Sad for our state, sad for our citizens, sad for the Globe, and sad for the news media.
Sad because they are giving you a completely distorted view of what goes on around here and how people think because they continue talking to the same sources.
Related: Boston Globe Still in its Liberal Bubble
And thus you are presented with a picture in your paper that doesn't really exist at all.
"Patrick tries to regain grass roots; Needs network for reelection effort" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | February 9, 2010
CAMBRIDGE - For Governor Deval Patrick, who was swept into office a little more than three years ago by a popular groundswell, it was a strikingly candid concession.
“We had this incredibly rich relationship that we built with the grass-roots network the last time,’’ the governor told 20 supporters at a private home here last week. “And then we got in, and we let it go. And there are reasons for that....’’
Because you were never really about that and the record shows it?
Patrick’s blunt acknowledgement that he let his most powerful political muscle atrophy captures the daunting challenge he now faces. As he prepares for a tough reelection fight, the governor is trying to revive and rebuild his network of supporters, by shoring up his original base, pulling the disillusioned back to his corner, and recruiting new faces.
The central question, though, is whether he can do it as an incumbent.
Well, I am ashamed to say it, but I WAS AWASH with CHANGE FEVER and TOSS OUT ALL INCUMBENTS back when!!
BIG MISTAKE!!
So HERE is ONE VOTE YOU WILL NOT BE GETTING this time out!
Patrick, who ran in 2006 as an idealistic political outsider with an aspirational message of hope and civic empowerment, is now the one in power, facing slumping approval ratings and five eager challengers.
Know what the term dead-in-the-water means?
An electorate that four years ago was ready for change after 16 years of Republican leadership is angry and economically wounded.
And here we are four years later still waiting and ready.
WTF happened, Dems?
Many of the governor’s diehard supporters are frustrated, with his fitful attempts to enlist the grass roots while in office, with some of his political priorities, and with his repeated cuts in the budget, however necessary....
See: The Massachusetts State Budget
Just wanted you to see where the money is coming from and where it is going.
The first time Patrick tried to enlist his supporters while he was in office, he organized a rally at the State House to support bills that would have allowed struggling communities to join the state health insurance plan and raise meals and hotels taxes. Lawmakers were peeved, John Walsh, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said.
“There was definitely a push-back and a reaction from the Legislature that felt that was aggressive,’’ he said. “And at that point, [the governor] stepped back from that model.’’
Yeah, he found out WHO is REALLY RUNNING THINGS around here.
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Even on friendly terrain, though, the governor encountered some resistance. Fred Berman, a Somerville activist, told Patrick that some of his friends, disappointed with the governor’s support for casinos and his failure to increase the gas tax, are planning to support Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow Party candidate.
“If the progressives stay home, if they don’t come out in force, we will be congratulating you on one term,’’ he warned.
Already will be anyway. After this last Senate election, you realize liberals only hold power in the Boston Globe -- and those are the only people they talk to.
Brian Corr, an African-American activist, said the black men he works with in Boston are also disillusioned.
“They are furious,’’ Corr told the governor. “They feel like they’ve been left behind. Their issues have not been addressed. I do my rap. But they look at me like I’m insane.’’
He's even lost the black vote?
Patrick responded by saying he has never been closer to reforming sentencing and criminal offender record information laws, issues important to Boston’s black community.
Related: Massachusetts Justice: Employing Perverts
He told Berman that at least he had tried to raise the gas tax.
Yeah, and THAT WON HIM NO FRIENDS and LOWER POLL NUMBERS -- as did the SALES TAX INCREASE WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN but which the Globe has.
Sydney Asbury, Patrick’s campaign manager, said that by the numbers, Patrick is ahead of where he was in 2006, because he has 15,000 supporters and 1,600 “organizers’’ who have agreed to find 50 supporters each.
And new supporters are showing up....
Yeah, KEEP DELUDING YOURSELVES!
It really worked out well for Coakley, huh?
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Yeah, you guys never learn, do you?
"Green party hopeful taps anger; Stein takes page from Brown" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | February 9, 2010
Lexington doctor Jill Stein launched her second long-shot campaign for governor yesterday with a forceful attempt to tap the populist anger that propelled Republican Scott Brown into the US Senate last month.
“If you’ve had enough business as usual, if you’ve had enough of the culture of influence, if you’ve had enough payoffs and layoffs and rip-offs and bailouts, this is the campaign for you,’’ Stein, a Green-Rainbow Party candidate, told about three dozen supporters, speaking from the steps of the State House.
Oh, I don't know; you want to tap angry Repugs?
See: Selecting a Senator: Brown Beats Coakley
Yeah, I'm not one of 'em.
Stein’s antiestablishment rhetoric showed how much Brown’s election has forced candidates across the political spectrum to modify their pitch.
While Stein touched on traditional Green Party issues such as broadening access to health care, shifting the burden of taxes to the wealthy, and reforming drug laws, she also blamed “waste’’ and “skullduggery’’ on Beacon Hill for driving up taxes and fees.
Three out of four is pretty good!
Stein is, by now, a familiar face on this stage. In 2002, she won 3.5 percent of the vote in a five-way race for governor, and she won 16 percent of the vote in a two-way race for secretary of state in 2006. She also ran unsuccessfully for state representative in 2004.
Yesterday, Stein cited Brown’s campaign as a model, saying he had successfully appealed to disaffected voters who did not necessarily agree with his agenda but “were making a protest statement in the only way they could.’’
Then they would have voted for the KENNEDY in the race like ME!!!
“I do think there is a voter revolt,’’ Stein told reporters after her eight-minute speech, “so let’s give voters something to vote for, instead of something to vote against.’’
If you say end the wars I might fall in love.
Especially in a tight race, Stein’s candidacy could pose a threat to Governor Deval Patrick’s reelection campaign by peeling off liberal Democrats, some of whom have been frustrated with his support for initiatives such as casino gambling.
Yeah, THAT'S RIGHT!
She told reporters that the governor “could be fighting for the ordinary people of the Commonwealth, and that’s what we intend to do.’’
Yeah, when is someone going to do that!
“Our taxes are regressive, and they’re not adequate to cover the needs,’’ she said. “We’re slashing human services. We’re slashing support for the homeless. The most vulnerable in the Commonwealth are paying the highest price now.’’
Patrick’s campaign released a statement yesterday saying he “welcomes Jill Stein and the Green-Rainbow Party to the race.’’
Then he is UNFIT for governor or a LIAR!
Patrick is facing a Democratic primary challenge from Grace Ross, who ran as the Green-Rainbow Party’s candidate for governor in 2006. In the Republican primary, Charles D. Baker Jr., a former health care executive, is facing Cape Cod businessman Christy Mihos. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who left the Democratic Party in July, is running as an independent.
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