Hillman Shucks, Hargraves Jives

Hat tip to Adam Reilly at Talking Politics

Todays Lowell Sun Online details Republican LG candidate Reed Hillman's awkward start on the campaign trail in Groton.

You know Reed, the thing about campaigning is when you're trying to convince folks that you have the knowledge and expertise to handle a job, you should actually be prepared to let them know how you expect to accomplish that.

But Hillman is a good Republican which means he just does what he's told and nods his head when The Man speaks.

Uhh..uhh...

Hillman, the Republican running-mate of gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, appeared to stumble on several questions asked by a group of local Republicans, who attended the meet-the-candidate event.

Hillman deferred procedural and legislative questions about gay marriage and sex education to state Rep. Robert Hargraves, R-Groton, who also attended the event.

Hillman deferred questions about Same Sex Marriage to Robert HARGRAVES?!? You mean the homo-bigot Hargraves who signed onto a lawsuit filed by the wingnut owned and operated Liberty Counsel to overturn the decision by the SJC to legalize equal marriage? That Robert Hargraves?

Oh, to be a fly on that wall.

And this was a friendly group of Groton Republicans - I can't wait to see Hillman debate Andrea Silbert. She'll hand him something and it won't be his hat.

UPDATE: David at Blue Mass. Group chimes in too.

Romney: Could you just GO already.

Adam Reilly at Talking Politics hightlights Deval Patrick's op-ed piece in today's Providence Journal (subscription required, but Adam's got the full text)

It seems Republican "Field Marshall" Grover Norquist, yes that Grover Norquist of the "shrinking government down and drowning it in a bathtub" fame, is advising gubernatorial hobbyist, Mitt Romney (R-Fantasy Land) on health care policy.

Great.

Is there no end to the backs of Republican trousers that Mitt Romney is willing to apply his lips? Look, Mitt we all get it. You're done being Governor of Massachusetts and believe me, we are all more than done with you, but could you please just spend the rest of your lackluster term out of state humping the legs of Republican donors and their groupies and just leave the policy stuff to the folks who plan to still be living here after November 7. Thanks.

Deval Patrick breaks it down to the essentials:

Our system is broken; we must fix it. We all have a stake in that. And when we all have a stake in something, government leadership has a role to play. But that is not how Norquist sees it. The sad fact is that Norquist's vision of government is precisely what was on display in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina: thousands of vulnerable people, abandoned on rooftops, who had in fact been abandoned before that storm.

Health is a public good. Start from that simple truth, Governor Romney, and you will see why it is so important for Massachusetts that you show my old classmate Grover Norquist the door.

And Mitt, when you show Norquist that door, don't let it smack you on the rear on YOUR way out.

1st Middlesex District - No free ride for Hargraves.

Carol Bousquet, longtime community activist from Groton has announced that she will run against St. Rep. Robert Hargraves (R-Groton) in the 1st Middlesex District. Hargraves ran unopposed in 2004.

Bousquet is currently involved in the effort to save the Ayer train station.

1st Middlesex District includes the towns of Ayer, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell and Townsend.

Correction: Ms. Bousquet currently lives in Ayer.

The Eyes of a Prizefighter and the Look of a Champion

Better Late Than Never Rally Blogging.

Okay, I'm putting the audioblog thing behind me and I will soldier on. *sniff*

I am SO glad that my group got to Faneil Faneuil Hall early! When we got to the line there was maybe 20 or so folks waiting. While we were waiting to go in, I got a chance to visit with friends and folks from other DTCs and the Acton-Area DFA. Lynne (Left in Lowell) and her crew were there as well. I kept my eyes out for Andy (Mass Revolution Now!) and sco (.08 Acres), but I didn't see them. I didn't know that massmarrier (Marry in Massachusetts) was going, or I'd have been looking for him too!

I had two very special guests with me; my husband Chris and my son Anthony. Chris is one of those folks that Deval Patrick talks about who have checked out of the political process because they just don't see the point of being involved. These are the types of folks that Deval wants to bring back into the process.

My husband is a voter, but until recently he was an unenrolled voter, although he's always voted democratic (at least, that's what he's told me!). He switched his affiliation to Dem so he could vote for our town's Deval Patrick slate in February. Other than that, I didn't think he had much interest in the race yet. So when I told my guys I was going to the rally, I was pleasantly surprised when they asked if they could tag along.

My son is a Deval event veteran, having joined me in Fitchburg, but my husband had never attended any political event before. I think it was a lot for him to drink in. He said he throughly enjoyed the rally and was very impressed with Deval's speech. He really liked the message. No pie in the sky, just plain common sense together with the idea of what is possible -- and a commitment to just damn hard work.

Afterward, we waded out into the crowd. I stopped to say goodbye to some folks and my guys got carried off into the crowd. When Deval finished up addressing the crowd and speaking with the press he walked through the crowd saying hello and greeting his supporters. My guys caught up with me and we headed into the reception.

My husband told me that he had a chance to say hello to Deval and shake his hand. My husband, who is not the type to be overly impressed with politicians said to me that Deval Patrick had the eyes of a prizefighter and the look of a champion.

I think that description of Deval Patrick suits him perfectly.

Check out the campaign's coverage of the rally here. You can read and hear his speech, and watch video clips.

sco at .08 has a great wrap-up of the rally -- even though he didn't get in. :-(

massmarrier also didn't get in, but has a great wrap up too.

Michael Forbes Wilcox took some great photos of the rally. I especially like the picture of Diane Patrick

My pictures are here at flickr

Donate
Volunteer

Dude, where's my audioblogs?

From the "you get what you pay for" department; Blogger has screwed me over once again. I made three audioblogs during the Deval Patrick rally this afternoon and none of them showed up on my blog.

None.of.them.

Including the audioblog I recorded of Deval Patrick. :-(

Blogger is dead to me. I'm switching to WordPress.

Audioblogging Deval Patrick Rally

Join Deval Patrick Saturday, March 11, for the Together We Can celebration at Faneuil Hall. Doors open at 11:00 AM. It's a free event, but if you haven't already RSVP'd for a ticket, you won't be turned away, so if you're in town, be sure to stop by.

I'll be there along with my fellow bloggeristas Lynne of Left in Lowell, Andy of Mass Revolution Now! and sco of .08. If this rally is anything like the DCI, I'm sure there will be more than a few laughs. Bloggers are good people, so be sure to stop by and say hey. :-)

I'm going to try to do a few audioblogs while I'm there so be sure to check back here for updates.

I Heart Molly Ivins

Molly's been on a tear lately about Dems of the DLC variety.

"Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Tell it, sistah!

Five Freedoms vs. The Simpsons

Simpson's win.

CHICAGO, March 1, 2006 – Civics teachers nationwide are letting out a collective, “Doh!”

A new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum survey finds that only about one in four Americans (28 percent) are able to name more than one of the five fundamental freedoms granted to them by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet when it comes to knowledge of popular culture, Americans are considerably more tuned in. For example, almost twice as many Americans (52 percent) can name at least two members of the "The Simpsons" cartoon family.

Wow. That explains it, I guess. If people don't know what their freedoms are, they sure as hell don't know when they're being taken away.

More on the DCI

I'm at school right now trying to catch up on the stuff that I ignored while I was at the DCI this weekend so for now, I'm just going to point to the excellent post by sco about what was covered at the DCI. I'll have more later.

Mass Dems Fundraising Scandal?

Blogger FrankSkeffington at Blue Mass. Group breaks the story.

*snip* By contributing to Brown on the last day of 2005, the Hawaii, Maine and Massachusetts Democratic parties seem to have unwittingly waded into the hotly contested Rhode Island Senate primary between Brown and former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D). Federal Election Commission records show that two of the three state parties donated $10,000 each — $5,000 for the primary and $5,000 for the general — to Brown on Dec. 31, 2005....

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Democratic Party explained that the party had intended to send $5,000 to each of the Rhode Island candidates, but that the separate general election and primary checks ended up only going to Brown.

The party has since asked Brown to refund $5,000 and the Massachusetts Democrats plan to, in turn, donate that amount to Whitehouse’s campaign. Brown’s campaign has mailed the refund and party spokeswoman Cyndi Roy said that the Bay State Party "should be receiving it any day."

Roy also said that she was not aware that the party had donated to any other Senate candidates this cycle and that the state party had been approached specifically about this race by a Brown campaign staffer who the party had worked with before. "We realize that this is a huge race," Roy said. "It’s one of the best shots that we have at reclaiming a Senate seat. It was intended for both campaigns." ... *snip*

I can't tell you how many times I've heard at meetings I go to that we Dems here in Mass. "feed the candidates and starve the Party" and that is the reason given why Mass Dems is such a shoe-string organization.

Mass Dems is so strapped for funds they couldn't afford to mail out the Call to Convention, at least we didn't get one here in Townsend. We downloaded the pdf off the Mass Dems website.

And yet... they are giving $10K to an out-of-state candidate(s). So where'd they get the money?

I'm sure that fundraiser they held last May called:
"The 2005 Massachusetts Democratic Platform Convention" was very helpful.

Sheesh.

Me thinks Chairman Johnston has some 'splainin' to do.

I Liked It Better the First Time I Heard It.

In a blog post titled, "Moving Massachusetts Forward", JumboDem over at the very good Idealism Without Illusions called our attention to the press release sent out today by the Reilly campaign detailing his "vision for the Commonwealth."

Except there is not much there -- there. Just a press release.
It starts out pretty good though:

"Speaking first to business leaders at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce in Danvers and then to students at the Brookmeadow Elementary School in Needham, Reilly outlined his S.M.A.R.T. (Science + Math Achieve the Rewards of Tomorrow) initiative. The initiative offers specific, comprehensive proposals to recruit and train highly skilled math and science teachers, engage the business community, better motivate students and close the "interest" gaps among women and minorities, and produce more college graduates with degrees in math, science, engineering and technology."

Specific, comprehensive proposals sounds good, let's hear 'em. Oh...wait:

"It is the first proposal of Reilly's "Massachusetts Action Plan," details of which will be rolled out in the coming weeks."

You've got to be kidding.

As I mentioned to JumboDem in comments at Illusions, Deval Patrick has had detailed policy papers, titled, wait for it... Moving Massachusetts Forward up on his website -- for months.

Those policy papers outline Deval's tangible vision of his plans to truly move Massachusetts forward and isn't just a press release with gimmicky acronyms and vague promises to rolled out in coming weeks.

So if this is Reilly v.2 regrouped and rebounded, I honestly don't see the difference.

Deval Patrick Rally
March 11 - Faneuil Hall
I'll be there!

Donate
Volunteer