Tuesday, September 9, 2014 (As prepared for delivery)
Thank you.
Thank you, Governor Patrick!
First, I want to thank my husband, Tom. Tom has been right there with me in parades and in the diners — shaking hands, going door to door – and that has meant the world to me.
Thank you to my sisters who are here tonight, and to the rest of my family who have supported me in this race. And there are 8 other good reasons why I’m fighting for the future of Massachusetts – my 7 grand nieces and my grand nephew!
Thank you to the best campaign team and group of volunteers you’ve ever seen. I said when we started this campaign that no one would work harder, knock on more doors, make more calls, and shake more hands than we would – and that’s exactly what we did.
I want to thank, and I know you do too, Steve Grossman and Don Berwick – and let me also thank Juliette Kayyem and Joe Avellone. They poured their hearts and souls into this campaign – and we applaud their commitment to our party and our values. Massachusetts is lucky to have such fine candidates.
I also want to acknowledge Barbara Grossman and Ann Berwick. I know they have been out there just like Tom has.
I have spoken with both Steve and Don tonight and we are united as a party. I welcome them – and their supporters – to join us in this important fight ahead.
To my supporters: tonight, you have sent a powerful message.
The insiders… the big money, the SuperPacs…they are not going to decide this election.
This election will be decided by hardworking men and women and their families who just want a fair shot…who want to build an economy on our terms.
It was just a few years ago when Wall Street and the big banks nearly destroyed our economy.
They gambled with our money and our pensions. They took people’s homes.
And in the process they destroyed a lot of dreams and a lot of lives.
I’ve spent much of the past few years holding the big banks accountable for what they did and standing up for the people who got hurt.
Now I’m running for Governor to take on an even bigger fight.
What we need now is a strong economy, that we build on our terms, that works for us. All of us. As Don Berwick says – All means all.
An economy where there is equal opportunity. Where everyone gets a fair shot and a chance to succeed. That is what will make us prosperous and fair.
We will start by building upon our strong public education system from pre-kindergarten to college.
When I am Governor, we will provide universal pre-kindergarten to all children in Massachusetts.
We will learn from successful pilot, charter and innovation schools, and move from just teaching to the test to teaching children to love learning, and include music and art.
I visited Malden High School recently, where the kids speak over 70 languages. I met with computer science teacher Paul Marques – he is here tonight.
His students were so excited about what they were learning. They told me: “Mr. Marques teaches us how to walk – and we learn how to fly.”
That’s what we want for all of our kids – to help them find a dream and to give them each the chance to follow it.
And we’ll guarantee that our community colleges remain affordable by instituting a need-based financial aid policy, so that cost is no longer a barrier for any qualified student.
We will connect our community colleges with businesses so we are training our workers for the jobs of the 21st century.
We want every part of Massachusetts to thrive. We need a regional economic strategy that makes a commitment to creating jobs in every part of the state.
That’s why I’ve proposed investing 500 million dollars over the next 10 years, to support the most effective economic development strategies in each of our unique regions.
Projects that create good-paying jobs in Springfield and Worcester, Taunton and New Bedford, Lowell and Salem.
Mayors all across Massachusetts support this plan and are eager for the next governor to work with them to support sustainable economic development projects.
The next governor can and should be a partner to our business community. She must cut red tape, streamline our regulations, and roll out a red carpet so new and established companies know Massachusetts is a great place to come, stay and grow.
She must also invest in our roads, bridges and public transit – so that we can continue to be a world-class economy in the years ahead.
I promise you that as governor I will continue my fight on behalf of all of our workers. We will provide earned sick time for all. We will close the gender wage gap.
We will support the rights of workers to organize, and create true economic fairness for our families.
And I want to give a big shout out to those fabulous Market Basket workers – they were willing to stick their necks out!
And there’s one more thing we will do. We will increase access and reduce the stigma around mental and behavioral health care. My family struggled with that with my younger brother Edward – just like many families struggle in Massachusetts. No one should suffer in silence anymore.
Republican Charlie Baker has a very different vision for Massachusetts.
Charlie Baker believes working families should be on their own when their children are sick or when adult parents need care. We believe clearly and firmly that these families deserve earned sick time.
Charlie Baker believes in an economy that works for a few at the top while everybody else is on their own. We believe in an economy that works for everyone – including women, people of color and new immigrants to our state.
Charlie Baker believes in Big Dig finance plans that pass on the costs to future generations – and in trying to hide those costs for political gain. We believe in making real investments in our roads, bridges, and public transit to spur economic development.
Charlie Baker believes the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case “doesn’t matter.” We believe in access for women exercising their right to choose – and that women should get equal pay for equal work!
I know it’s hard to believe, but Charlie Baker says we should not invest in early education for our children! We believe in investing in our kids, and that means universal pre-k and affordable higher education.
Oh, and one last thing. Charlie Baker believes that voters won’t remember he ran as a tea-party conservative in 2010, railing against what he called “the bathroom bill” and putting Governor Patrick’s face on EBT cards as a political stunt.
We believe the voters are smart enough to see through Charlie’s superficial transformation.
From our economic well-being to defending our personal rights, we know Republican Charlie Baker is the wrong choice for Massachusetts.
Now, it’s no secret that I wasn’t the choice of the insiders and special interests. And it’s no secret I won’t be in the general election either. They are already lining up behind Charlie Baker.
But I’m ok with that. Like I said before, I’m not in this race for the insiders. I’m in it for you.
It’s time that your voice mattered. It’s time you were heard louder and more forcefully than the special interests, the big money Super PACs.
It’s time we let the people of Massachusetts decide.
So, tonight I’m challenging Charlie Baker to join me in keeping outside money out of the race for governor.
And tomorrow I hope he’ll join me, and follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown by signing a People’s Pledge.
Charlie, it’s your choice. You can lead, or you can remain beholden to the special interests.
I’m in this fight for people who don’t have money or power. Because I’ve learned over the past few years, that the most powerful moments – are sometimes the most personal.
Kate Reynolds and her family were doing fine until her husband Eddie fell at work and was paralyzed. Without his income and increased uncovered medical bills, they fell behind in their mortgage payments, and their bank threatened to foreclose on their home for 18 months.
We were able to help Kate get a loan modification, and she, Eddie and their kids are still in their home today. Kate and Eddie are here tonight.
That is why I do this job. Those are the people who inspired me to run for governor.
Now it’s time to get to work. This election is going to be won on successful ideas and organizing – on ourvision for a stronger Massachusetts, and with your voice.
We will provide earned sick time for all our working families.
We will deliver universal pre-K for all our children.
We will invest in regional economies and create jobs across all of Massachusetts.
We will increase clean energy sources and will continue to address climate change.
We will continue to ensure Massachusetts is a leader on LGBTQ rights.
And we will reduce the stigma around mental and behavioral health.
I promise you this – just as I promised when this campaign began: No one will work harder, make more phone calls, shake more hands, and knock on more doors than I will. There is too much at stake.
To my supporters here tonight and at home, and to those who will join us in the coming days, it’s time to get to work! To everyone in Massachusetts: It’s a new day: Let’s make it ours!
I like the reference to Don Berwick’s “All means all” and an economy that works for all of us. I appreciate the support of mental health services.
Wondering why Marta can’t see the real problem with Kate Reynold’s situation and the mess with Hobby Lobby. High medical bills and employers dictating health care can be both removed from the equation with a single payer Medicare for All. It works in all the world’s developed nations and it’s being implemented in Vermont. My guess is that powerful special interests are fighting single payer. How about taking them on Martha?
Finally, “They gambled with our money and our pensions. They took people’s homes.”…yeah, gambling is a problem. Why are we welcoming it with open arms into the commonwealth?
But also add that is read and sounded pretty good, this is the most populist I’ve heard her and she will need to keep this fire burning throughout the fall campaign.
My wife and I were discussing Martha’s chances last night and I said it all comes down to getting traction with both social liberals and lunch-bucket liberals. She has the social part mostly down: People feel that she is an ally vis-a-vis LGBT issues, equal marriage, abortion, women’s rights, etc. All except gambling.
But it is the lunch-bucket, blue-collar, economic side that presents her problem. My roots are there having grown up with a Dad who was a union carpenter. I can feel it when someone understands the issues of such a family. I don’t feel it with Martha. Many Democratic politicians (Bill Clinton, Deval, Obama prominently) were able to make that connection. Martha needs to do that too in order to win. The words aren’t enough – she has to make us believe.
How does she do that? Short of reliving her childhood on the south side of Chicago or in a blue collar Detroit suburb, I’m not sure. But sitting down with someone who gets it (and currently resides in the office she seeks) would be a good starting point.
Martha Coakley has an outstanding record as AG in her Wage and Labor Division with regard to blue collar workers.
Coakley’s office has been proactive in getting back pay for workers who have been the victims of wage fraud, been underpaid, not paid at all or have other benefit violations.
I think that’s the key issue of the election. Helping working families get a fair shot. Warren was able to win with that message, Obama ran and won with that message in 2012 (and preceded to stay the course with warmed over centrism as a response to domestic economic disaster). Baker can do it by following the moderate populist path of Weld and Cellucci. Government out of bedroom and out of wallet, and emphasize private sector job creation. It will resonate if Coakley doesn’t have a jobs plan of her own. If she runs a ‘war on women’ social issues campaign against Baker, she loses. If she stresses the record she already has, as striker pointed out, while tying it to her own ideas and values, she can eek out a win.
One underappreciated issue is, I think, wage theft. I don’t know how many middle class people are affected by it, but it’s an egregious example of private sector overstepping that I think people can identify with. It’s just patently unfair.
Other than that, Coakley seems to need preparation on government issues, e.g. the gas tax gaffe, and other interview and forum stuff. Practice makes improvement, if not perfection. I haven’t followed the race that closely though, so maybe she is improving.
Is something that the Attorney General can do more about, but that would require a budget to educate workers about their right.
With his superior communications skills (very few are better) he’s always a tough act to follow and reminded many people of AG Coakley’s average skills in that area.
Also, while the Gov is still highly regarded in Dem circles, there is an 8 year fatigue among the critical independents and having them share the stage on election night may have hurt the AG with these voters.
His intro was awful. She was perfectly set up to upstage him.
That’ll learn me.
We were happy to have both Cong. Clark and Gov. Patrick on stage before Martha. They both did a great job, and Martha followed them with a very well-delivered and strong speech.
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Especially given the polling that shows disaffection with Coakley among Grossman voters.
That’s an odd line for a gambling proponent to use. Now we’re going to make it easier for you to gamble away your money and pensions, and casinos can take your homes?
I still say it lands with a thud when Coakley presents herself as the watchdog against bad actors when she’s pro-casino.
They bring the operative term. The banks and financial took our money and gambled it without our consent. We had no self-determination and no ability to stop that action.
That’s far different from me walking into a casino and making the decision to play backjack or poker.
Coakley understands the difference as, I suspect, do most voters.
is not the same as free will. Casinos are being sold to the public under false pretenses. Any decisions are therefore invalid. Even Martha herself admits that casinos are a bad choice, but for reasons she will not or cannot say, she supports them.
If gambling proponents prevail, then government WILL place a bet that large numbers of us will gamble fortunes — enough to keep the already-wealthy from paying necessary taxes that they now avoid.
There is ZERO chance that if casinos are opened nobody will come. There is therefore a one hundred percent chance that the casino industry will do all in its power to induce and seduce as many residents as possible into the parlors where they will be fleeced as efficiently as possible.
The claim that the victims of this intentionally set and baited trap “chose” to be plundered of their own “free will” ignores the reality of the effectiveness of marketing, advertising, and gambling technology. It specifically ignores the well-documented vulnerability of the desperately poor and the equally well-documented eagerness of the gambling industry to exploit that vulnerability.
I argue that your claimed distinction is spurious. Nobody was forced to take mortgage. Nobody was forced to choose a specific bank. The rules under which the banks and financial industry intentionally plundered the rest of us were approved by duly elected legislators. I think the difference is that in this case, unions are in bed with the industry that will do the plundering.
I love unions, I enthusiastically support organized labor, and on this issue organized labor is making a TERRIBLE mistake.
It’s tough to be the one looking out for the little guy when you are openly behind a scheme that’s going to throw thousands of little guys under the bus. That Baker won’t be able to press that glaring contradiction doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Also, I thought it was important to note this on a conversation underneath a Doug Rubin post. He’s making a pretty penny off messaging/lobbying for casinos and he’s no doubt had a major influence on Coakley’s stance on the casino issue.
Let’s go back to the insemination of the casino mess in 2007 with Chief of Staff Doug Rubin and the dismissal of “independent research” as proffered by staffers resulting in the CEO of the Commonwealth tucked away in Richmond making his shocking pro-predatory gambling policy decisions.
Who screwed the pooch?
Putting aside, “let’s put our cynicism aside…” I have never witnessed and hope to God it does not continue, the audacity, deception and master of talk-the-talk with the Rubinesque candidates and their “words.”
Talk may not be cheap for those getting the big paychecks but it’s still cynical and cheap when the inner compass is awash in deception and bending to the fraud of image making.
…in the gubernatorial race. Both nominees are for them, and the slight differences in their positions won’t matter to most peoples’ voting decisions.
Coakley can run a successful economic populism campaign — if she wants to and can pull it off — even if some of us find it ironic that she supports a new, more efficient way to suck money out of working class and poor people.
…would characterize her support for efficiently sucking money out of working class and poor people as “ironic.” Tragically wrong-headed and intellectually dishonest would be more accurate.
I noticed some digital ads from Jeff McCormick that are solely about casinos being a bad deal for MA.
Maybe some people will be swayed by such a campaign and he can take some voters away. Not sure who is more appealing to but probably some anti-casino independents. A couple points in either direction might significantly impact this race.
Also, Coakley sent an email out today asking for at least 6 debates, but pushed for having all candidates for Governor involved. That’s smart. She gets some cover and also stands out as the only woman among three other white guys.
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….” Noam Chomsky.
Here we have an advocate for corporate health care running against a former CEO of corporate health care, both embracing casinos as the best remedy for ailing cities.
Not unlike being hungry on a road trip and seeing that at the next exit, the food choices are Burger King or McDonald’s.
With the exception of her obviously partisan snark hunt v. Tim Cahill, I can’t think of a single corruption case that Coakley hasn’t run away from.
Remember the arrests of people for video-recording police activities? It took a Federal court to declare that unconstitutional. Coakley didn’t see a problem with it.
I really don’t want her for Governor. I may have to sit this one out.
We who oppose public corruption and police overreach must also oppose Martha Coakley.
For some of us, these aren’t priorities or can be rationalized away with excuses (“Patronage is just politics, and is not a crime”, “The actions of the FBI are out of our control”). For some of us, party loyalty trumps concerns like these.
Nevertheless, a voter who wants a governor who viscerally opposes public corruption and police overreach will betray that desire by voting for Martha Coakley.