RMG says Charlie Baker wants Senator Richard Tisei to be his running mate. This follows on the Globe’s reporting on Friday that Tisei was at the top of Baker’s short list, and also that Tisei “publicly disclosed yesterday that he is gay,” presumably to avoid involuntary disclosures to that effect later on.
Predictably, some of the more socially conservative RMGers are less than thrilled about the choice — Tisei, after all, not only has consistently voted in favor of same-sex marriage, but is also impure on taxes, having opposed a variety of tax-cutting measures over the years (back in 1990, Tisei opposed a Citizens for Limited Taxation petition “that would {have} roll{ed} back state taxes and fees to their 1988 levels,” he opposed last year’s proposed income tax repeal, and there may be other examples). He also got wrong a reporter’s question about how many stripes are on the American flag. (He thought the answer was twenty.) Geez, the guy is pro-gay, pro-tax, and anti-flag. Is Tisei even an American? đŸ˜‰
But seriously, folks, if this is real, it’s an interesting and risky move by Baker. Gov and Lt Gov candidates do not formally run as tickets in the primaries, so it’s quite possible that even if Baker wins his primary, Tisei might not, so that Baker wouldn’t actually end up paired with his “running mate” when it comes to the general election. That could be awkward. Of course, it’s also possible that Christy Mihos will beat Baker in the primary, which could land us with a Mihos/Tisei ticket. And it leaves the socially conservative Republicans with nowhere to go, which probably means they’ll stay home next November. There aren’t that many of them here, but there are certainly some, and Republicans need every vote they can get to have any shot at winning, especially if Cahill stays in. Heck, maybe Cahill will try to outflank Baker on the right and pick up a few of those voters.
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p>Interesting info regarding Tisei. I wonder if your above comment is accurate though — after all, Weld, Cellucci, and (pre-presidential) Romney all ran as social moderates/liberals and yet picked up enough votes to win. I still think Baker picks up more votes by positioning himself as a social liberal than he loses.
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p>Nevertheless, at least with Cahill in the race, Baker will have a world of problems in this race. But it’s probably not because the state’s few socially conservative voters will stay home.
(a) that was all pre-gay marriage, and (b) Weld et al. were certainly socially moderate/liberal (or, in Romney’s case, pretended to be), but they weren’t actually gay. I have no idea if that makes any difference; maybe someone should ask Brian Camenker.
Specifically how pro-gay he is. I’m guessing this news is going to send them into convulsions.
as much as he’s just gay. Adjust the diary?
didn’t see that when i commented. carry on!
During the debates at the State House during the efforts to undo Goodridge, Richard Tisei stood up on the floor and gave a pretty good speech against the proposed amendments. I consider that pro-gay.
There’s a lot of closeted (and formerly closeted) gays out there with decidedly anti-gay voting records. Tisei isn’t one of them.
Charlie Baker might fit that bill (he’s 53), but Richard Tisei is 46. You think that’s “middle-aged”? Okay. Talk about ageism! đŸ˜›
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p>You guys just think Tisei is older because he was 21 when he was first elected to the Great and General Court.
It’s certainly not young…
You are showing your youth.
then Tisei is destined for a ripe old age of at least 138?!
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p>46 does seem young for a statewide elected politician, but I don’t think it’s young for a person.
After what year would the middle third of a life that long begin?
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p>Denial is a river in Egypt.
I think I was being generous. I’m not trying to be insensitive, just honest. No offense is intended to the gigantic proportion of BMG who are “middle-aged” or older.
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p>Truly, time is one of the only things in life that we can’t get more of. Rather than treating it with fear or as a taboo, I think it’s important to embrace time, to recognize the limited amount of time we each have on this earth and do the most with it to make it a better place for both ourselves and everyone else. Time is not something we should fear, because it is what gives importance to each and every action we take as a human being. I think that’s true whether someone’s 20, 40, 60, 80 or 100, because none of us knows how much time we’ll ever truly have in the end, a fact which I’ve unfortunately had a lot of experience with, even in my “youth.”
46 is middle age, according to the doctor who shocked me when I was 41 by referring to “middle aged women like us”. I looked around trying to see who she was talking to. As for whether someone who is 46 is “young”, well, it sure as hell isn’t what anyone would consider old. 60 is the new 35!
I didn’t click over to RMG, but I assume at least some of the commenters there must be frothing at the mouth that Senator Tisei has been a Beacon Hill pol nearly all of his adult life! Hack alert!! Where’s Howie Carr when he’s needed?
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p>In all seriousness, though, I wonder how much influence a Baker/Tisei administration (if they win) would have on the national GOP? Would the teabaggers of the base ignore them, freak out or realize that socially moderate/tolerant is the route to victory?
Maybe Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck will swoop in and find some teabagger to run? That would certainly make things interesting.
David already noted Camenker, good choice.
Er…ahem…let’s get some logs on the fire, shall we?
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p>As a lifelong Ted Kennedy-Barack Obama Democrat, I find that Republicans like Charlie Baker and Richard Tisei share my view of America. As an affirmative action-loving, abortion-promoting, gay marriage-favoring, tax-and-spending, instinctively-surrendering, nonpatriotic, peace-song-singing extreme left-wing Massachusetts liberal, I would say that Charlie Baker is exactly who I want as governor. The choice of Richard Tisei confirms that Charlie Baker stands against the modern Republican Party, and stands with me.
A large number of Republicans don’t share your views. You’d better start thinking of Christy Mihos as our next Governor. Mr. Mihos is moderate on social issues, but he’s not running scared and desperate like Baker is.
In Mass? Where are they hiding?
are hiding in the closet
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p>[/ducks]
While I would agree with you that if the choice were simply between a liberal as incompetent as Deval or a fresh face with the exact same positions as Deval it would be an easy decision, Baker is still oddly conservative on two big issues that might make his candidacy harder to swallow. He opposes in state tuition for the sons and daughters of illegal immigrants, even if they are citizens themselves, and even though all pay taxes in MA and are entitled to reap the benefits of supporting its colleges and universities. Secondly he is radically against tax increases, promising essentially a ‘read my lips’ promise at the beginning of the campaign. There is no way to close this current budget gap through spending cuts alone, and for Baker to believe that proves either that he is ignorant of how to fix a budget shortfall, casting some doubt on his potential competency as governor, or he is willfully lying to the electorate, which to me casts doubt on our ability to trust his word. Remember the last four Republican governors all lied to us in some capacity. Weld, and Cellucci that they would finish their terms, Swift that she used her helicopter for state business, and Romney on basically everything he said he believed in in 2002. So I am not so ready to elect another liar to the Corner Office only to see him chase after an ambassadorship or flip flop on every issue.
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p>That said if Baker modifies these positions in the general election he could be quite a palatable alternative to Deval. Realistically there is little he could do on either front anyway so holding my nose over a mostly symbolic disagreement might not be so dreadful.
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p>What is more remarkable are the strategic implications of this race. First thats Tim Cahill is irrational since the only way he keeps a state job was to have run with Baker. Now he either loses to Baker or acts as a spoiler for Deval, either way he wastes his time, money, and political capital and will join the ranks of the politically obscure. Second that Baker took this risk, it seems he will gain little votes from the pro-gay rights crowd which is firmly in Devals camp, and risks alienating independents and the social conservatives within his own party. Thirdly with the RNC about to ratify a tough ‘purity’ clause regarding conservative issues, Baker could lose national funding from the RNC and RGA, presuming Steele fails to stop the rightists from hijacking the party. If Steele was smart though, the Republicans wouldn’t want to waste this opportunity both to look more socially moderate and also to beat a key ally and personal friend of the President; Deval’s defeat could fit their 2012 narrative quite nicely. It would also be interesting to see if this increases Baker’s funding from Log Cabin and socially moderate Republicans across the country. While he may not have realized it, Baker has now made our governor’s race have much more interesting national implications.
I don’t think that’s correct. A son or daughter of illegal immigrants who is born in the U.S. is a citizen and, I think, is therefore entitled to in-state tuition regardless of the parents’ status. I think the issue is parents whose kids were born outside the U.S. and who then enter the U.S. illegally. Thus, the kid who came into the U.S. at age 4, and by age 18 is totally assimilated, but is in fact not a legal resident.
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p>I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.
Though I would argue that those sons and daughters are also entitled to in state tuition-seeing that they are residents and their parents paid into the system. Baker’s position on this gives me great pause, even Jeff Jacoby is on the right side (morally) of this issue.
Sure, but of course others would argue the opposite. That’s the entire in-state tuition debate, right there.
In-state tuition is only 17% of the daytime student’s bill. (Framingham State College, Spring 2009)
Baker/Tisei
First time I’ve seen his website. It’s hideous. Does he realize that you can design in colors other than primary blue and primary red?
Any candidate who sees a website as a meticulously decorated donation page will tend to lose to those who see a website’s true potential.
great website… victory, bad website… loser.
The two pioneers of Internet campaigning were Steve Forbes and Howard Dean. Both lost.
Tisei is a state house lifer, which means if he wins election to the Lt Gov spot, his pension will be based on that salary, rather than the much more modest amount he has earned as a state rep and state senator (top three years, baby!). Anyone want to ask him about that? Will he offer to waive the bump, consistent with Mr Baker’s proposed reforms?
Has pledged no state pensions for anyone who obtains a post with the Mihos administration. How anout the opponents?
I agree the pension system needs reforming, but if state employees are allowed a certain pension it should apply to all employees.
…the Democrats get a possible opening to another Senate seat? After all we “only” hold 35/40 so we need to pad our majority!
Many GOoPers seem to have pretty much given up on Tisei’s Senate seat. Remains to be seen who will jump in for it – I haven’t heard anything yet.
…that they couldn’t try to defend one of their own seats. I think former Rep. Mike Festa may live in that district. If I’m correct I think he shoud run.
But it’s likely that he or she will lose.
…and was planning to take on Tisei, but now has the open seat to run for. Just heard about him recently but at first glance seems like a decent candidate (attorney with some government experience). This seat should be a Dem pickup without too much trouble – Tisei had built up enough support from organizations and constituents to win, but I think many of them will move to a Dem in an open-seat race. Even if the GOP candidate is ideologically similar to Tisei, s/he won’t have the institutional and base support that he had built up to win the open seat.
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p>With Scott Brown probably leaving for another higher office or outside gig after his failed U.S. Senate run, we could be looking at THREE GOP state senators…yikes. On the bright side, it might mean more leadership pay for those who remain!