2005-04-14
East Ethnia makes a political endorsement!
There seems to be a bit of debate as to whether an endorsement of a political candidate by a blog constitutes an in-kind donation (of publicity?) or something of the like. But whatever. Deval Patrick has announced that he intends to be a candidate to unseat the appalling Mitt Romney as governor of Massachusetts, and I intend to support him enthusiastically. If that is a contribution from me, it came mighty cheap.
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5 comments:
I stopped by in my search for Deval Patrick, and I have to say that I'm very impressed with what I have read about him, and have made comments on my blog. We'll see if either of our blogs get listed in FEC filings.
Aldon's blog, for anyone who wants to have a look, is at:
http://www.orient-lodge.com/
Inquiring mind(s) want(s) to know:
a)Why Mr. Patrick? I, personally, prefer if endorsements were a bit more substantiated than this. So, why should a voter prefer Mr. Patrick (who is a definite longshot) over Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is beating Romney in a match-up by 48% to 41%?
Source: http://tinyurl.com/597hp
2. Umm... It doesn't say Western Balkans or Balkans-on-the-right-side-of-the-Danube under the blog's name, so why no mention of Bulgaria and Romania's entry into the EU?
Anonymous, don't be afraid! On Romania and Bulgaria, you're right, I should cover it more. Have a peek at the collective blog "Halfway down the Danube" for interesting essays on Romania. And if you know a good Bulgarian site, please recommend it!
Why Deval Patrick? On the positive side, because I think he articulates a vision of inclusiveness that is tremendously appealing, and resonates with the multicultural community that i like. He also has long experience (though it is true, outside of electoral politics) doing constructive things to help people, mostly by reaching agreements. That kind of approach is promising. I haven't got anything against Mr Reilly, and if he wins the nomination I would probably vote for him. But let's keep in mind that the "establishment Democrat" has won every nomination and lost every election for governor since 1990, so that formula might fail to work again.
To expand just a little: Massachusetts is one of the most Democratic states in the country, and yet since Dukakis it has elected Republicans (even the wholly unimpressive Mr Celucci) in every election since Mr Dukakis left office. That means that large numbers of Democrats are crossing over to vote for a party they never vote for in national races. There can only be one reason for this, and that is that the Democrats who have organised the best-funded campaigns are failing to speak to the interests of the voters. You can see this the state Assembly--they do not behave like a political party but like an entrenched and narrow monopoly. In the end, this monopoly does not attract the support even of the people who vote for Democrats out of habit. Somebody has to articulate not just the program, but also the spirit, of this famous "Massachusetts liberalism." In the last election I voted for Jill Stein, not because i thought there was a chance she could win (a Green might win in Brookline where I live, but not in Worcester where I work) but because I thought that Ms O'Brien did nothing to present an alternative. But I am perfectly aware that the half-life of a protest vote is one day. The way to stop losing is by winning, and it seems to me that Mr Patrick offers a combination of of reason and vision that really can win.
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