My parents just moved to Wakefield and noticed all the Guardia signs out there, and my dad asked me to find out more about the race. Having looked him up on the Wakefield Patch, I have learned a lot, and I like what I see.
We have a lot in common. We both come from blue collar backgrounds, both were on our student school committees, and both got the highest educations in our family. While he was going to college and law school he ran for and served as Chairman of the Wakefield School Committee at the impressive age of 23 and emerged as a leader on that body and took tough votes to keep the schools operational and funding. We are both in our 20s, and are ready to get more involved in public life. He also wants to reform local aid and ensure localities get their fair share.
He currently serves as a director of a non-profit focused on helping tenants avoid eviction, and like me gets inspiration from Dorothy Day and other Catholic social justice fighters:
Guardia, a 28-year-old Democrat, graduated from Suffolk Law School in 2010 and since then has been director of development for HomeStart, Inc., which helps tenants in need avoid eviction while also helping others find permanent shelter and stabilize their lives.
“I love my job, I love what I’m doing,” said Guardia, who describes himself as a fairly devout Catholic who finds motivation in the word “solidarity” in his day to day work.
“I have no reason to want to be a state senator other than that I’m seeing all these problems that need to be addressed,” he said.
Like me, he shares a passion for implementing progressive ideas in Massachusetts at the state level and not waiting for the feds to catch up.
Guardia cites fairness in state aid, controlling the cost of higher education and the need for universal pre-Kindergarten as some of the key issues for his campaign. He also vouches for more after-school options for kids.
“I see situation after situation in which I said, ‘We should be doing more,’” Guardia said, citing stories of people being unemployed or underemployed, recent graduates buried in college debt and parents depending on children with uncertain job situations. “As I’m hearing more [stories] and I see Oregon looking into a new way to pay for college through paying a little extra in income tax, Vermont exploring single-payer health care and Oklahoma with universal pre-K, I feel other states are taking new initiatives, and Massachusetts isn’t doing that.”
Hmm, that also sounds familiar to me to?
I am truly inspired that someone with a background like mine, ideas like mine, and this close to my age is running for State Senate. I am also confident that he has the momentum to beat back a certified DINO like Fallon and a more establishment friendly candidate like Lewis by relying on grassroots support and passion. The most progressive candidate in the race is also personable and quite popular with the Republicans in his native Wakefield so he has great crossover appeal as well.
While I am not registered in Wakefield, I will be volunteering for Anthony the best I can from Chicago, by blogging here, and by convincing the voters I do know (starting with ma, dad, and my brother and sister in law) by making this case.
drjat42 says
Can you explain to me why a veritable who’s who of MA progressive politics is sponsoring an event for Jason Lewis Tuesday evening?
Christopher says
…that as an incumbent State Rep., Lewis is the known quantity and has the connections.
markbernstein says
…is that we elect a progressive and a Democrat, rather than Republican supporter Chris Fallon. Seeking the perfect progressive, we could wind up with a state senator who endorsed Scott Brown over Elizabeth Warren.
jconway says
Drjat: I defended Lewis from EB3s spurious attacks , but after examining his record found a few votes that troubled me. He is a consistent vote against benefits for undocumented immigrants whether it’s public housing or food stamps and a consistent vote against the Governor’s revenue proposals. I want an independent and proud progressive in the Katherine Clark tradition and those votes concern me.
Also my sources on the ground are telling me Guardia is running the stronger ground game.
Mark: why do you feel electing the most progressive candidate will elect Fallon? The district voted for Clark who is a solid progressive and her supporters are mobilizing behind Guardia. If he can get a fraction of her grassroots support he can win. Fallon is an unknown quantity outside of Malden and the more people hear his record the less they like it. I see no arguments that Lewis is more electable against Fallon. In a grassroots primary I would argue the progressive candidate has the edge.
fenway49 says
would be splitting the anti-Fallon vote, as it were, two ways. But Guardia’s certainly got a right to run.
abs0628 says
IMMIGRATION
–Jason voted against secure communities.
–Jason supports access to drivers licenses for all MA residents.
REVENUE PACKAGE SUPPORTED BY THE GOVERNOR
This is a very nuanced issue and it can be misleading to compare the vote of a state senator (Katherine Clark) with a vote by a member of the House (Jason Lewis) since members of the House have to deal with the Speaker, especially on votes like that.
Having said that, Jason was a strong advocate for “the way forward” but as a House member had little choice re: the revenue package. Katherine voted for more revenue because the package put before the Senate had more revenue in it. The bill put before the House did not have more revenue. So they voted on different bills. And ultimately both Clark and Lewis voted with leadership when all was said and done.
I’m seriously having flashbacks of defending Katherine here at BMG during the MA-5 primary for not being progressive enough. And now she’s held up as the progressive standard. LOL. I’m gonna get whiplash!
abs0628 says
Fallon is not an unknown quantity outside of Malden. Drive through Stoneham sometime and marvel at the wall of Fallon signs. Fallon will definitely get votes in Melrose, and given how conservative Wakefield is, who knows he may do well there too.
Mark makes an excellent point — splitting the progressive vote is a real concern. Which many of us who spoke with Anthony before he decided to run expressed to him. He chose to ignore that concern and advice. So be it, he certainly has a right to run.
For those who aren’t familiar with Fallon, here’s a refresher:
http://www.redmassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=17620
And if you like a progressive fighter, Jason’s your guy. He’s been making the contrast with Fallon. Anthony hasn’t that I’ve seen. Fallon needs to be called out on his dismal voting record and horrible work ethic. Especially because it appears from recent campaign events that Fallon is attempting to run a “stealth” campaign and try to dupe voters into thinking he’s not as conservative as he is. Which means that Jason’s strong progressive message and aggressive ground game are having an impact.
fenway49 says
Not my district, but I’d love to see some more detail on why Guardia’s the progressive choice, as compared to Lewis, with respect to policy. His bio is impressive and I understand the appeal of a candidate to whom you feel similar in age, background, etc., but that kind of thing only gets you so far.
seamusromney says
“Fairness” in local aid is especially troubling because that’s often the rallying cry rich school districts unite behind when trying to take more money for themselves and screw the poor district.
SomervilleTom says
Since local aid now comes almost entirely from the lottery, then it seems to me that a formula for “fair” local aid is to make the local aid reflect that town’s share of lottery proceeds &8212; at a minimum, a ranking by magnitude of the lottery proceeds collected from each of the 351 cities and towns should be the same as a ranking by magnitude of the local aid distributions to those 351 cities and towns. Somehow, though, I don’t think that’s what the “fairness” proponents have in mind.
Local aid should be funded by *general revenues*, and those general revenues should be increased enough to make that possible (along with the ENORMOUS investment in public transportation that is also needed).
jconway says
The issues site is here
As I said above, he agrees with me that MA could be a laboratory for progressive policies and instead Beacon Hill usually maintains the status quo. We live in a decent state that is better managed than most (take it from a current resident of Illinois), but we could be doing a lot better.
He is committed to looking at the VT single payer experiment, he is committed to looking at the OR tuition initiative, and most importantly he would vote like Katherine Clark did for more revenue instead of voting with leadership against the Patrick revenue plan as Jason Lewis did. Lewis and Guardia are both socially liberal. Neither would take away a woman’s right to choose, marriage equality, or teach the Bible in public schools like Charlie Fallon would. But on fiscal issues whether it’s voting against additional revenue, voting to differ welfare reform, push the EBT investigation, and votes against public housing and public benefits for undocumented immigrants-Lewis is on the wrong side of fighting income inequality and making our state fairer.
A strong commitment to universal pre-K and K, expanding MASSGrant to cover more students, lowering the cost of higher education. I’ll admit to not understanding the local aid component and how it affects the district communities, but he indicates that it’s unfair Winchester and Reading get more funds than Wakefield or Melrose, and my understanding is the former two communities are wealthier than the latter.
abs0628 says
So can you enlighten us where Guardia stands on the following key progressive issues?
— reproductive rights (including abortion, contraception, the buffer zone)
— LGBT rights
— health care (You say he’s a single payer supporter. That’s news to me and it’s not on his website. In contrast Jason is the LEAD SPONSOR of the single payer bill in the House and is a leader on public health issues.)
— minimum wage
— earned sick time
— unemployment insurance
— progressive taxation including a Constitutional Amendment for a progressive income tax
— privacy, free speech, surveillance
— Citizens United/campaign finance/elections
–transportation
— environment/climate
How am I as a progressive supposed to believe him when he says he’s a progressive — when he doesn’t think it’s important to take a public stand on these important issues? And when Jason Lewis has done so?
Finally, re: education, which not surprisingly is a center piece of Anthony’s campaign since he was a school board member, Jason is the LEAD SPONSOR of legislation to address the inadequacy and inequity of the school funding formula. He believes we should review the entire Chapter 70 system so that our public education financing formula reflects the needs of a 21st century education.
jconway says
And he added he will make it onto BMG and will submit the Progressive MA questionnaire and will have the website updated soon:
abs0628 says
Appreciate the detailed response on the issues.
fenway49 says
This issue is important but I don’t know how much I’d look at sitting House members’ votes in the House, where they have to deal with DeLeo, as an indicator of what they’d do in the Senate, particularly one led soon enough by Stan Rosenberg. Sometimes the bill’s 50 votes short of a majority and you save your ammo.
On the bill in question the Progressive Mass. scorecard isn’t very helpful. They give a plus to a “no” vote because they (rightly) think the bill didn’t go far enough. But most “no” votes were from GOP and DINO reps who didn’t want ANY additional revenue. Thus we have the silly situation where a Jim Lyons, who otherwise has a Progressive Mass. score of zero, gets credit for the “no” vote.
It would be better if they could break it down by who voted “no” due to wanting more revenue. I know of only Sciortino, Denise Andrews, David Sullivan and Farley-Bouvier. Lewis is in some pretty progressive company in swallowing hard and voting for the bill.
jconway says
And I think most voters are too. You regularly critique the status quo on Beacon Hill. With the Grossman endorsement and the backing of the progressive income tax amendment Rosenberg is showing he is willing to take risks. Clark voted for the revenue, and while that was easier in the House she still defied leadership to do what was right. And the anti-immigrant votes are also troubling, as a first generation American I don’t see Guardia going down that road. His push for single payer, universal pre-K and K, and OR style higher ed funding shows an independent thinker willing to embrace new ideas. I don’t see the need to vote defensively, we can pick the best candidate who can inspire the most grassroots passion to win both races.
I do appreciate your feedback Fenway and recognize it comes from a constructive place.
fenway49 says
I’m just saying that, when you’re talking about House votes that are 135-20, it’s hard to lay that at someone’s feet. Of course we want reps to stand up and vote no on principle, but it only works if there are enough votes to carry the day or change the bill. Why go out on an island for no gain?
I don’t know what Anthony Guardia would do if he were in the House and had to make these choices. And I certainly have nothing against him, nor am I signed up for Lewis. I’m just trying to push the discussion so we can see which differences are real and which are due solely to Guardia’s not having had to cast any votes. It would be great to hear Jason Lewis’s explanation for some of the votes you cite.
abs0628 says
Just for the record: Jason is a first generation immigrant, as well. He was born in South Africa and came to the US as a child. So he absolutely gets that issue in a way that many of us don’t. In fact, his strong belief in social justice has its roots there, since he saw apartheid firsthand.
Also just for the record, the First Circuit federal court bans the use of immigration status for public housing.
jconway says
Sciortino clearly was not harmed for taking a strong stance, neither was Clark. My representative, Hecht, also took that stance. I was disappointed Majorie Decker did not and called her out for that here on BMG so you can’t say I’ve been selective in my criticism. I won’t fault her or Jason for the climate, Will Brownsberger said a big reason he ran for State Senate was the better climate in that chamber, but I can fault them for not taking stands when others have. Especially since he is claiming to be a progressive leader within the caucus. None of our priorities can happen without revenue.
fenway49 says
And I know you’re not being disingenuous. I’d like to hear from the campaign on these votes and how they fit with the larger issues they represent.
I honestly don’t know if Sciortino was “harmed.” I imagine he’s safe in his seat, but there are all sorts of committee assignments, etc. Of course I’m not saying reps should cower in fear of the speaker at all times, but it’s a balance of picking the spots to make a stand.
Clark, of course, wasn’t harmed because she ran for higher office and, unlike Sciortino, was successful. She was in the Senate anyway.
abs0628 says
There’s a reason DeLeo is obeyed, he threatens the advancement of office holders’ legislative priorities and their committee seats, etc. if they cross him one too many times. Of course Carl Sciortino has had to deal with that reality just as every other member of the House has, especially the progressive members. You have to pick your battles in that chamber. That is just the way it is, unfortunately.
And fenway is correct that Katherine was in the Senate so it’s apples and oranges as a comparison.
And if we’re going to nitpick every vote Jason has ever taken — which is fair — I would love to see a platform from Guardia that covers more than 4 issues. Especially since he has no voting record beyond school committee on which to judge him.
jconway says
I was just stating that for the reading public who thought I might be cherry picking. I defended Lewis from EB3s spurious attacks, it was reading about Guardia after my dad asked me about him that convinced me he was closer to me in terms of ideas, enthusiasm, and commitment. And then I did the digging to see if the votes would stack up and got troubled by those votes. Particularly the revenue and immigrant ones. You may be right that his hands were tied in the House, not bashing your or abs for stating so, but a leader takes the tough votes.
Guardia was elected chair of the school committee at a young age and took tough votes to lay off support staff after local aid was cut, which is why he is passionate about restoring it and ensuring it’s distributed more fairly. Jason is claiming to be a leader but voted in a way his caucus and the wider progressive community wouldn’t appreciate. The collective bargaining vote is a minus too and it’s sad even Fallon has a better record on labor.
Anthony’s non profit has been at the forefront of stopping evictions and fighting homelessness as well, comes from a strong union home, and wants to fight for priorities we all want to move the state forward, but I appreciate the civil discussion and constructive feedback and will have additional posts referring to more specific issues.
abs0628 says
Sure, Jason Lewis is an incumbent and has connections. But in answer to drjat42’s question, Jason also has an extremely strong progressive voting record, has a long list of accomplishments, and has put forward the most progressive platform in this race:
http://electjasonlewis.com/issues/
http://www.repjasonlewis.com/
Unlike the other 2 candidates in this race, Jason has reached out early and often to a very very broad spectrum of activists in the district — I know because I live here — and he’s running an aggressive grassroots campaign and is showing that he’s going to work hard to earn every vote.
Just one example: In my city, Malden, there have been three recent important events for various key ethnic groups in the city: the MLK breakfast attended by the Mayor and Katherine Clark and 300 others; the Chinese New Year celebration; and a Muslim community meeting with the Mayor and Chief of Police.
Guess who was the ONLY candidate for state senate who showed up at all three? Jason Lewis.
It’s easy to say you’re the “most progressive” candidate running. But actions speak much louder than words.
And let me just say, as a longtime supporter of Katherine Clark who canvassed my ass off for her, the statement that Katherine’s supporters are all rallying around Anthony Guardia is simply not true. I’m sure Anthony has some supporters in Malden & Melrose, but the Clark supporters who I know in Malden and Melrose, for example, the ones who are the hard core volunteers, are supporting Jason. And one of her strongest supporters in Reading is also supporting Jason.
jconway says
How come he didn’t endorse Clark for Congress in either the primary or general election even though she backed him for his races ?
It’s nice to go to ” ethnic” parades as you call them, but what about his votes denying in state tuition and public housing to undocumented immigrants?
fenway49 says
This seems, at least to me, to be suggesting that abs0628 was characterizing these events in a contempuous or derogatory way. The actual quote was, “important events for various key ethnic groups,” which is a far cry from saying, “Oh yeah, he goes to all the ethnic parades.”
Which vote on tuition are you citing? On Roll Call 78, which Progressive Mass. cites as preserving in-state tuition for undocumented students, he voted “yes.”
The public housing vote is unfortunate, but again, it was 123-27.
smorris says
I think you are comparing apples and oranges, at least vis-a-vis your objection about endorsements.
In the primary, Clark was running against a field of (mostly) equally progressive State Reps. If Lewis endorsed in the primary he would risk offending people he has to work with in the House to pass progressive legislation. It was smart to not endorse. Also, I am pretty sure he did endorse her in the general election (for all the use it was, that election was a walk in the park from the day after the primary). He certainly made a post to his official Facebook page on election day encouraging people to get out and vote for her.
By contrast, Clark had absolutely nothing to lose when she endorsed Lewis.
abs0628 says
How come? Um because there were multiple strong progressive candidates in that race and there were many elected folks throughout MA-5 who didn’t endorse in the primary because they felt mixed loyalty for multiple candidates and probably didn’t want to offend a portion of their base by choosing a side so it was better to keep their powder dry. Jason was hardly alone.
Do I wish Jason had endorsed Katherine in the primary? Sure. But I certainly don’t hold it against him or see it is a reason to not support him since he is by far the strongest progressive candidate in this race. I’m far more concerned that Chris Fallon was the ONLY Democrat in the state who endorsed Scott Brown after Elizabeth Warren got the Dem nomination.
And just to set the record straight, Jason did in fact endorse Katherine in the general election once she was the Democratic nominee.
Seriously, I was a HUGE supporter of Katherine’s. I probably knocked half of Malden for her. And I just don’t think this endorsement thing is a big deal at all. Especially since the choice in this state senate race is so stark and important. Fallon getting a promotion would be a DISASTER. He’s my state rep, believe me, I know.
And as for the “ethnic” comment, I think most elected officials in Mass would dispute your contention that attending parades for different groups isn’t important. But more to the point these were not parades — they were community events. The MLK breakfast has been held for years and attracts hundreds of key community activists. The Chinese New Year event is important to a huge community in Malden. And the Muslim community meeting is very important since that community weathered a hate crime right after the Boston bombing, and the Mayor and Chief of Police have been super responsive. The fact that Jason was the only candidate in this race who bothered to show up at those events was noticed, believe me.
I disagree with Jason’s vote on in state tuition. But I disagreed with Katherine Clark’s vote in favor of work requirements for pregnant women on welfare. There is no perfect progressive candidate, ever, in any race.
I am so tempted to ring up PCCC and ask them if they’d like to rescind their attacks during the final days of the MA-5 primary accusing Katherine of not being progressive enough — since she’s now been transformed into the most progressive candidate ever. Carl Sciortino must be feeling peeved, just sayin’….
walt says
Just because some people on BMG see Clark as progressive doesn’t mean that PCCC does.
abs0628 says
But I think it brings home that “progressive” is a term that folks define in different ways. So providing details matter, a lot, in terms of evaluating whether or not I as a voter find someone to be a strong progressive.
abs0628 says
jconway — I misspoke before, my apologies — I checked with his campaign & Jason has never voted against in-state tuition, so I’m not sure what you were basing that statement on?
jconway says
I conflated it with his vote against public housing and in state benefits for undocumented immigrants- he made the right call on in state tuition which makes the other stances more curious but I am open to hearing his side on that. I also appreciate your question up thread about the website and issues , emailed my candidate about it, and will post his responses here. I also invited him to come on BMG as well. I have nothing against Lewis, I just appreciate the bio and background of Guardia more and was troubled by the revenue votes, labor votes, and immigrant votes. I respect your contributions to this blog and work on campaigns.
jconway says
Pretty sure I called Carl out on that here on BMG and it arguably backfired. I called out Clark on the Warren mailings. In both cases those incidents reflected more poorly on the outside groups ( Emily’s list and PCCC) than the candidates themselves. I was highly impressed by Clark’s campaign and her record thus far in the House. Guardia was a Clark staffer during her first run against Tisei, backed her in the primary and general. Also I too heard the reputation that Wakefield is more conservative but Guardia is proud to call himself a liberal and got elected there repeatedly. The ladies in my dad’s bank were all hard core Warren supporters as well. I am confident he can win the district , but I agree Fallon should not be underestimated.
abs0628 says
Re: PCCC, if so, I appreciate it. I too think it backfired — on Carl and on PCCC. And we agree re: the Emily’s List mailing re: Warren. Honestly, I thought that not only hurt EL but Warren and Clark as well. It was a dumb & unhelpful move by EL, imo.
5th Middlesex is an interesting district. Up until very recently, it was represented by a Republican and although it’s now a bit more Democratic than when Katherine was first elected to the state senate, it is hardly Cambridge or Somerville 🙂 so Fallon could sneak in under the radar. Most people have no idea how conservative he is, or how lackluster his constituent service has been.
One could argue that Jason doesn’t have a slam dunk district currently either. Winchester isn’t exactly Cambridge and Stoneham is pretty conservative — but Jason has been a leader in the Progressive Caucus and on very liberal legislation like single payer that one would think might not play well in such a district…which just goes to show that standing up for progressive values is smart policy & smart politics.
abs0628 says
…for checking with your candidate. Honestly, I’m sure Anthony is a nice guy and he’s certainly done a lot in his community. I am all for younger candidates running. I can understand why he’s appealing to you, and I appreciate your willingness to be involved, especially from afar, and to engage in discussion. I wish more people, especially on the younger portion of the age range, were as involved with electoral politics.
jconway says
And regardless of which candidate we support I know we are on the same side broadly.
abs0628 says
What was that thing Leo McGarry said about the Dem party big tent? 🙂
striker57 says
To date, my union has not endorsed any of the three candidates. That said I do have a couple of thoughts regarding the race and the candidates.
As State Representatives Lewis and Fallon have voting records on workers’ issues as designated by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Representative Lewis has a 75% lifetime voting record and Representative Fallon has an 86% lifetime voting record on issues identified as Labor votes by the state Labor Council. While I understand that Representative Lewis brings progressive creds to the table on a number of issues his votes against collective bargaining rights in the Transportation and Education “reform” bills are troubling. I have a tough time labeling a candidate progressive who has voted to strip the right to bargain over health care and other issues as a solution to a problem. Silencing workers doesn’t solve a problem it just rewards poor management. Recorded votes speak louder than words as well.
Anthony Guardia doesn’t have a Labor voting record as a Wakefield School Committee member making a comparison difficult.
Guardia does have the fact that of the three candidates in this race he was the only one to endorse Congresswoman Clark during her primary. If candidates are being ranked based on who they have endorsed in past elections that would seem to give Guardia a leg up.
Lewis comes from the smallest community voter base but has the edge fundraising by a large margin – he can get his message out. Fallon and Guardia need to hold their two larger base communities and come in second elsewhere in the district.
jconway says
For your balanced commentary from a pro-worker perspective as always. I understand why you may be tempted to side with Fallon, as you had with Lynch, on the bread and butter issues. But I know you to be pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, and a huge Elizabeth Warren supporter. I don’t think backing Brown and his union busting agenda over the greatest progressive politician in the country was a pro-worker move and it should speak as much as his voting record.
I am not sure if unions are endorsing Guardia, I do know he supported collective bargaining, lower class sizes, and other priorities of the MTA as a School Committee member.
Also I did not realize Lewis had bad votes on labor. I would agree with you that siding the right way on social issues is easy in Massachusetts, voting with leadership is easy, but standing up for workers, even in this state, is an uphill battle. It’s a battle Clark, Marty Walsh, and Elizabeth Warren are willing to fight and win. So is Anthony Guardia who comes from a strong union home and background.
abs0628 says
jconway — Interesting to see you group Clark with Walsh and Warren on this issue — I seem to recall that Katherine was attacked during her primary on a number of issues, including this one. Would you call the votes cited below as “bad votes” for labor?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/09/16/mass_pension_overhaul_clears_state_senate/
http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/News-and-Features/Online-exclusives/2011/Spring/Senate-health-plan-gives-unions-little.aspx
striker57 says
And that is one of the reasons my union was with Peter Koutoujian for Congress in the Primary. That said there are very few 100% Labor voting records in the House, Senate or on the federal office side. (Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman did not have a 100% voting record as a State Rep and Senator -somewhere in the 98% if I remember correctly).
I have and will again support candidates who are imperfect on workers issues because the overall voting record -including overall Labor voting record – is important.
Walsh has already had differences with unions on specific issues and I suspect that Senator Warren (with no malice or bad intention) will find herself on the opposite side of a specific labor issue. Ted Kennedy did.
In this contested primary I get to nitpick a bit because in the 5th Senate race all three candidates would handle the office. I can have shades of gray instead of black and white to make my choice.
FYI – Congresswoman Clark will be a great champion for working women and men on Capital Hill, her poor judgement vote on public sector bargaining over health insurance being a variation not a pattern.
abs0628 says
You and I completely agree that a 100% labor record would be our preference in all races. Oh if wishing made it so…
FYI — Lewis has been endorsed just in the past day or two by Laborers 22 (which backed Walsh) and the MTA, as well.
jconway says
Anthony will carry the torch from Katherine Clark and continue to fight for the issues she fought for, as the only candidate in this race who has consistently supported her he is best equipped to carry her legacy since he views it as his own.
abs0628 says
jconway: I gotta say that flyer walks right up to the line of implying that Katherine Clark has endorsed or is supporting Anthony Guardia, which is absolutely not true.
As I mentioned up thread, there were multiple Emily’s List flyers in the MA-5 primary race, sent in support of Katherine’s campaign but not authorized by her, that implied that Senator Warren was supporting or had endorsed Katherine. Those flyers upset people a lot, they created confusion, and one could argue they hurt everyone involved (Katherine, Senator Warren, and most especially the sender, Emily’s List).
Not the most impressive decision, imho, and one that could very well backfire.
And saying you should win because you’re “the only candidate who always supported Katherine Clark” — seriously, is that the best Anthony can do? I really don’t think so. He’d do better, imho, to say what he stands for and what he wants to do in office. But if he really does think this is his best argument, it kinda speaks volumes. My 2 cents…
fenway49 says
if it’s anywhere near as bad as the Emily’s List flyer, which showed huge pictures of Clark and Warren as if they were running mates. This one has no photo of Rep. Clark. I don’t think it creates the impression Clark supports Guardia, but it sure hammers that Guardian supported Clark.
Your last paragraph I agree with up to a point. Personally, I’m not sure how many people will care who endorsed whom in a prior election. Lewis can brush it aside to “talk about the issues,” and Guardia should do the same. Which he does, but only in the context of his commitment to Katherine Clark’s legacy.
I don’t take it to mean, though, that he has nothing worthwhile to say. Just that I find the tactic of dubious value.
jconway says
Both candidates are running as her successor and it’s important to know that the next State Senators priorities will be the same. Anthony wants people to know that he is greatly indebted to Katherine Clark for inspiring him to join politics in the first place and he is running , in part, to continue her important fights.
And that’s the second point, that he will continue to fight for the women on the district on those issues Clark made her own. This is directly issue based rather than inside baseball or personality based-he is stating that those issues and priorities are his. Like Clark, he is running in a moderate district and he is unafraid to call himself a proud liberal who will keep those fights going in the legislature.
jconway says
Coming from the non-profit community and working directly with area homeless- including victims of domestic violence-he is committed to ensuring the fight for women that Clark started.
-equal pay for equal work
-universal K and pre K (a huge issue for working women)
-ending domestic violence
-ending homelessness (higher portion of women and families that are homeless)
-protecting choice including the buffer zones
-raising the minimum wage
These issues are bread and butter pocket book issues as well as women’s issues and are linked. With no male candidate in the race Guardia is emphasizing his record and commitment to women’s issues-and it’s a commitment directly inspired by his work with Katherine Clark.
fenway49 says
it seems like the focus is on his past endorsements of Clark more than those issues. It’s a huge block on the address side and bolded on the other side. The endorsement stuff seems like inside baseball only to be done if the pol in question is an absolute icon. Here I don’t know how highly personal or political loyalty to Clark rates as a consideration in voters’ minds, even if they like her.
He could started with a sentence about Clark, say he wants to fight the same fights, go to the list of issues, then say something like “Continuing Katherine Clark’s legacy is important to me” and go into their history together. Then it’s more about the issues and less about a cult of personality. Just my take.
There’s also a little inconsistency between your argument that, if you liked Clark, he’s the continuity candidate, since the flyer says in big letters that Anthony’s “The Choice for Change.” Fred says he’ll “continue” to fight for the change Clark fought for, but all that’s not entirely clear to me.
I don’t mean to be difficult about it. I give a lot of credit to someone willing to throw his hat in a ring and risk having some guy on the internet going over his flyer with a fine-toothed comb.
jconway says
These are the kinds of questions we will get asked. My basic answer is that you and I both know Beacon Hill is broken and it’s not just DINOs like Fallon and Miceli but the leadership as well. Clark was a reliable progressive vote with the Governor on revenue, immigrant rights, and most issues. I recognize that Lewis like Decker-was under pressure from the leadership and since it wasn’t a close vote they choose not to fight. Lewis may well be against the revenue bill on policy grounds, and he is welcome to be heard here on that vote.
But Guardia took tough votes before, as a School Committee chair he saw first hand how devastating local aid cuts could be and had to swallow hard on a budget vote that laid off needed staff. Similarly, he challenged his State Rep over the local aid issue when he wasn’t returning district members calls about it. He is challenging Lewis and Fallon now when people told him to wait his turn. Progressives shouldn’t have to keep waiting. He won’t. Clark didn’t either. So in that sense you are getting the most continuity in terms of the issues and independence Clark exhibited in the district alongside real change on Beacon Hill instead of a reversion to the status quo before Clark.
Tisei was a social progressive and fiscal conservative, so is Lewis, and Fallon would be conservative on most issues. The progressive choice for continuing Clark’s legacy of fighting for change is Guardia. And the feedback is appreciated and helps make the candidate better and helps the campaign find its best voice.
abs0628 says
jconway:
I actually know quite a few progressive activists in this state who would very much dispute that Katherine was “a reliable progressive vote on most issues” in the state legislature. She was seen by many to be a moderate and on certain votes even conservative. Many folks who supported Carl Sciortino in the MA-5 primary will very much dispute that Katherine is a liberal or a progressive. I disagree with them, but that’s how they feel.
People didn’t tell Anthony to wait his turn. They told him he ran the risk of splitting the progressive vote and electing DINO Fallon. He seems not to care. Because let me tell you, Fallon will most certainly not carry on Katherine’s legacy — of progressive leadership, of transparency, of competency, of responsiveness to constituents.
To beat Fallon we need a progressive candidate with a strong record of accomplishment, a well thought out platform, and a professional campaign. Jason Lewis is all of those things.
Jason Lewis is not a fiscal conservative. Lumping him in with Tisei is absurd and you know it. To wit: http://www.progressivemass.com/2014specials
I repeat: If Guardia is such a progressive on all things, how come he didn’t respond to the Progressive Mass questionnaire? Perhaps because he’s not really all that progressive? It does make one wonder…
abs0628 says
jconway:
What seems pretty clear to me is that Anthony is trying to take Katherine’s campaign platform from when she ran for Congress, which emphasized women’s issues among others, and ride her coat tails. I’ve seen Anthony speak several times over the last month or so. Women’s issues never came up — until this week.
abs0628 says
jconway:
There’s certainly nothing wrong with letting folks know he’s indebted to her & inspired by her, etc. But her successor’s priorities need to be “the same”? No difference at all? Really? That seems unrealisitic, don’t you think, if for no other reason than we’re talking about 2 different people? This actually feels very personality based and inside baseball, not issue based, frankly. This district does not belong to Katherine, it belongs to the voters. And if Guardia is all about change, as he says in his lit, then I assume he won’t be the same as Katherine.
This emphasis on women’s issues is a new one from him, especially given that Guardia still can’t seem to say flat out that he’s pro-choice. “Equality in women’s health coverage” is pretty vague, suggests parity in health insurance coverage maybe (?). If he’s such a proud liberal and such a strong supporter of women’s issues, this shouldn’t be so hard.
Compare: http://electjasonlewis.com/issues/
If he’s such a proud liberal why did he not respond to the Progressive Mass candidate questionnaire? Jason Lewis was the only candidate in this race who did.
And if he’s such a proud liberal why is he not taking the fight to Fallon, who is a conservative, is anti-choice, and endorsed Scott Brown? I’ve not heard that strong contrast from Guardia when I’ve seen him at various forums, but I sure have seen Lewis challenge Fallon on those issues repeatedly. That to me is a proud liberal.
robmlev says
Has Guardia attacked Fallon for supporting Richard Tisei against Katherine Clark? Is Guardia ready for Senate politics without first learning the ropes as a state Rep as Clark and Brownsberger did?
robmlev says
Guardia ran unsuccessfully against former Rep. Mark Falzone in the 2010 Democratic primary (prior to redistricting in the region). Lessons learned?
abs0628 says
Gotta disagree w/ you, fenway…And I’ve heard from several other activists in the district, all of whom volunteered for Clark, that the flyer bothers them because it leaves the voter with the impression of support/endorsement.
In addition, several of us who’ve doorknocked in Melrose for Jason Lewis have spoken with voters who’ve been doorknocked by Guardia volunteers who told the voters that Katherine is supporting Guardia. Could be a rogue volunteer, who knows.
But the fact remains that Katherine is very popular in this district so implying or flat stating this could have an impact. I’ve spoken with numerous involved Dems in Malden & Melrose who were unsure about Jason and cited his non-endorsement in the MA-5 primary. Is it a big deal to me? No. But it was to some people here. Most of them I think have gotten over it and are supporting Jason.
As for the Emily’s List flyer, the key distinction in my mind that makes this worse is that this flyer was authorized by Guardia’s campaign. The EL flyer was not authorized by the Clark campaign.
fenway49 says
There’s no question Guardia’s trying to identify himself with Clark, but I’m hard-pressed to see how you can read that flyer and think it’s saying Clark endorsed Anthony Guardia.
abs0628 says
Saying that others may/do. And that that is a concern on the ground.
I didn’t see the endorsement message in the EL flyer with Warren. But some people did — and it bothered me for that reason.
melrose-dem says
I have to say most of this discussion has been pretty good debate about Guardia and Lewis, but I felt compelled to chime in on a couple items.
First – There was an absolute effort to keep Guardia out of this race by the Lewis camp. And frankly, telling Guardia to ‘wait his turn’ would have been a nicer message than the one he got! As progressives, I thought we were about an exchange of ideas and hearing from all sides, I think trying to push Guardia out because he did not have a ton of money or “almost no institutional support” is absurd. But since we are on the topic of who could cost progressives the seat – let me throw this idea out. Lewis comes from the smallest part of the district (Winchester) and his House district covers the generally more conservative Stoneham which, has been noted, appears to be fertile ground for Fallon. So given that Lewis has no real progressive base, I am going to argue that he is the one jeopardizing the seat for progressives!
Second – The issue of the mailer is really a non-issue for a couple of reasons. Over the years there are dozens of pictures of Guardia and Katherine together, did he use one – no. The mailings in this campaign are being sent to voters likely to come out in the dead of winter for a special election. My point being, is that the voters getting these mailings are savvy enough (just like with the Emily’s List mailings) to know what the message is. Finally, it is a legitimate contrast between Guardia and Lewis/Fallon. Guardia has always been a supporter of Katherine, and she is very popular in this district and I know many in the Clark camp that to this very day are annoyed that Lewis took a walk on her.
Lastly, one thing that has not been mentioned in this string – who best to face the republican in April? Spoiler Alert – I think it will be Guardia, but I’d be interested in everyone else take.
jconway says
Guardia grew up in Malden as well as Wakefield, has a lot of Melrose connections and is doorknocking hard in Stoneham too. He has the capability to appeal across the district and even has won the endorsement of the Relublican leaning Wakefield Daily due to his record in that community. He is a solid progressive that can appeal to Republicans and independents as well. He is unafraid to call himself a liberal and fight for liberal priorities.
I appreciate the back up Melrose Dem and your perspective in Melrose.