News roundup

Groundbreaking begins for biolab.

Deval on the pulpit.

First gubernatorial debate on Wednesday; also, Healey channels Mitt and pretends to be a moderate.

Don Young (R-AK) tries to kill the Cape wind farm project.

And from a little while ago,

Mass Dems rule that "elected" means "not elected".

Newsweek on Patrick

Newsweek has the interesting article A Real Racial Tipping Point about the blacks running for major offices this political cycle: Senate candidates Harold Ford Jr. (Tenn.), Michael Steele, Kweisi Mfume (Md.), and Keith Butler (Mich.); and gubernatorial candidates Ken Blackwell (Ohio), Lynn Swann (Penn.) and Deval Patrick right here in Massachusetts.

Now, Steele's campaign is likely dead in the water (for comparing stem-cell research to slavery and the Holocaust before a Jewish audience) and Ken Blackwell was the Katharine Harris of 2004 (speaking of Harris, her Senate campaign is pretty dead too), whereas Swann seems to be doing well with his Super Bowl ring campaign. Butler will have great trouble unseating Debbie Stabenow.

On the Democratic side, Ford is running neck and neck with the Republican candidates and Mfume has an uphill battle beating Ben Cardin in the primary -- though either should trounce Steele unless he pulls a remarkable turnaround.

From the article:

Ford's challenge, as he sees it, has less to do with race than with distancing himself from some prominent family members with legal problems and, most important, distinguishing himself as something other than a typical knee-jerk liberal politician. There was a time, he observes, when black politicians "had to be civil-rights advocates only." He is grateful that time has passed and that his platform can be broader and his ambitions grander than those of his dad.

Patrick, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights under President Bill Clinton, is also making his presence felt. A recent poll had him tied with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly in the Democratic primary and doing well against Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who is favored to win the GOP slot. To the extent race is a problem, said Patrick, "I don't view it as my problem."

Deval at Doyle's

There was a great event tonight for the Deval Patrick Boston delegates and organizers. We met up at Doyle's, the famously political Irish bar/restaurant, replete with Kennedy portraits and memorabilia, an entire room devoted to Tom Menino, and other posters and propaganda from politicians present and past. We chatted about the amusing scene of the Russians confusedly voting their slate in Ward 21 (I remember the busloads of non-English speaking Russians at the DNC delegate caucus in 2004); and the troubling graduation rates in Boston's community colleges, and yes, talked about presidential hopefuls for 2008, though I tried to steer the conversation to more interesting races of now, like Ciro Rodriguez, the Texas Democrat endorsed by Democracy for America running for the House against a "Democrat" endorsed by the vile Club for Growth and who sat on the GOP side of the aisle at the State of the Union--the early voting just started.

Another story on the cusp of exploding is the continuing collapse of Rick Santorum, who seems to be engaging in Duke Cunningham-style corruption.

The event was great; it was pretty nice to just sit and eat with other activists and political wonks and Deval, who simply stayed and ate dinner without ceremony. Though he certainly was wearing the best suit.

Pass HB1881 and Affect the Patriot Act Debate

Massachusetts is poised to add its voice to the national debate over Patriot Act reuthorization and reform, with HB 1881. Passing this statewide civil liberties resolution would not only put Massachusetts on the record, but would also serve as a news hook to remind the Congress of the seven other states, and nearly 400 cities and towns, that have passed similar resolutions - just as the Congress is about to take up the issue, with potential for some real reforms. These include most of the country's largest cities (New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Atlanta, Houston...), and some of the reddest of the red states (Alaska, Idaho).

HB 1881 is on the legislative calendar and ready to be voted on any day. All it will take is for our legislators to know people care. Please call your state Rep, your state Senator, and house speaker Sal DiMasi at 617-722-2500. See my post on Blue Mass Group for more.