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OK, I was away this weekend, and this was posted on Friday — better late than never. This is really Mass. Politics 101 stuff, from Ed Poon:

frameworks

What a bizarre scene to have Democrats openly rooting for a Republican against a sitting Democrat governor.  Am I off base here?

Projecting a two-party framework onto Mass. politics only serves to obfuscate what's really going on.  Most of what happens here can be traced back to personal ambition and vendetta, with a healthy side of ego.  There's no great clash of ideologies, as true Republicans (i.e., Palinites) are an incredibly marginal group.  To the extent there's any ideological clash, it's an intraparty battle within the Democrats between hacks and progressives*.  The legislators and other “party leaders” like Menino don't want to lose their control over the agency.  Plus they realize that someone like Deval, who has independent support within the party, is a much bigger threat to their perogatives than Romney or Welducci, who will just issue scathing press releases and then go along to get along.
*I would just add that in this context, “progressive” means “reformist”, not necessarily “left-liberal.”
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  1. I think the follow-on discussion with stomv is worth seeing as well, as he makes a good point.  I think the nomenclature may be tripping people up on this.  Some people hear “progressive” and they think hippies.  Others hear “hack” and they think we’re buying into Howie Carr’s meme.  I’m wary of “reformist” because I think the label can be applied to everything, not all of it good (e.g., Social Security Reform).  And “machine” is underinclusive, as the problems really are broader than some old school urban patronage system.  But regardless of what you call the dynamic, there’s no doubt that there’s such a cleavage in the party… and it’s also pretty clear who appears to be winning right now.

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    p>As a progressive (5.00 / 2)
    I don’t like you framing it as hacks vs. progressives.  It’s not helpful.
    There are good, solid Democrats who aren’t progressive.  While I want to convince them to be more progressive, they’re not de facto hacks.  They simply have a different vision for how society should structure herself.  Frankly, the same goes for Republicans.

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    p>Hack isn’t about political party.  It’s about power consolidation, laziness, ego, good-old-boy, secrecy, and manipulation.  I posit that within the MA state lege there are progressive hacks, moderate Dem hacks, conservadem hacks, and GOP hacks.  I also posit that within the same MA lege, there are progressives, moderate Dems, conservadems, and GOP members who aren’t hacks.

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    p>Framing it as progressives vs. hacks isn’t at all honest nor fair.

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    p>by: stomv @ Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 10:27:59 AM EDT

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    p>that was my framework within the D party (5.00 / 1)
    And I think it generally holds up.  
    I have respect for those who adhere to a conservative/more moderate ideology than mine, whether rooted in Burkean or libertarian principles, regardless of whichever party they are affiliated with.  What I cannot stomach is someone espouses these philosophies and then engages in this kind of hypocrisy.  

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    p>Yes, there are good, solid Democrats who are not that progressive.  But in Massachusetts, on the more important issues facing the state, what distingishes them is not their belief in smaller government / gradual change / local control, but rather the protection of special interests, particularly the public employees unions.

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    p>by: Ed Poon @ Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 12:09:06 PM EDT
    [ Parent | Reply ]

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    p>moreover (4.00 / 4)
    Maybe I’m wrong.  I’d appreciate someone informing me of the ideological and principled differences that Terry Murray, Steve Baddour, Bob DeLeo, Tom Menino, even Tim Cahill, etc., have with the Patrick administration.  Because where I’m sitting, it’s all about “power consolidation, laziness, ego, good-old-boy, secrecy, and manipulation” and not disputes about the role of government or “their vision for how society should structure itself.”

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    p>by: Ed Poon @ Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 12:14:36 PM EDT
    [ Parent | Reply ]  

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