Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Why, Jim? Whyyyyyyyy??

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Well, I gotta say that this, which arrived in the mail today, was a disappointment.  (Click image for larger view.)

Look, I get the whole Worcester thing.  But to go out on a limb like that in a hotly-contested primary?  For a guy who, frankly, is not exactly in tune with McGovern’s progressive politics?  Sorry, but I don’t buy that.  It wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t a good idea.

Maybe this is all a misunderstanding, à la Scott Brown and Bill Hudak.  Let’s hope so.  

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  1. Hopefully all Bump and Lake supporters (I’m the former) are using their own personal networks to provide the counter to Glodis’ blitz this week. If you haven’t, there’s no time like right now to do so.

  4. This Worcester County guy would do just about anything for Jim McGovern. He is one of the finest people in politics I have ever met. However voting for Guy Glodis is not one of them.

  5. McGovern doesn’t feel the need to be so hamstrung by his own ideology that he can’t support Guy Glodis.

    Maybe this is all a misunderstanding….

    What an arrogant thing to say. No one in their right left mind could possibly support Odious Glodis, so this has to be a mistake, right?

      • And Brown responded promptly that it WAS a misunderstanding.

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        p>A photo and quote?  On an expensive mailer?  Really?

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        p>Prediction – you won’t hear back from McGovern pre-primary.

  6. We need a little more background on this. After all, we’re relying on a Glodis mailer here, and we know how accurate they’ve been lately.

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    p>For example: When did McGovern make this comment? Did he actually endorse Glodis? Would he say pretty much the exact same thing about the other Auditor nominees?

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    p>Without answers to those questions, this is pretty much a non-story.

      • Given that Jim provided BMG an advanced notice of his announcement late last week so that it could be previewed, I would hope that he would be quick in responding to clear up this mailer. It is either a monumental misunderstanding that needs to be clarified pre-primary or Jim has endorsed Guy.

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        p>I have made several comments on the Auditor’s race which is finally getting well deserved attention after 20+ years of DeNucci’s oversight. I will summarize as follows:

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        p>- I continue to believe that Mary Z is the best candidate of the entire field.

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        p>- I keep learning more about Glodis and I am convinced more each time that he is the worst of the three Democratic candidates.

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        p>- The race deserves a great general election.  Great in terms of dialogue and debate. The best chance for that is with either Lake or Bump.

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        p>I have taken to asking my Democratic friends who they plan to vote for in the primary.  If the mention Glodis, I do my best to try and talk them out of that choice.  Not because he has the best chance to beat Mary (I don’t think he does), but because he is the wrong person for the job.  He may have been the right person at the right time for the Worcester County Sheriff’s job, but Auditor and Sheriff are not the same job.  I would be disappointed if Jim would not be able to see this.

  7. on these big, glossy mailers. I’ve received 3 different ones in the past week, including the “reign” one. Does he  understand the difference between “reign” and “rein”?

    • Good strategy, IMHO.  Most voters don’t know that much about the Auditor’s office or the candidates, and Glodis (so far, anyway) is the only one with any direct mail presence.  And you can’t miss them as you sort through the mail.  Won’t it be interesting to see if it works?

      • I wish now I had been keeping them so I could count them – I KNOW I have received more than two dozen.

      • a concerted targeted flow directed at most-likely voters. But the quality of the message (and the spelling!) counts for something too.

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        p>I’m a bit jealous, I did not get this one. Was it only sent out in Central Mass?

    • He wants the reign over spending; i.e. provide the most patronage jobs he possibly can.

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      p>I notice that, after some protest about his claims that the Auditor’s position could be used to create jobs, he clarified that what he would do is award contracts to Massachusetts businesses, thus creating jobs in the Bay State. Problem is, guy, that this also means that the taxpayers are paying more than they otherwise would, which is the opposite of what the Auditor is all about. Oh well! Perhaps in his next life he’ll understand all of this.

    • I’ve voted in every Democratic primary since I moved here, so you think I’d be on their lists.  Maybe Glodis is only sending them to registered Ds?

  9. Love ’em or hate ’em, Guy Glodis inspires both reactions. We love to demonize our opponents and canonize our preferred candidate, that’s all part of the campaign drama now. But, Jim McGovern’s quote is based on the facts as he knows them. Glodis went into the Sheriff’s office and did exactly what he said he would do to clean up a mess there. He brought new thinking to the post and got the job done. The fact that most people may not agree with his style, personal biases and philosophy and his positions on social issues, still cannot take away from the facts stated in McGovern’s quote.  McGovern did not say Glodis was a nice person or a progressive thinker, he said he would do the job.

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    p> I think McGovern is without equal the star of our Congressional delegation, one of the finest human beings I have ever met. I do look at his support for Glodis as “a Worcester thing”…David, you say you “get the Worcester thing”…but I do not think you really do.

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    p>Considering the alternative…Bump has not set the party on fire and carries her own share of baggage which has resulted in tepid support from even those on her team.  Lake is just an unknown commodity at this point…a guy with a future (no pun intended)…Mary Z. Connaughton must go to sleep dreaming of this trio every night.

    • Pls be more specific.  He is Sheriff mainly because he had alot of insurance co. money (from his committee assignment from his state senate days) and also because he convinced the leadership of the C.O. union they he would play ball with them so they all campaigned for him.  In addition, the dem heavy hitters in the area were worried Flynn would die in office and Romney would get to appoint his successor, so they backed the younger Glodis (or just stayed out of it, as McGovern did) rather than risk losing it to someone they couldn’t control.

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      p>Oh Glodis did kick the Flynn family out of the state owned property on the grounds.   Almost makes up for the oodles of dollars he’s had to spend on outside consultants (some of them retired Flynn people) brought on to help manage the place because he’s an incompetent hack (at least Flynn was a competent hack).

    • Although he may not be as progressive as I would like he has done an outstanding job at the jail and that is why I’m supporting him for Auditor. His social stances will not come into play as Auditor but his business savvy and his skills at efficently running an oganization will.

        • To Quote HLPeary

          Considering the alternative…Bump has not set the party on fire and carries her own share of baggage which has resulted in tepid support from even those on her team.  Lake is just an unknown commodity at this point…a guy with a future (no pun intended)

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          p>I think he has the best chance of winning in November with the general public. Don’t get me wrong I am not gung-ho for Guy Glodis but I think he is our best chance at retaining this seat. Keep in mind the Statewide races will be won in Central Mass. Not Boston, not the Western Part but Central Mass

          • you should have quit when you were ahead.  What outstanding job at the jail with accusations of using the facility for political/campaign purposes….wasn’t there an “audit” issue?  How have costs truly been reigned-in and has recidivism decreased?  Stick with reality….it’s about geographical bonding….central MA/Worcester brotherhood is strong and that’s why we have a great LG.

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            p>Bump however, is the superior candidate to go against Mary C. in the general and I say that as a Lake supporter.

          • Check out this article in the Berkshire Eagle where Guy accuses Lake and Bump of bring too partisan, and says that the only reason he didn’t run as an independent is that independents can’t win.  So what is it with “our best chance at retaining this seat”?  Some politician who, in almost any other state in the country would be a Republican, but who runs as a Democrat in Massachusetts because that is usually the only way to win?  So, because Guy chooses to call himself a Democrat, he is one of us?  Sorry, but I don’t buy that.  Being a Democrat has to mean something, and I would hope that it means something positive about public service, some respect for the people, and some integrity.  In my humble opinion, Glodis has none of those essential qualities.

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            p>The only issue in which Glodis appears to have some Democratic leanings is with organized labor.  But it doesn’t hit me — someone who has walked a picket line for real — as anything other than a political calculation, using organized labor as another group that he can use to advance his own career.  That gives him an edge over anti-union Republicans like Connaughton and Baker, but the other seamy aspects of his unethical political career are abhorent to me.

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            p>So please don’t tell me that Guy Glodis represents “our” best chance at retaining the Auditor’s seat.  Maybe we don’t deserve the seat if Guy Glodis is the best we can come up with.

          • Is the goal to have the best person possible in the Auditor position or to retain it as a Democrat seat?

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            p>It seems to me, via your comments, that you are supporting Glodis because he is the best chance to retain the seat for the Democratic Party.  This leads me to believe that you think that there is a better candidate or candidates that may result in the position not being retained as a Democratic seat.

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            p>It is an important position that deserves the best person regardless of party, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., in my opinion.  I think the Democratic Party has better candidates than Glodis.  I also think Mary Z. is the most qualified candidate but Mary v. Bump or Lake is better for the state than v. Glodis.

          • …very enthusiastically support Bump.  To me it’s just a matter of her having the greatest amount of the most relevant experience.

          • What, do voters there get counted twice?

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            p>Every person has one vote.  Every person from a district, from an age group, from a race, from a religion, from an educational background, from a political philosophy.  Hockey moms, soccer dads, students, seniors, vets, CEOs, union members.

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            p>

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            p>Unless… do you know something we don’t?

              • All candidates come from somewhere.  What makes Central Mass the key for an auditor’s race in 2010?  Because they want to feel important?  Because Guy’s from the area?  Because they’re not Boston (and we all now that the rest of the state loves to get their collective red-headed-stepchild hatin’ on toward Boston)?

                <

                p>Seriously — what makes Central Mass particularly important for this election?

                • When Deval Patrick and Tim Murray won they won Worcester County. The Boston area and the Berkshires will support the Democratic Candidate. But with Tim Murray and Guy Glodis on the ballot it only helps drive more Democrats for Tim Murray and also an important block of Independents for the Glodis campaign. Worcester is on the most heavily unenrolled counties in the state, so when you want to win an election out here that is who you need to be going after.

      • Like no-bid contracts that won him a rebuke from Auditor DeNucci?  Like his creative campaign financing tricks — e.g., putting campaign contributions into his personal account, using the Sheriff’s Office funds for political purposes, being the only pol in Massachusetts to refuse to pay taxes on income generated by his campaign warchest, laudering the loan from his hedge fund pal into his campaign account?  See my post below for links for all of these charges.

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        p>Those aren’t Glodis’s social stances.  Those are just some examples of his management and ethical behaviors that are directly related to his business savvy and his skills at efficiently running an organization.  He’s running for State Auditor based on a purported “outstanding job” that includes a plethora of ethically-challenged activities.  Sure, he’s “Our Guy”, but he’s uniquely unqualified for the job.

          • Sorry, but this is too good to pass up.  Maybe you should be looking for an omit option on your endorsement of Guy Glodis.  Just explain how the public can and should ignore Guy’s history of ethical lapses, most of it while he was Sheriff?  Putting his campaign contributions into his personal account?  Paying for campaign expenses with revenue from the Sheriff’s Office?  Taking a position that no other elected official in the Commonwealth has taken about his obligation to pay taxes on the income generated by his campaign warchest?  Do you really want to stand on the same stage with this Guy?  Wait until one of your opponents starts plastering your picture on a flier with Guy Glodis, and see how the electorate reacts to your support for Glodis’s “outstanding job.”

          • These are reports about comments that Guy Glodis made at the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast in 2006:

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            p>

            Grinning at the dais of Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day political roast in “Southie,” Worcester County Sheriff Guy W. Glodis unleashed one tasteless joke after another.

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            p>

            That didn’t stop Mr. Glodis, who laughed heartily at his own quips, from laying into his own political ally, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, with a crude story that one political observer described as more suited for late-night television than a breakfast event.

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            p>

            “It was classic Guy,” said Jon Keller, a political reporter for Boston’s CBS4 television station who has covered the breakfast for years. “If bad taste were a crime in Worcester County, Glodis would have to lock himself up.

            “He was like that uncle everybody has who at Thanksgiving has a little too much sherry and veers over the line,” Mr. Keller added.

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            p>

            Mr. Glodis also targeted his old boss, Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, with an ethnic jibe directed at Mr. Travaglini’s Italian heritage. He said he decided to leave the Senate when “Trav” started installing boccie courts (an Italian game similar to bowling) in the Statehouse.

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            p>Tasteless jokes.  Crude stories.  Bad taste.  Your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving.  Ethnic jibes.

            <

            p>So I ask once again, will you proudly stand on stage with Guy Glodis as the Democratic nominee for State Auditor, or does that thought make you cringe like most of us here on BMG?

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            p>

      •    I will make damned sure that the next Republican State Auditor knows you and daddy very well. Kid: You’re gonna have to WORK for a living!
          Do you endorse the Ku Klux Klan? Guy did. As a student at UMASS-Amherst. Circa 1983. No off-white people in West Boylston?

  10. When I saw Congressman McGovern’s statement about Guy Glodis thinking outside the box, my mind immediately came up with the following examples of Guy’s out-of-the-box thinking:

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    p>*   His racist anti-Muslim flier back in 2003.

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    p>*   Let’s not forget his boorish behavior at the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast in 2006 that made him the only pol forever banned from the event.

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    p>*   And then there is the plethora of creative campaign finance techniques that Guy has employed:

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    p>     *     putting his campaign donations into his personal bank account;

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    p>     *     using the Sheriff’s Office funds to pay his campaign expenses;

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    p>     *     awarding no-bid contracts;

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    p>     *     laundering a loan from his hedge-fund pal (who was convicted of bilking his clients) into his campaign;

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    p>     *     being the only candidate in Massachusetts to believe that he is exempt from paying taxes on income generated by his campaign warchest

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    p>*   Or my personal favorite, his attempt to avoid a $15 dollar parking fee at a Cape Cod beach because, apparently, our Guy doesn’t have to pay the fees that regular guys have to pay.

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    p>Yes, there are many, many ways that Guy Glodis has proven conclusively that he thinks outside the box.  Did I miss anything?

    • That’s MY town.  If he tried to stiff us, he’d come out of the water to a car with no transmission.  Bullying the little girl at the beach hut was just letting off steam, as he KNEW we’d be taking the cash.  Why, we raised the day fee in his honor!

      • But he’s a democrat. Aren’t democratic political folks entitled to ignore laws made for the regular citizenry?  

        • Sorry to be blunt, but it’s true.  Sure, there are some crooks in our party (as there are in yours).  And guess what?  Anthony Galluccio went to jail; Sal DiMasi was indicted, as were Dianne Wilkerson and Chuck Turner; Tom Finneran pled guilty to a federal indictment; Jim Marzilli is going to trial; should I go on?  The laws apply pretty much across the board.  

          <

          p>So stop whining and go win some elections.  If you do, congrats.

  11. If you support Bump… how could you? She is claiming to be an independent candidate. We all know Governor Patrick is going to be re-elected. So, when there both on beacon hill, how can she be an independent. How can she be non- partisan and stir up the pot? She cannot. She won’t change beacon hill. She is the entrenched insider. GUY is the independent, who has and is only candidate to balance a budget. He is the best chance to beat Connaughton. We need to rally behind Guy, and unite to be a strong force against the Republicans. Go GUY!

    • If you say anything on BMG about Guy Glodis that isn’t venomous invective, you’re guaranteed to get rated with 0s, 3s, and 4s. The only bigger crime around here is saying something nice about Steve Lynch.  

        • not the veracity of what is said.  

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          p>Glodis is an abomination and an embarrassment to the any thoughtful Democrat.  Those of us who have been on the receiving end of Our Guy in the Worcester area for freakin’ years fully understand that.  Your reflexive, I assume, reaction to the negativity can be understood if you’ve not fully experienced it.  Let me tell you, though, that this man has no business running as a Democrat, has no business being Sheriff of Worcester County, has no business making decisions about the very real and troubled lives of the inmates he’s responsible for housing, and no business running for Auditor.  

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          p>If you don’t know anything about Glodis personally and with first-hand knowledge then butt out.  If, OTOH, you do and you feel the need to defend him, then let’s go toe to toe.  Somebody other than Guy Glodis need to be elected Auditor of the Commonwealth, and, candidly, I don’t give a rat’s ass who that is as long as he or she has a pulse and is sentient, ethical, and honest.   I rarely put things that bluntly but I’m doing it now.  

  12. If he had been endorsed through the media, wouldn’t there have to be a citation?  

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    p>This looks to me like Glodis is taking advantage of McGovern’s good reputation and trying to run on his coattails.

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    p>My state senator just sent out a letter endorsing Guy Glodis too.  I find it hard to believe that my senator supports the shenanigans of Guy Glodis.  He just isn’t like that.  So these endorsement are rather bizarre.

    • because he has far more money and more organization than does any competitor.  Why make an enemy of the guy?  He isn’t going away, and he is likely going to win.

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