Radiohead

Oh, here we go again.

Just when it appeared that the controversy surrounding Boston talk radio star Jay Severin would finally die down, along comes Bay Stater James Kirchick, assistant editor at the New Republic, to revive it. Kirchick writes, “…Jay Severin makes Mark Levin look like Diane Rehm. So it was with great displeasure that I heard about his return to the airwaves last week after a month long indefinite suspension.”

After recounting some of Severin’s more incendiary comments and past controversies, Kirchick notes that Severin’s apology was “…the sort of insincere expression of regret that politicians and celebrity abusers of the law and/or basic standards of propriety seem to offer on a weekly basis in response to popular outrage over their misbehavior. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who has a monthly radio show on WTKK, weighed in on the controversy, saying that while he ‘read and appreciated [Severin’s] apology,’ ‘we have got to figure out a way on this station and in our broader civic life to engage even on difficult issues without demeaning people who differ from us in background or point of view.’ Those are wise words from the Governor. A first step would be to start ignoring Severin and other blowhards, whatever their political leanings.”

If Severin has in fact cleaned up his act, why should his words be ignored in the future? Yes, his remarks were over-the-top, irresponsible, hurtful. But should he be shunned forever?

Kirchick should give the new and improved Severin a try. He just might like what he hears.

You Can’t Get What You Want (‘Til You Know What You Want)

Let me state for the record: I forgive Christy Mihos!

Eric Fehrnstrom obviously doesn’t. Fehrnstrom, the senior communications adviser for Mitt Romney’s 2008 Presidential campaign, insists that Bay State Republicans won’t soon forget Mihos’ rhetorical burial of 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey.

“What is surprising is that Mihos is back and running for governor in 2010, this time as a Republican,” Fehrnstrom writes. “If he learned anything from his off-beat [2006] campaign, it’s that independent candidates rarely win. Without the organizational strength and fund-raising network of a major party, a statewide candidate faces very long odds.

“In 2006 Mihos finished a distant third. He wasn’t even the spoiler he wanted to be,” Fehrnstrom continues. “His 7 percent of the vote, added to Healey’s total, wouldn’t have made a difference in the contest against Deval Patrick, who won with 56 percent of the vote to Healey’s 35 percent.

“So how does Mihos convince Republicans to overlook his disloyalty and make him their standard-bearer? After all, Mihos used to seethe resentment about a Republican Party that he felt was unworthy. ‘There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans,’ he told voters. And he’d complain that ‘people are checking out because what the Republicans are selling people aren’t buying.’ Even more problematic are Mihos’ positions, which are poles apart from those of most Republicans.”

Fehrnstrom asserts that Mihos’ past will surely come back to haunt him. “Mihos committed enough gaffes to turn his last campaign into a running joke. He started the race with a groan-inducing joke about his wife. ‘My wife says I’m awful fast, so I’ll try to stick to that,’ he told biotech executives. He ran a vulgar TV ad depicting animated characters with their heads up their rear ends.

“Because Mihos was a long shot, the media overlooked his many missteps even as they gladly lapped up his criticisms of the GOP. The good news is that Massachusetts Republicans have strong potential candidates in the wings…But so far, Mihos is the only declared Republican candidate, a demoralizing prospect. Last year, in a TV interview, Mihos wondered if it makes sense to run for the GOP nomination, given that he spent the last election riding shotgun for Patrick. ‘I don’t know if the Republicans are going to embrace me,’ he said. It’s a point worth pondering, since he refused to embrace them.”

Fehrnstrom is correct to note that Charlie Baker, Michael Sullivan and Scott Brown would make great gubernatorial candidates. However, if these men opt not to enter the race–or, if they do, and Mihos manages to conquer them in the 2010 GOP primary–then what sense does it make to continue to hold a grudge against Mihos?

Yes, Mihos was obviously had issues with the state Republican Party in the mid-2000s. Yes, he was more aggressive against Healey in the 2006 gubernatorial debates than he was against Patrick. It’s all true. It’s also all in the past.

Mihos is not perfect. No one is. However, if he can oust Patrick from power and return some semblance of fiscal responsibility to the Commonwealth, then it’s not really constructive to bash him for past errors, is it?

By the way, that Mihos commercial wasn’t “vulgar.” It was quite funny.

“…we’re in a fiscal crisis and they’re lucky to be employed.”

According to a Boston Globe story reported by Andrea Estes, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wants a “do-over”. Specifically:

Governor Deval Patrick in recent weeks approved state union contracts that grant 7 percent raises to tens of thousands of employees over the next three years, but, with the ink barely dry, the deteriorating economic forecast has already forced him to seek concessions.

Those of you living and working in the private sector probably wonder how the state could afford these raises to begin with. Good question. A&F secretary Leslie Kirwan says that it is “unprecedented” for state workers to go without raises in a given year. Again, the private sector denizens wonder why since they frequently do without raises in a given year.

“We would be adamantly opposed to giving up any of the contract increases,” said David Holway, president of the National Association of Government Employees, which represents 10,000 state workers. “They’re slim enough.”

Huh??? Aren’t we all in this together Mr. Holway; are you paying attention to the world around you? Apparently not; or perhaps the only world he cares about involves sucking on the public teat.

The story isn’t entirely bad; out of pocket health contributions for state employees are going to increase, as they should. After all, the benefit accrues to the individual employee, doesn’t it?

Administration officials also pointed out that health costs are likely to increase for almost all state employees starting next year. Patrick proposed increasing their 15 percent contributions to 20 percent or 25 percent, depending on their salaries.

Let it never be forgotten however, that the Public Employee Union tail wags the public policy/tax payer dog.

Let It Go

Could Christy Mihos save Massachusetts from Deval Patrick?

The former Mass. Turnpike Authority official has announced that he will run for Governor in 2010–as a Republican. Mihos says he will bring fiscal responsibility to the Commonwealth, an achievement that the current hack in the Corner Office has not been able to pull off.

Mihos, of course, ran as an Independent in the 2006 gubernatorial election: since then, he has drawn fire for supposedly siphoning votes from Republican challenger Kerry Healey, allowing Patrick, a Democrat, to win. (Even during the race, he caught heat for allegedly weakening Healey’s chances; virtually every time Mihos appeared on WRKO-AM star Howie Carr’s radio show in ‘06, callers lambasted him for supposedly attempting to engineer a Patrick victory to punish the Bay State GOP for various perceived sins.)

Of course, it can be argued that Healey would have lost anyway, and that Mihos was not really the Ross Perot figure his staunchest critics make him out to be. In any event, does it make sense to continue holding a grudge against Mihos for his supposed role in helping Patrick become governor? If anyone deserves a second chance, it’s Mihos, who worked tirelessly on behalf of the taxpayers during his Turnpike Authority days.

Considering the recent controversy over Mass. Republican Party chair Jennifer Nassour’s declaration of neutrality on so-called “culture war” issues, one wonders if Mihos’ social libertarianism will become an issue. In 2006, Mihos made it clear that he was pro-choice on abortion and a supporter of same-sex marriage. Will the same folks who attacked Nassour give Mihos grief over his social stances (assuming, of course, that he has not modified his views between ‘06 and ‘09)? Let’s hope not. Fiscal responsibility is an issue that can transcend political boundaries; it will be wise for Mihos to place this issue at the forefront of his campaign.

We haven’t heard much in the past few weeks as to whether Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO Charles Baker actually plans to get in the game and run for governor as a Republican. If he does, Baker vs. Mihos will be a very interesting primary fight. One thing’s for sure: if Mihos beats Baker and challenges Patrick in the general, he’ll come up with some unforgettable ads–and the state will witness an unforgettable campaign.

Old School

Finally, Mitt Romney has been vindicated!

According to a new Rasmussen poll, “Forty-nine percent (49%) say [Massachusetts Governor Deval] Patrick’s Republican predecessor, Mitt Romney, did a better job as governor, while 32% say Patrick is the better of the two. Sixty percent (16%) say neither man did a good job.”

The poll also reveals the extent to which Gov. Patrick has turned off Bay Staters. “Just 33% of Massachusetts voters say they are at least somewhat likely to vote for the Democratic incumbent if he seeks reelection in 2010. Nineteen percent (19%) say they’re not very likely to do so, and 38% say they aren’t likely at all to vote for Patrick…One possible explanation of Patrick’s unpopularity is the new finding that 70% of the state’s voters are afraid Massachusetts is once again becoming ‘Tax-achusetts.’ Just 24% disagree. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Republicans, 59% of Democrats and 74% of voters not affiliated with either party share this concern.”

It’s amazing that within three years, many Bay Staters have gone from being consumed with anti-Romney sentiment to missing the man. Romney wasn’t a flawless governor, but he was far from the comedy act Patrick has turned into.

As WBZ political analyst Jon Keller notes, “…perhaps voters are remembering that Romney, warts and all, at least tried to make some serious cuts in the budget and the kleptocracy. And even the biggest Romney haters must surely acknowledge that the man at least knew how to construct and deliver a message via media with actual audiences, all due respect to our rich local tapestry of blogs, podcasts, and assorted twitts. Patrick doesn’t like to get his hands dirty that way, leaving his governorship to be defined by folks with somewhat less esteem for it than he holds.”

Will this anti-Patrick backlash continue into 2010? Or will unforeseen circumstances actually rescue his reputation? We’ll find out soon enough.

Dump Deval – One More Reason

As we have said before, Grace Ross would make a more appealing governor than the current occupant. Deval Patrick has been and is an abject failure as a governor. With the notable exception of auto insurance competition, Patrick’s tenure has been devoid of substantive policy initiatives. He has abrogated and/or ignored many of the themes and principles on which his candidacy was established. Essentially, he has become the thing he once claimed to abhor: A Beacon Hill insider. From the ridiculous (the Cadillac, the drapes, the furniture) to the seedy (Aloisi, the book deal, the “trivial” remark, the trip to Jamaica, Marian Walsh), the Governor is one of the most maladroit, tone deaf and insolent individuals ever to inhabit the political realm. And in Massachusetts, that’s saying a LOT. Now we have l’affair Marian Walsh, and a new set of adjectives to ascribe to the Patrick administration: prevaricators, fabricators, dissemblers. We can only hope that the administrations travails and subsequent collapse in public support comes not too soon for there is one more adjective to be added: “EX Governor Deval Patrick”. The sooner the better.

A Bit of Trivia

Dan Kennedy of Media Nation has an interesting roundup of pundit criticism of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. It would appear that the wheels are finally falling off Patrick’s Cadillac–but why?

Those who remember Patrick’s performance in his last public-sector gig–his star-crossed turn as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton Justice Department–aren’t surprised that Patrick has failed to deliver as Governor. However, even when he was stumbling in 2007 and 2008, he still seemed to be mentally into the job.

One has to wonder if Patrick is now suffering from the same burnout/boredom that affected his Republican predecessors. Boston Herald business writer Jay Fitzgerald once theorized that Patrick’s woes stemmed from his apparent inability to appease both factions of what he described as the “Hack/Progressive Alliance.” Maybe Patrick has decided that appeasing the “Hack/Progressive Alliance” isn’t worth the effort, and has decided to throw in the towel.

While those of us who voted for Kerry Healey or Christy Mihos anticipated that Governor Patrick would fail, it’s still somewhat stunning to see the man collapse as he has. I, for one, expected that he would feel an internal desire to succeed as Governor.

Will Patrick announce one day that he will not run for a second term?  It’s hard to imagine him seriously thinking that he could win again. The coalition that led to his 2006 victory doesn’t exist today. Patrick’s win was largely fueled by anti-Bush, anti-Romney, anti-GOP sentiment (though I agree with those who have argued that a progressive desire to combat a perceived racial imbalance in Massachusetts politics played a key role in Patrick’s win, “white guilt” alone didn’t get Patrick elected.) Bush and Romney won’t be factors in 2010; if Patrick decides to run for another term, the election will be a (negative) referendum on his performance.

Patrick was the perfect candidate for the perfect time: an articulate figure connected to an administration many Bay Staters were fond of, a staunch defender of same-sex marriage in an era where Democrat politicians like John Kerry were reluctant to come out in favor of the concept, a man with a compelling and inspiring personal history.

In a way, it’s kind of sad that the Patrick Administration turned out to be a disaster. If Patrick had proven his critics wrong, he would have been the most effective governor we’ve had in some time. However, Patrick’s legacy will likely be that of a man who vowed to change the system, and just ended up becoming part of it.

UPDATE: More from Jon Keller.