Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Confessions of a Kayyem Delegate

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I am Doug Davidoff and I was a Juliette Kayyem delegate from Arlington. The Democratic State Convention left me momentarily without a gubernatorial candidate. Now I’m behind Don Berwick. I thought I would support Steve Grossman. But then my state senator, Ken Donnelly, endorsed Dr. Don Berwick. And I felt compelled to follow Ken’s lead.

This is an invitation to read a two-part series on my blog reflecting on Juliette’s campaign and why post-Convention I chose to go with Don.

I’m glad to discuss these posts in the Disqus forum on my blog or in this BMG space.

For techies reading this, I’ll note that the reason these entries are the only two posts on the blog is because I am shifting to Silvrback for blogging. I haven’t yet imported my previous entries to the new blog platform.

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Comments

  1. I too had been intrigued by Juliette Kayyem early in the campaign, though in the end I found myself more at home with Don Berwick’s version of realism than with hers. So I’m particularly grateful to be given such a vivid look at the path not taken.

    I can only hope that many more of Juliette’s supporters make the same decision you have. And that she remains in the game; I hope and trust there will be opportunities to support her in the future.

  2. I particularly liked your discussion invoking Indiana and Midwestern politics. I was born and raised in Cambridge, moved out to Chicago for school, have stayed for work (though looking to come back!) and share a lot of those perspectives. It was shockingly easy to campaign for Obama in 2008, particualrly in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana-since so many people had been hurt and betrayed by the Bush economy. Ending the war had become bipartisan and populist-“let’s start some nation building here at home” really resonated in blown out rust belt places like Kenosha, Gary, Toledo, and even parts of Iowa City that were clearly struggling.

    I think Liz Warren showed us that by winning over the blue collar cities Scott Brown narrowly won (Lowell, Worcester, and Springfield) that we can restore our Gateway cities, restore health care to all our citizens, and start restoring income equality and quality of life to too many residents our tech and pharma based economy is leaving behind. Only Berwick fully gets the pressing need for government to get involved and be the engine of that transformation.

    The other candidates would temper the effects of our inequitable economy so that it leaves fewer people behind-but Don Berwick will try and create a new economy that leaves no one behind. That is the ambition, and the reward of action under Berwick outweighs the risk of inaction under someone else. It’s not time to play it safe-go big or go home.

  3. Doug, it’s interesting that you mention about all those Kayyem policy papers. I wrote off her campaign really early in the game after I had a discussion with one of her staffers.

    Me: “You have to fix your web page with all of those long essays. NO ONE is going to read them.”

    Staffer: “But … Juliette wrote them herself.”

    Me: “You can keep them there, but only if you link to them. You need an issues page where you boil them down into a few short sentences. That’s all that people are going to notice.”

    “Look at Martha Coakley’s web site, she does this really well.”

    Of course I was going to get nowhere with that argument so I went on my merry way. Weeks later, after taking time off to work on a local election, I went back to them and finally read them through. They were fantastic — really well thought-out and convincing — that’s what finally reeled me in. Plus I thought she had really grown as a candidate and was quite impressive in the final debates. There weren’t enough of me though, obviously.

    David Bernstein analyzed the gubernatorial field back in May and warned that there was a distinct possibility that no one but Coakley and Grossman would get on the ballot. With five candidates it was certain that some would drop off. It’s sad that life doesn’t allow us to experience all the possible options. There is even a part of me that would have loved to have seen an Avellone-Baker contest — I think Joe would have kicked his ass.

    And since I’ve outed myself as a wonk here, I confess that that part of me also feels that Berwick pull, although it’s a lot easier to resist in Central Mass vs. Arlington …

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