect the parameters of what the people in these positions do. When there is a fire at 3 in the morning, they work to find shelter and assistance for families, they are always “on-call”, and the breadth of experience they gain in real people’s issues is invaluable to them as they move on to other positions. Some have run successfully for public office (Anthony Petruccelli), some have not (Judy Bracken from Brighton), yet virtually all get respect for the work they do.
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It really doesn’t matter how well the other gentleman is known in any of those other communities, the voters of East Boston will choose their next rep. Hope they elect a good Democrat and a hard worker, the choice is theirs.
knew there were “neighborhood coordinators”. I never heard Drago’s name until this race became a race. Maybe those “in the know” know these neighborhood coordinators but the regular folks don’t.
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My prediction is Carlo wins easily and then switches to Independent after taking office to stick it to the Dems.
I have lived in East Boston for 3 years and not only have I known there was a neighborhood coordinator for East Boston (John Forbes in case you were wondering) but have seen him at numerous community events, meetings, and just out and about with his family. While I could possibly be classified as someone “in the know,” I know plenty of “regular folks” who know John and discuss his performance, good or bad. He has a tough job and he does it pretty cheerfully all things considered. While I am supporting Mota in this race, I know that Jeff made a lot of good inroads due to his service to the community.
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As far as Carlo winning and switching to independent status afterwards, I think that would be a huge disservice to the community and would lead to a very short term in office indeed. Thankfully it looks like we will not have to deal with that possibility on Wednesday morning, since there are good Democrats not only running, but also voting in this race.
…is “neighborhood coordinator” the new term for what used to be called “ward boss” in machine-politics days?
Most of them are too young …. you have to be in most cases to run around to meetings every night, take phone calls from aggreived citizens, etc. It’s a great job for a couple of years, you learn a lot about your neighborhood and city agencies, then other departments will grab you because you know who to call to get things done.
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Biggest exception was Judy Evers, Charlestown’s person for many years spanning two administrations. Judy is a bit older, but has a love for her neighborhood that kept her in that job for many years, winning the respect of her neighbors.
I call Sal Lammatinna, his office takes care of it. Why, when I am paying Sal $90K should he not be the one to take care of my issues.
Isn’t that one of the lyrics from that children’s song, Frere Jacques? Anyone know what I’m talking about?
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Frare-uh Jacques-uh
Frare-uh Jacques-uh
Door-may-voo
Door-may-voo
Sal Lamatinna
Sal Lamatinna
Din-dan-don
Don-dan-don
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I’m also shocked that you have $90K to pay a City Councillor. Eabo, rolling in the cash! I’d bet $90K could buy you a much better bribe than an Eastie City Councillor. Hey, for 90 grand, I could probably find creative ways to solve certain problems you have.
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I have a paypal account if that makes it easier.
Sal is my district councillor. His salary is 87.5K. I should have said we pay. Do you think its right that a city councillor makes 87K? I think that’s kind of overkill.
The less you pay elected officials, the more holding office becomes the pervue of the wealthy. In the Boston job market, 87K isn’t an exorbitant salary for a white color worker. This is an expensive city. What’s the minimum a single person needs to earn to live in Boston sans roomate, make car payments (and insurance, maintenance, etc) cover all bills and groceries, and put away say 10% take home income for savings and investments? I think each city councillor should at least be able to do that.
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Most of my friends (late 20s early 30s) with white collar jobs are in that neighborhood with a few comfortably exceeding $87K. As a student, $87K seems like an awesome salary right now, but I couldn’t imagine my friends leaving their jobs to run for a job that paid in the $60K – $70K range, unless they had years to build a solid portfolio of savings and investment to supplement their incomes.
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Just my thoughts, like I said, I honestly don’t know.