The two candidates are, like the two parts of their district, ideologically split on almost every issue. With such a clear-cut distinction, in one of the few competitive races in the state, you might imagine that Democrats and progressive groups would have Orozco near the top of their list of priority causes.
That’s starting to happen, but slowly. They realize how high the stakes are – Democrats would dearly love to deal a deathblow to Brown’s political career, which many see leading to a run for governor or US Senate. But so far, many remain unconvinced that Orozco, a lesbian Cuban-American psychologist who has never held public office, has any real chance of knocking off the state’s current GOP poster boy.
My impression from this article is that- at this point- the Democratic Party and allied groups may be unwilling to devote resources necessary to defeat Brown in what looks to be a tough race, while at the same time the Republicans are going to try to make this seat appear safe.
A victory over Brown, a long-time foe of marriage equality who has recently supported mandatory minimums, abolishing the Turnpike Authority, slashing the state income tax, mandating voter IDs, and who voted against stem cell research funding, would be quite an ideological triumph.
** Update **
In a sign this race is at least on the Party’s radar screen, I just received notice that Gov. Patrick will be headlining an Orozco fundraiser on Sept. 3 in Wellesley
As the saying goes, ain’t that the truth.
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p>I’m confident that this race is being taken seriously, it’s just that the media doesn’t care about almost any race, never mind a state senate one! (Of course, the fact that it’s a race pitting an anti-gay, crazy bigot versus a decent human being, who happens to be lesbian, makes it a wicked interesting race, but that’s too much effort for the MSM.)
And everyone knows what issue is involved here
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p>Also, you say
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p>”A victory over Brown, a long-time foe of marriage equality who has recently supported abolishing the Turnpike Authority, slashing the state income tax, and mandating voter IDs”
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p>like its a bad thing.
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p>Ryan – you are a pro-gay crazy bigot too.
you might have noticed that it is far more than a one-issue campaign
Why would someone run only on marriage equality. I don’t know if you noticed but we already won that fight. We can and are getting married. We defeated the bad guys who wanted to put our right to be married before the voters. We have repealed the 1913 law that discriminated against people from out of state. That fight is over. There is no need to run on the equal marriage issue. We have marriage equality in Mass.
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p>Sara wants to make sure that the income tax doesn’t get repealed. She has a link on the front page of her web site. Sara wants to make sure that all have access to health care. She is a survivor of breast cancer. She wants to make sure that others can concentrate on getting well and not on worring if they can afford treatment. She has two boys in the public education system. She cares about public schools and the health of the higher education system. I could go on.
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p>Full disclosure: I was her Sara’s BMG volunteer
You know at the end of No Country For Old Men, how the guy carries through on killing the other guy’s wife, just because he told the guy he would kill his wife? This is like that.
the progressive movement is actually a bunch of sociopaths. /snark off.
You’re right, that guy is a metaphor for the progressive movement, isn’t he? I thought he was “Fate”, or “Chaos” or something, but now that you mention it, it’s like him versus all the people that just want things to be normal. He uses the coin to determine other people’s lives, not his own. “You don’t have to do that”, they tell him, but he insists…
She’s going to win on health care, education, the economy, the environment and a hundred other issues. I said that it pitted a bigot versus a lesbian made the race interesting, not that it was the only issue people cared about.
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p>I said nothing of the sort. The writer of the diary wrote that. Get your facts straight.
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p>I’ll ignore the insult.
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p>Yes, I’m “pro-gay.” I AM gay. However, crazy? I’d like to think I’m fairly sane. Perhaps you think gayness is a mental disorder? That would speak a great deal about who the ‘bigot’ is around here. (By the way, if I am a bigot, what group of people would I seek to discriminate against? Good luck with that one.)
…part of the liberal litmus test? I assume you mean that Brown wants to merge it with the MA Dept of Highway.
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p>Are progressives/liberals supposed to oppose this? Id so, for what reasons? Speaking for myself, I’d be open to looking at this as an option–if we can save money on the move…money that can be invested for social programs that give people a lift up from poverty, sickness, ect. So what memo did I miss?
but the drive to abolish an important regulatory agency – without a plan to deal with its implications – is an important ideological distinction. Especially when its prompted by news that a group of toll booth collectors are skimming money.
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p>There are other ‘litmus test’ issues that I left unmentioned- ie Brown’s opposition to stem cell research funding (I believe the only Senator that cast a Nay vote) and vocal support for mandatory minimums come to mind.
99.999% of the time I’m on the left of the issues at RMG…here I seem to always be on the right…
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p>As mush as I loath to defend Brown, the link you provided was skimpy on many details and I’m pretty sure the Republicans are calling for the merger of the Pike w/MA Highway. While I don’t have a solid position on it, it desires consideration.
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p>I’m puzzled as to why you call the Pike a “important regulatory agency” when it’s function is to issue bonds, contruct roads and collect tolls to pay for the bonds. As noted below, the idea of merging the Pike has been around for a long, long time and–dispite what the link you provided states–has nothing to do with the recent toll collection scandal, except to remind us all that the Pike has issues that are not being addressed.
I don’t really know what the plan was/is, apart from what I read in that Politicker article. I’ve updated the diary accordingly.
Well, not “originally” perhaps, but if I remember correctly, Merging the Pike and MassHighway was something Reich was pushing.
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p>Of course, 2002 is ancient history now, so I may be misremembering.
As, um, interesting, as this whole online discussion of Sara’s priorities might be, I’d like to invite folks to come and meet Sara and decide for themselves. There are three upcoming events that would give you the perfect opportunity to see her in action:
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p>Sara is far from a single issue candidate and she deserves our help. Please consider volunteering to canvass, phone-banking, hosting a house party or sending “Notes to Neighbors” to tell your friends about her candidacy. She can win, but not without hard-core BMG-style activists pitching in. Will you help?
I heard on the campaign trail today that Sara had a shake up in her staff. Can anyone confirm this? Hopefully this will be what she and her campaign needs to really get out there and win this fight. Any insight would be appreciated.