Elections and Voting

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Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Blowin’ up good!

Going ballistic on the fireworks bill; Baccari is at it again; more electioneering
Pretty shrewd. In a state that suffered through a horrific nightclub fire in 2003 that killed 100 people, the General Assembly pushed through legislation that some thought would permit people to buy the type of fireworks (called “gerbs,” which means they must resemble disgraced former Governor Ed “Gerber Baby” DiPrete) that led to the disaster inside the Station.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | June 24, 2010

Spookin' the horses

Scary trumps stupid every time
Move over, Freddy Krueger. Here come the real scary monsters: Libby Mitchell and Paul LePage.
By AL DIAMON | June 16, 2010

Setting the stage for November

Post-primary musings
It's been more than a week since the June 8 primary election, which saw Republican PAUL LEPAGE (Waterville mayor and Marden's exec) beat a large field of better-financed competitors, and LIBBY MITCHELL (state senate president) pull out ahead of the Democratic pack, poised to become Maine's first-ever female governor.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 16, 2010

Plan B

Post-primary predictions
With the end of the long primary campaign, Mainers are facing an ugly reality.
By AL DIAMON | June 09, 2010

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism

Governor Patrick's problematic Mosque visit. Plus, Bush — and the GOP — vote yes for torture
Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by the Islamic Society of Boston.
By EDITORIAL | June 14, 2010

Secret desires

Who's going to win the election?
Everywhere I go, people keep asking me, “Who’s going to win the election?” Often, my answer depends on my mood (which ranges from bad to horrendous).
By AL DIAMON | June 02, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 26, 2010

Bragdon vs. Trevorrow, Greens, District 120

Primary 2010
Charles Bragdon and Anna Trevorrow vie in the East End legislative race
By DEIRDRE FULTON | May 19, 2010

Patrick Lynch’s labor problem

Unions
For Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, candidate for governor, labor matters.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 19, 2010

Face the nation

SpeakEasy’s The Great American Trailer Park Musical; Zeitgeist’s Farragut North
White-trash collection has seldom been as hilarious as it is in The Great American Trailer Park Musical , which makes its Brahmin-area debut courtesy of SpeakEasy Stage Company.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 04, 2010

Review: 8: The Mormon Proposition

Sheds a sad light on Prop 8
While we were getting decriminalized weed in Massachusetts, a large segment of the population was reeling from the devastating passage of Proposition 8 in California.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 18, 2010

Mayor-Select Marie?

Some think that Tom Menino is anointing Marie St. Fleur as his successor, but he might just be serving himself
Tom Menino, just a few months into an unprecedented fifth term as Boston’s mayor, has raised eyebrows by hiring State Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester to the newly created, $120,000-a-year position of chief of advocacy and strategic investment.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 05, 2010

Poor WGME

Press Releases
As the gubernatorial primary date inches closer, we’re starting to see more and more TV ads showing would-be governors touting themselves and their qualifications for the job.
By JEFF INGLIS | May 05, 2010

Wrote a song for everyone

Name that tune
Political experts know the most important factor in a successful race for governor is the campaign song.
By AL DIAMON | May 05, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

Brown-nosing and flip-flopping

Scott Brown heeds his boss’s orders; Charlie Baker sides with homophobic party base
Two months ago, when Senator Scott Brown crossed party lines to help pass a jobs bill, the Phoenix noted the political convenience of that supposed show of independence — since other Republican senators were also voting with Democrats, Brown’s vote was unnecessary.
By EDITORIAL | April 23, 2010

GOP’s state convention delivers the bland brand

Dull and Duller Dept.
Massachusetts Republican candidates for office this November might be well-advised to legally change their names and appear on the ballot as “Someone Else,” “Another Option,” or “Available Alternative.”
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 23, 2010

Joe Paolino weighs a different kind of mayoral run

The Independent
It had been rumored for some time.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 14, 2010

Lynch’s left flank

The Southie Congressman may have pushed progressives too far this time.
US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 02, 2010

Hallelujah!

Health-care reform is a new high-water mark
The Democrats won and the Republicans lost. That, in a nutshell, is the bottom line.
By EDITORIAL | March 24, 2010

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

The Curse of the Big Dig

Tthe mere mention of the Central Artery Project can derail one's hopes for higher office. Charlie Baker is finding that out now.
Call it the Curse of the Big Dig: virtually every politician with statewide significance who has over the years become intertwined with the Central Artery Project (as it is officially known) has seen his or her dreams of higher office dashed.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 17, 2010

Patrick's paradox

No shakes as a political operator, Deval has scored with many policies
Governor Deval Patrick may be the incumbent, but he enters the race for the most thankless statewide job in Massachusetts as an underdog.
By EDITORIAL | March 10, 2010

Down ballot drama

Important races to watch in '10
The race for governor and the scramble to replace retiring Representative Patrick J. Kennedy have obsessed Rhode Island's chattering class. But all the talk has obscured an intriguing set of "down ballot" races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | March 10, 2010

Caught in Providence

Trouble in the capital city; Flo’s goes national; separated at birth; and more
Our partner in radio crime, Buddy "Vincent A" Cianci, has been creaming his jeans on the air recently.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | March 10, 2010

Get smart

Budget problems? It's the stupidity, stupid.
There are lots of theories about what's wrong with Maine's economy.
By AL DIAMON | March 10, 2010

Workin' man blues

Blue-collar luxury resorts, and other GOP oxymorons
Election years are always times of high anxiety for politicians. That may explain why they say and do so many stupid things.
By AL DIAMON | March 08, 2010

Should non-citizens vote?

Government Reform
We Americans know we don't like taxation without representation in our democracy, but should we allow participation without naturalization?
By JEFF INGLIS | February 17, 2010

Might as well jump

Recent retirements of key democrats paint a picture of a powerful Republican rogue wave forming. So why are high-profile Republicans jumping ship too?
Last Thursday, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — the last of his legendary clan in Congress — announced that he will not run for re-election.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 22, 2010