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MA GOP’s painfully lame ad may also violate copyright
So the MA GOP has a new web ad that’s supposed to be this big attack on Deval. It’s painfully lame. But it also may violate the copyright laws. Here’s the ad. Can you identify the singer? That’s...
View ArticleCharlie Baker – Running on Fumes
We know that former failed gubernatorial candidate Tom Reilly — still bitter over his own horribly mismanaged campaign four years ago — endorsed Baker a couple days back. His reasoning? “It hasn’t gone...
View ArticleMA GOP’s lame ad and James Taylor’s copyright: upon further analysis, it’s...
“Parody” that uses copyrighted material can, under some circumstances, constitute “fair use.” Here’s the Supreme Court outlining this general principle in the famous 2 Live Crew case, known formally...
View ArticleRasmussen: Patrick retains his lead
Rasmussen has a new poll out, apparently taken Saturday night after the president’s visit. Bottom line: Patrick’s lead remains intact. This poll therefore supports what Suffolk said last week, and...
View ArticleRasmussen’s favorability ratings: Patrick at +8, Baker at -3. Wow.
A helpful reader has informed BMG that today’s Rasmussen poll‘s favorability ratings are surprisingly, well, favorable for Governor Patrick. And surprisingly weak for Charlie Baker. Favorable...
View ArticleComment of the evening: a conservative’s cry for help
Lodger, a long-time member of our stalwart band of resident conservatives, may well have summed up the feelings of many of the 50% of MA likely voters who view Charlie Baker unfavorably. i might be...
View ArticleThe Dodger, the Poser, and the Angry Man: where Charlie Baker’s campaign went...
The Dodger: Not coming to terms with the Big Dig This is huge, and to me completely inexplicable. The Big Dig was always going to be part of the conversation in this election, and the fact is that...
View ArticleIsn’t Deval Patrick really richer than Charlie Baker?
The MTA recently began airing ads saying that Charlie Baker is a rich health care executive. But in reality, isn’t Deval Patrick far richer that Charlie Baker. Consider: Deval Patrick made $2 million...
View ArticleDeval Patrick’s Record
DEVAL PATRICK HAS BEEN AN UMITIGATED DISTASTER FOR MASSACHUSETTS Lets review his record: 8 tax increases – including a 25% sales tax increase and he will not say that he will not raise taxes more if he...
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Baker: Perry still “the right guy for the job in Washington”
Appalling, really. A caller to Howie Carr’s radio show yesterday asked Charlie Baker if he was still backing Jeff Perry in light of yesterday’s bombshell revelations. Baker, apparently, could not...
View ArticleIn honor of tonight’s Gov debate in Western MA, an oldie but goodie [updated]
UPDATE: I didn’t get to see tonight’s debate, but the assessment of several pundits (not BMG or RMG types) on Twitter was that Cahill won, Patrick didn’t hurt himself, and Baker looked terrible....
View ArticleDeval and Ameriquest
Where is the outrage about Deval Patrick’s involvement in the subprime mortgage mess, Deval’s $300,000 salary from Ameriquest for attending a monthly meeting, Deval’s approval of a $50 million...
View ArticleNew poll: Patrick leads by 8 (44-36), Cahill at 8.
The race marches on, the candidates keep campaigning, advertising, and debating, and the numbers keep getting worse for Charlie Baker. Western New England College has released a new poll of 400 likely...
View ArticleRally FAIL
The Globe’s description of what happened in Dennis today is comedy gold. Remember, this was supposed to be a joint appearance by Perry and Baker to rally the troops for the Republican ticket! Woohoo!...
View ArticleNew Globe poll: Patrick up 43-39; his fav/unfav is +6 while Baker’s is -2
The Globe’s new poll shows a closer race than most other independent pollsters, though it still has Patrick ahead. As the title indicates, the poll shows Patrick up over Baker 43-39, with Cahill at...
View ArticleDeval and Ameriquest
“State officials said the state lost nearly 21,000 jobs in September [2010] – mostly from the tourism industry. They also mistakenly claimed a job increase in August when they had lost 3,000...
View ArticleAP finds devastating memo from Charlie Baker about the Big Dig
Talk about an October surprise. This memo, dug up by Glen Johnson at AP, is absolutely devastating, and it couldn’t come at a worse time for Charlie Baker – the same day a Globe poll finds him still...
View ArticleDebate liveblog
A vision question?? Poor Baker’s already screwed, and we haven’t brought up endorsements of child molesters yet. Tim Cahill says he isn’t a poet, and promptly proves it by talking about the suburbs....
View ArticlePost-debate media roundup: disaster for Baker
I couldn’t watch tonight’s debate, but from the coverage of several (non-partisan) reporters on Twitter and the Globe and Herald post-debate pieces, it’s pretty easy to conclude what happened: Charlie...
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One of these things is not like the others …
Check out this hilarious photo, from today’s Herald, of last night’s debate. Do you notice something different about one of the candidates? Yeah, that’s right. Three of them are laughing or smiling....
View ArticleGlobe endorses Patrick in a remarkably eloquent editorial
The Globe has endorsed Deval Patrick for reelection. That in itself is not much of a surprise. What did surprise me, though, is how cogent, thoughtful, and passionate the editorial is. I’m not...
View ArticleNew Suffolk poll: Patrick still up 7; ahead in fav/unfav; 59% expect him to win
On the heels of Charlie Baker’s effort to spin the news with another internal poll – quite an unsuccessful effort, I might add – Suffolk has released a new poll showing what basically all independent...
View ArticleBy the way, it’s still a tight race. Do not let up. [updated]
Suffolk has Patrick up 7. State House News has Patrick up 3. Rasmussen has Patrick up 2. UPDATE: And Western New England College has Patrick up 5. The message really couldn’t be much clearer....
View ArticleWondering how to help GOTV? All your questions answered.
Here’s what I said yesterday in a post about the latest polls: Patrick is ahead and should win – he has been ahead in every single independent poll published in this cycle. But turnout is everything....
View ArticleNew Suffolk Poll: Bellwether Waltham Goes Patrick
Waltham, apparently, is regarded as an electoral bellwether, with a history of going with the winner. Suffolk released a poll today that was taken over the weekend and shows Patrick up 47-40, with...
View ArticleOur Vision vs. Charlie Baker’s Vision
Friends, Let's remember what is at stake. For the last month, Charlie Baker has rooted for our state's failure. He believes that for his campaign to succeed, our Commonwealth has to fail. But the...
View ArticleThis is it Folks…
The results of todays voting in Massachusetts will reflect one of two things: those who believe in the success of the Commonwealth as a whole, and those who believe in the success of...
View ArticleIt started here. And tonight, it ended here.
Back in January, Scott Brown rocked the political world in Massachusetts and around the country by winning the Senate seat held for decades by Ted Kennedy. There’s no doubt that Brown’s victory...
View ArticleRandom morning-after thoughts: polling works; Herald’s funny editorials;...
In no particular order: Polling works. It worked in 2006, and it worked this time too. Yes, there was some variation. Rasmussen, in particular, came out looking pretty bad in Massachusetts, as did...
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MA Republican whining begins in earnest
Baker said he would have had to run a perfect race “in an ideal political environment” and that, by pulling 8 percent of the vote Tuesday, Cahill “made our already narrow window that much narrower.” Ah...
View ArticleDeval 2.0 re-ups governing from the grassroots
Today’s Globe has an interesting interview with Governor Patrick – the whole thing is worth reading. Of particular interest to BMGers, I thought, is this bit: [In 2007, legislative leaders] didn’t...
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Sorry Charlie, it wasn’t Tim’s fault
MassINC’s post-election poll (PDF) seems to have put the nail in the coffin of the tired idea (still pushed by Howie Carr & Co.) that Charlie Baker would be Governor-elect today, if it weren’t for...
View ArticleMore on Deval 2.0 and grassroots governing
A couple of days ago, Patrick advisor Doug Rubin, Baker advisor Rob Gray, and political reporters Frank Phillips and Joe Battenfeld did an hour-long panel discussion about the just-concluded campaign....
View ArticleThe Patrick-Baker Identity
During the gubernatorial campaign, I wrote that Deval and Charlie are fundamentally alike; I said that Deval devotees are being blinded by partisan politics and their reluctance to admit they were...
View ArticleWhat would you ask Deval?
Your humble editors will have a chance to chat with Governor Patrick this afternoon. If there’s anything you’re just itching to ask him, drop it in the comments. I definitely intend to ask about...
View ArticleBMG interviews Governor Patrick
Bob was next, with a question about the role of corporations in society (and a tricky bit about Ben Franklin and Adam Smith at the end). I then turned to questions from BMGers, and started with...
View ArticleDeval Patrick’s second term is underway
Lt. Governor Murray, Fellow Constitutional Officers and Members of the Governor’s Council; Madam President, Mr. Speaker and Members of the Legislature; Mr. Chief Justice and Members of the Judiciary;...
View ArticleAre you part of Deval’s “fussy liberal base”?
So Brian McGrory heartily approves of Governor Patrick’s move to oust most of the Parole Board, and some of its staff. Terrific. So do I, for the record. But in an otherwise pretty good column, stuff...
View ArticleSense and silliness on municipal health care
As has already been noted hereabouts, Governor Patrick recently made a major announcement regarding municipal health care. This is from the Gov’s press release (no link): The Administration’s health...
View ArticleGovernor’s Council narrowly averts profoundly embarrassing itself
In a 4-3 vote, the Governor’s Council has approved Governor Patrick’s nomination of Appeals Court judge Fernande R.V. Duffly to the Supreme Judicial Court. The reasons given for the three “no” votes...
View ArticleBloomberg: film tax credits a waste, a race to the bottom
So Deval’s hero, Michael Bloomberg, said the film and TV industry subsidy is a “race to the bottom” and “a waste.” Will Deval emulate the politician he said during his campaign that he most would want...
View ArticlePatrick files legislation to control health care costs
“Massachusetts led the nation on health care reform and is poised to lead again on health care cost containment,” said Governor Patrick. “With 98 percent of the Commonwealth’s residents insured, we...
View ArticleWhat would you call Deval’s PAC?
For the curious, here is the release announcing the PAC’s formation. The director of Governor Deval Patrick’s Massachusetts political committee today announced the Governor’s plans to open a federal...
View ArticleDeval: Setti Warren and Alan Khazei “in for sure” for MA-Sen in 2012 [updated...
A fascinating nugget in the National Journal (HT Bernstein – emphasis mine): Though Patrick said he had not been actively recruiting challengers for Brown, he told [National Journal] he has spoken with...
View ArticleSpoiling the wingnut narrative: Fidelity’s job action had nothing to do with...
If you listen to our friends on the other side of the aisle, you’d think that (a) Massachusetts is a terrible place to do business, and (b) Fidelity’s decision to move 1,100 jobs from Marlborough to...
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Is Medicaid (MassHealth) Preventing the Poor from Breaking out of Addiction?
Lawrence Harmon of The Boston Globe had a very interesting article that highlights the intersection of medicine and public policy. The issue was the debate whether MassHealth, our state’s Medicaid...
View ArticleThey were singing, “bye, bye Miss American Pie”
When the Watergate scandal broke, I was just old enough to grasp that something really bad, shocking in fact had happened. That was before “shocking” became just another mot du jour and scandals were...
View ArticlePatrick’s Good Move
The future of Massachusetts depends on the decisions we make today. From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, Massachusetts cut taxes dramatically, leading to devastating cuts in transportation, human...
View ArticleWe Need Bold Solutions for Transportation and Education
**Massachusetts legislators will be debating and voting on an inadequate transportation finance bill TODAY, I encourage you to speak out and let your legislators know that we must do better. Join me...
View ArticleFacts on the ground: the essential Patrick legacy
I’m nowhere near Beacon Hill these days, so it is useful and perhaps natural for me to consider what fundamental changes will be left standing after Governor Patrick takes his walk tomorrow. I think of...
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