Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Governor’s Town Hall Tour kicks off today at 6 pm in Salem

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As I’ve already discussed, Governor Patrick is holding a series of town hall meetings this summer.  This is an excellent idea for all kinds of reasons.  (And hey, even the “experts” think so!)  Most basically, it’s a really really good idea for politicians to connect directly with the people for whom they work — it should happen all the time, and it doesn’t happen nearly enough.

These town hall meetings are an excellent opportunity for real civic engagement — don’t miss them.  The first one is today at 6 pm!

  • Armory Park

    Corner of Essex and New Liberty Streets

    Salem

    Here’s a map

I will be there to live-blog the event.  I hope to see some of you north shore folk there as well!

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Comments

  1. Via joint town halls with John McCain.  McCain has challenged him to a series of no holds barred town halls with direct discussion with teh people.  Will Obama connect with the voters beyond stagecraft and actually answer their questions.  Or will his be a packaged campaign devoid of substance and high on imagery?  It’s his choice.

    • McCain’s move was the classic tactic of the guy who expects to lose.  Not sure it accomplished much beyond broadcasting that to the nation.

    • … has ever offered or accepted a “no holds barred” event.  To suggest that McCain had no conditions to these events is to propagate ridiculousness.  

      • where the questions only came from the people.  No moderator. No press questions, only questions from voters.  What is Barack Obama afraid of?

          • I am seriously wondering why Barack Obama is scared of everyday people asking him questions in an uncontrolled environment?  It’s not an attack. If Obama is all that and then some why doesn’t he drop the Rock Star Schtick and meet McCain one on one in front of a neutral audience to discuss the issues of the day?

    • because it has nothing to do with Deval Patrick in
      Salem Mass.

      <

      p>EaBo — want to discuss Obama and McCain?  Start your own diary, don’t muddy this one.

    • http://tpmelectioncentral.talk…

      <

      p>

      “As Barack Obama has said before, the idea of joint town halls is appealing and one that would allow a great conversation to take place about the need to change the direction of this country. We would recommend a format that is less structured and lengthier than the McCain campaign suggests, one that more closely resembles the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. But, having just secured our party’s nomination, this is one of the many items we will be addressing in the coming days and look forward to discussing it with the McCain campaign,” said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

      <

      p>Why does McCain have a problem with debates that are less structured, lengthier, and more substantive?

  2. with this type of events is that the Governor will hear from a lot of special interests as proponents of their individual issues.  He will have to be able to separate the “wheat from the chaff” in identifying actions that would be beneficial to the citizens as a whole.  That may be an advantage of “listening” to a blog, where there can be sufficient give and take discussion on issues to make it easier to focus on good solutions.  I doubt he’ll get that from the town hall meetings.

    • Those squeaks may manifest themselves as motivated “special interest” individuals, lobbying done by corporations or non-profits, or Governor Patrick’s neighbor bending his ear while pruning a shrub.

      <

      p>All politicians have to separate the special interest from the general interest, and this forum is no more or less a special interest forum than an op-ed or any other place to vent issues.

      <

      p>And sometimes, the squeaking is being done to improve upon a general problem, be it global warming, education, public safety, or any other number of important issues.

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