Charlie stick to the do nothing committees the “blue ribbon” committees and your task force to review studies.
Charlie while you were in fetal position hiding, someone demonstrated what it’s like to be a LEADER.
It’s not going to be close.
Please share widely!
I get that Walsh is probably not as damaged as his critics allege locally, but, this was his baby that he just aborted, I am not sure how that will play statewide.
…but he doesn’t have, and is unlikely to create, the kind of organization necessary for a Statewide campaign.
He has only won one mayoral election with low turnout and less than 50% of the vote. He has high favorables in public polling, but it is not clear that will automatically translate to reelection. Running for Governor would be a real long shot.
Marty held a face-saving press conference because he knew the USOC was about to kill the bid this afternoon. He deserves no praise. His handling of the Olympic process has been horrible and has shown nothing but contempt for those who had concerns about his Olympic fantasies.
I could go on a litany of Marty’s failures (Long Island Shelter closure, anyone?) and cluelessness (encouraging parents to invite the cops in to shoot their children), but I don’t feel like taking the time for that long of a rant.
I quit!
Quite the courageous presser there yesterday. Glad he is on top of these things.
Baker comes out of this looking really smart. Sure, he stood on the sidelines to see which way the wind was blowing, but unlike Walsh, he didn’t stake his term on a giveaway for John Fish.
I’m thinking Marty is finished after this. He couldn’t deliver the goods for big money and he lost no opportunity to deride the grassroots. Who’s gonna back his candidacy for mayor? Will there even be a no-show job at Suffolk Construction for him now?
Simply because they ain’t anybody waiting in the wings to take his place, and he just went to bat for the developers and trades, even if he didn’t win. Did a pretty good job consolidating his base and his opponent’s supporters around the bid, and the limp response of the City Council shows none of those folks are ready for the next step. I give Tito Jackson a ton of credit for being the skeptical outlier on that body, and it would be fantastic if he ran, but I am not sure if he would gain any traction.
As someone that knows financial instruments, at a hearing on May 18, she pointed out that the funding package was in violation of the City Charter, and she stripped the fig leaf off the “insurance” fantasy that all and sundry Olympics supporters were hiding behind.
That made it safe for everybody else.
The Council as a body (there were individual exceptions) pretty much knew that the bid was dead months ago, but (prudently in my opinion) figured it best to let it collapse under its own weight.
Far from being an outlier Tito had at least more than a few colleagues that shared his opinion. Councillor Jackson’s actions deserve praise, but he was not alone.
I stand corrected and amended, thanks Paul
While he did look like an utter fool signing up for the bid without even bothering to read the bid document and lobbying for this loser. I don’t think he really makes up for it by turning somewhat against it at the end. He could have killed this off months and months ago if he had had any sense at all.
Nevertheless, while I think that his performance will permanently lose him the votes of some portion of the electorate, I don’t know that will be enough to kill his chance for reelection, especially if he shows any signs of learning from his missteps.
but I don’t see any top tier candidates challenging Charlie Baker unless or until Charlie really sticks his foot in it.
While people paying close attention could point to exactly why Baker’s wrong for this state, to the rank and file Massachusetts voter, Baker’s done a lot to make himself look appealing and moderate. They don’t see how he just cut early ed, or see how his early retirement plan was such a dramatic, costly failure. They’re just not issues that get the kind of press that could derail a second term for Baker, and I think Baker may be savvy enough to avoid any major unforced errors.
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For those who don’t see Marty as a threat to win a Gubernatorial campaign… remember, no one saw him as a threat to win the Mayoral campaign, either. But he activated what is probably one of Boston’s most wide-sweeping grassroots armies in a Mayoral campaign ever and tied that to a compelling message of making things better for working families and getting stuff done. There’s no reason why the same recipe couldn’t work across the state.
Yet, Marty’s a pretty smart guy, and like he waited to run for Mayor until the time was right, if he ever wants to be Governor, he’d wait for the time to be right for that, too. Being Mayor of Boston is a pretty cool job, with plenty of stuff to get done… so even if he was interested in the Corner Office, there’s no hurry.