Democrat Grace Ross for Governor?

Grace Ross (who left the Green-Rainbow Party shortly after her run for Governor three years ago) posted to the BlueMassGroup blog yesterday that she is considering joining the Democratic Party and challenging Deval Patrick for Governor in the primaries in September - or possibly running as an independent.

http://www.bluemassgroup.com/diary/18626/exploring-grace-ross-for-governor

At this point obviously she would need to line up prominent political, labor and movement leaders in the state to endorse her campaign, and would need people to put up some starter money, quickly. There are rumors that the state and national PDA are encouraging her to run.

There is a core group of activists pushing Grace to run. Part of their impetus is coming from their sense that the grass-roots activists simply won't turn out to work for Patrick this time, and that November will be a disaster, a re-run of Coakley/Brown but maybe worse. Many legislators, shocked by Coakley's loss, are worried about keeping their seats with Patrick at the head of the ticket. And, there seems to be no one else ready at this point to step forward to challenge him in the primaries.

My own sense from going door to door in three campaigns since June is that Patrick is in big trouble with the voters. I didn't initiate conversations about him, but his name kept coming up. Also, my strong sense is that many of the Party insiders don't understand this. (Which illustrates one of the many reasons why EVERY member of our Party from Governor or Senator on down needs to be going door-to-door, every election, talking to their own neighbors - the people who won't be intimidated because they saw them on TV!)

My sense also is that Grace Ross would be a serious candidate and would make a great governor.

Last appeal on Coakley and Brown

Voting for Scott Brown as a protest is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Yes, the health care bill stinks, but we're going to get a health care bill one way or the other, and the only question is how much worse will it be tilted in favor of the insurance companies. Scott Brown almost always votes the way his corporate sponsors want him to. With Martha Coakley we will at least have someone with a history of standing against the big corporations on the side of the people, who has spoken for a 'Medicare for all' solution.

If you're angry about how the good jobs are gone, angry about how you played the game of life by the rules and did everything right and you were supposed to be rewarded for it with a 'middle class' life, but now you're trapped in a lousy job (or can't even find one of those), and you want to show the world how you feel about that, voting for Scott Brown is the wrong way to do it. They'll get the wrong message!

'I drive a truck' my patootie! Brown also puts his pants on one leg at a time and maybe he even roots for the Red Sox (at least when he's in Boston). Does that make him a regular guy? He's no more 'one of us' than Bush Junior was. 'Dubya' with his Yale education, son of a President, grandson of the founder of the CIA for Criminy's sakes, and his 'good old Texas country boy' act!

Fool me once ...

I don't know what country club Scott belongs to, but I'll bet you they wouldn't even let one of us walk in the door, much less let us join - even if we had the $20,000 initiation fee!

If you have to send a protest, and just can't bring yourself to vote for another corporate Democrat, cast a blank ballot. That will be noticed. But for Goshen's sake don't cast your vote for a George Bush clone who's guaranteed to turn a deaf ear to the people when we need someone to speak for us.

Final Brown/Coakley Debate

There have been many comments on whether Brown is a coward, because of all the many times he said "I am afraid ..." That debate misses the point.

The point is that *we*, the people, are afraid, and with good reason. Our economy is collapsing around us, the government services we depend on are collapsing and the Federal Government is pursuing a policy of wars and more wars. Interest rates and hospital rates are out of control, foreclosures and layoffs continue, hunger and homelessness are growing, and small businesses are being driven to the wall by collapsing demand and credit. Brown is just tapping into our fear, resonating with it, feeding off of it - and spreading it.

Brown and the Republicans thrive on the politics of fear, but I doubt very much if *he* is afraid. He's got it made. Win or lose, he's rich, powerful and well-connected. But I would expect he has well-paid consultants coaching him on how to say "I am afraid" convincingly.

Maybe Brown could get some tips from Glen Beck on how to cry on cue, but he won't need a coach to tell him how to laugh all the way to the inauguration if he wins - and the joke will be on us!

Why the "Democratic Monopoly" in Massachusetts?

Every election cycle we hear appeals to vote Republican in order to break the Democratic stranglehold on state politics. This is a plausible argument until you look at the details.

Today's Republican Party is far to the right of the Grand Old Party of yesteryear - and far, far to the right of the public on the real issues. Ballot access and press coverage is very poor for third-party candidates. This, combined with the awful state of Republican politics, has the effect of herding everyone else into the Democratic fold. People of widely differing views, representing widely divergent interests, must time and again come together in the general election to prevent well-funded Republicans from winning.

Thus most of the real politics in America - politics that is not about empty slogans, concocted "cultural issues" or campaigns to scapegoat one group or another - has to play out within the Democratic Party. It is a sign of the political health of the Massachusetts voters that - given the system we have - the real political contests here are played out in the Democratic Primaries.

Labor and neighborhood activists, small business leaders, non-profit leaders, activists from professional associations, professional bureaucrats and administrators, entrepreneurs and socially-conscious "old money" and financiers struggle over the Democratic nomination. Then everyone who isn't politically insane rallies around the winner in the general election. Of necessity we all maintain an attitude of civility toward each other, insisting that "we're all Democrats", since we need to all co-exist within the only framework available for sane people who want a shot at political power.

The recent primary contest for the Senate seat showcased this scenario, with very distinct constituencies coalescing around Coakley, Khazei and Capuano. Passions and rhetoric ran high; but if Brown showed signs of having a real chance we would all sober up and rally around Coakley.