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Matt Fenlon here, Executive Director of the MassDems. I’m a longtime reader of BMG and know well the high level of energy and excitement generated here. I wanted to share with you our newest web video, detailing Republican Charlie Baker’s very bad week. From losing control of his own Party to the pay-to-play allegations, there’s a lot!
Anything you can do to share the video with your networks would be much appreciated. You’ll hear from me more and more in the weeks and months ahead.
As always, feel free to reach out and let me know your thoughts and suggestions: mfenlon@massdems.org
Please share widely!
I’m disgusted by the hypocrisy of the Baker campaign exploiting the gender preference of Mr. Baker’s brother while choosing a homophobic tea-partier for a running mate.
Gay marriage is not a big deal. Right-wing extremist homophobia (and everything else that comes with that package) is.
Sure, Karyn held the same viewpoint on gay marriage as Barack Obama did but she too has evolved on this issue. As Rocky once said after defeating Ivan Drago “Everybody can change”.
Nice video of Charlie and his brother. Interesting how it all went down and Charlie’s reaction and support of his brother.
How very 1950s of them!
And, as I wrote back in December:
Same-sex marriage isn’t the be-all and end-all of the struggle for LGBT legal equality in Massachusetts. Numerous other issues remain to be addressed, including the protection of transgender people from discrimination in public accommodations. As I pointed out recently, Karyn Polito has voted against LGBT legal equality every chance she got:
By speaking only of marriage equality, the Baker-Polito campaign apparently hopes that the press and the public will forget that other LGBT-related legislation is likely to be introduced during the next gubernatorial term, and that Karyn Polito’s history tells us that she will stridently oppose it.
let me try. Good news is Polito has not corrected Baker so let’s embrace her position on marriage equality, ok?
I tend to believe hate crimes laws are unconstitutional and are titles of bills to make pols feel good. Are not we all equal? Is the same crime against a protected group more hateful? This was brought up in 2000 b/c Texas didn’t have a hate crimes bill and the dragging death of James Byrd. As Gov W Bush said, 2 of the 3 killers were sentenced to death, how would a hate crimes bill do anything different? FYI, Lawrence Brewer was executed in 2011 for killing Byrd.
I think the more parents know about what’s being taught in the schools, the better, so no issue with parental notification. The proof of a sex change at the registry is again, not in my wheelhouse of issues. I suppose if one changes their name, don’t they need to provide some proof. Proof of gender change doesn’t seem that unreasonable (if I understand your concern).
…only makes me even more skeptical that she’s changed her stripes on LGBT issues.
and these are the credentials you bring to defending Karyn Polito. If this is the company you keep, then Ms. Polito will similarly be known by the company she is keeping.
I will not bother providing links to your previous drivel. They can be found easily enough under the history of your comments.
So you oppose a special designation for crimes against cops and firefighters in the course of them doing their jobs (like assault and battery against a police officer)? Or crimes against the elder or the young or members of the clergy? Crimes against these groups are far more objectionable than crimes against others. You make no distinction between someone punching a person in a drunken bar fight and targeted assault of an elderly person or a priest? Clearly the latter two offenses indicate the individual is far more dangerous to society than someone who pops off in a fit of anger.
Case in point, those that attacked the truck driver Reginald Denny and smashed his skull b/c he was white, was that a hate crime? Is there such a thing as a hate crime against a white person? How about the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom? That not hate, what is?
In the end, there is another side, treat everyone equally and punish the perpetrators severely.
I concur, if one kills a police officer, automatic death penalty but I would expand beyond this.
for most self-contradictory comment of the day.
FYI- I noticed a reply by KBusch was deleted for some reason. Just for the record, I took no offense and hope he was not suspended due to being strike 3 (he and Steve were going at it). I do get a rise out of people and I have rhino skin. KBusch is a valued member of BMG and just want to make sure any replies to me that may be out of bounds, doesn’t get that person in a yellow or red card.
kbusch is a she.
It’s a crafty video, because while he clearly says it’s no big deal that his brother is gay, and the brother talks about his own husband, Baker never says anything that could be held up as a statement in support of marriage equality. He clearly wants to leave the “I’m ok with the gay” impression while at the same time not mentioning the “m” word that would piss off his anti-gay supporters all over again.
It’s just a bunch of neener-neener set to music. It’s more likely to turn off undecided viewers than sway them.
They need to rethink their choice of sound track, IMHO. Almost nobody will make it through two minutes of that.
Since John Walsh left MassDems, their taste in music has changed. I remember this video from four years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf0TItW7kiY
Seriously, I don’t want to be Debbie Downer here, but if you’re not a total political junkie, and moreover a political junkie who’s heavily focused on Massachusetts state-level politics, you’re not going to be able to figure out what this vid is even talking about, or why you should care. You can tell from the music that the makers want you to be very scornful about . . . something? But if you don’t know what the something is already, this isn’t going to tell you (you’ll have tuned out within thirty seconds, even if there’s some understandable content later on, because there’s no hook to keep you).
If you’re going to do a point-and-laugh piece, imho, it’s important to make it very clear and very funny. If it isn’t both, it looks weak, like you don’t have anything and you’re throwing the kitchen sink at your opponent to try to hide it. And that’s not the kind of impression you want lingering in voters’ minds.
There is way too much going on in this video. I doubt it would have much of an impact on the overwhelming majority of the electorate. Even as an effort to communicate to the base, it doesn’t leave one with much. And, indeed, as of this writing it has only 413 views.
Baker’s has close to 3,000 – though, in fairness, his has gotten a bunch of free media attention, which undoubtedly has upped its visibility.
From 2010:
I don’t think anyone is confusing Charlie Baker for any kind of staunch ally of the LGBT community.
And I believe that’s what Baker has shown in regards to LGBA issues. After watching this video of Charlie and his brother, he takes it seriously and personally. I do believe the video is genuine and he loves his brother and will be an ally (perhaps not the strongest) for LGBA folks and every citizen of MA.
Remember Ed Koch who once said “if you agree with me nine of twelve issues, then vote for me. If you agree with me on all twelve issues, then see a psychiatrist”.
That may be true, but then he needs to explain Polito. LG is a stepping stone to the governorship, so he doesn’t take the issue so seriously that it precluded him from picking a running mate who has differed substantially from the “twelve issues” of which Baker agrees with nine, and presumably Karyn agrees with less than 9.
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Thanks for helpful advice. We expect to work out some kinks after launching the first parody video of the season. Do you guys have suggestions for better selections of public domain music? We can definitely take them into account for videos moving forward.
Thanks
It’s too loud – sometimes it almost drowns out what’s being said. And it’s too repetitively annoying for a 2-minute video. I don’t know what’s available in terms of public domain music … but there must be something that doesn’t assault the ears quite as much!
2 minutes is too long.
Hey, Matt! It’s impressive that you are reading this thread and listening to the comments, instead of reacting defensively. It isn’t easy to please everybody, and nobody expects that every video will go viral.
Thanks for your efforts to help the party!