Somehow I missed this, but it’s been percolating over the last couple of weeks: another interesting possible gubernatorial candidate is Juliette Kayyem. Kayyem is a lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and previously served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, and as Governor Patrick’s homeland security advisor. She also writes a regular Globe column.
Kayyem is obviously an extremely accomplished person. My question is whether Governor is the right fit … her background seems heavily weighted toward terrorism, national security and foreign policy. I mean, check this out, from her K school page:
Media Expertise
Juliette Kayyem welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:
al Qaeda
Bioterrorism and Civil Liberties
Crisis Management
Defense Policy
Domestic Preparedness
Domestic Terrorism
Immigration
International Law
Leadership
Middle East
National Security
National Security Council
So, not the typical portfolio for a job whose primary focus would seem to be the usual fare of jobs, health care, etc. Still, I’m intrigued, and, should she run, I’d certainly like to hear her case for why she’s the right person for the job.
And what does she know about K-12 education, Chapter 90 funding, and municipal taxation?
Who?
Regionalization? Dealing with House and Senate leadership? Political skills? Looks like she should give the Boston PD Chief some competition for Homeland Security job.
…Deval Patrick know about those issues before he became a candidate for gov?
to deal with the legislature 😉
running an organization? You don’t have to be the prez to know about running an org? Closest I can see is Assistant Sec for Intergov Affairs. Maybe that requires extensive management. Could be.
My point is: being good at something requiring intelligence [or, in her case, ahem… intelligence] does not in itself make a good candidate for governor. She [and the other candidates] have got to show that they are comfortable running an organization, and for me at least that means both going with the numbers and analysis, keeping people and departments aligned and working toward the same goals, and being able to work with folks for whom you ain’t the boss (read: legislature and press).
But “homeland security” means something entirely different to progressive MA voters. I would want the next Governor to care about civil liberties and preserve them, not sure if that’s a prioriety of hers and it could be a liability in the primary. But let’s see what she has to say. Marathon bombing aside, for a Governor it’s one of the lowest items on my list.