John Kerry To Debate Primary Challenger, Ed O’Reilly

Jeremy Jacobs at PolitickerMA reports:

U.S. Sen. John Kerry agreed Friday to debate primary challenger Ed O’Reilly, according the Kerry campaign.

There will be one debate, set to take place on WBZ-TV and it will be hosted the station’s political analyst, Jon Keller Further details are still be finalized.

O’Reilly has made his debate proposal a major part of his campaign, repeatedly charging that Kerry was ducking his debate challenge. The final agreement falls well short of O’Reilly’s original proposal, which called on the candidates to meet in each of the state’s 14 counties, each University of Massachusetts campus and on four television networks.

How To Save The Massachusetts Republican Party

The Corner Office is gone, and we lost one seat in the Senate, and two seats in the House.

While part of the blame can be put on the shoulders of the voters, I have not forgotten the role of the Massachusetts Republican Party in this year’s defeat, in the Corner Office and in the legislature (which saw three more seats lost by Republicans).

The Massachusetts GOP did not make a gallant effort at putting candidates on the ballot this time around, and worse than that, they offered zero support for the local level candidates. Where did all the money go this election year? The money went to Kerry Healey, a candidate who compared to the candidates for the House and Senate has more money than God. Kerry Healey didn’t need money from the Party, she didn’t need her hometown Republican City Committee to empty their bank account to pay for the rent of a satellite office in Beverly, when that money could have gone to the candidates being fiscally snubbed by the Massachusetts GOP. Too many candidates who truly represent the average person couldn’t fight real campaigns because they didn’t get the financial support of the Massachusetts GOP, all because money that could have gone to them went to someone who makes so much money that she felt uncomfortable revealing the specific number publicly. Way to let go of a stereotype.

There needs to be changes in the Massachusetts Republican Party that need to be done immediately–things I’ve been waiting to say for quite some time now, that seems pretty prudent to begin to enumerate now. For starters, close the books on Kerry Healey. She is done. She gave it a shot, but in the end, she is not the right face for the Massachusetts GOP, and frankly, never was. Let’s stop pretending she is this “rising star” that she most definitely is not.

If plans aren’t already in place to do so, the Massachusetts GOP Chairman Darrel Crate needs to be replaced–immediately–putting an end to what Jim Rappaport called an “incestuous relationship” in the Massachusetts GOP. Granted, without Kerry Healey as the de facto leader of the party, that relationship no longer exists, but as a matter of principle, Republicans do not reward failures. Darrel Crate has failed us. The remaining leadership needs to call up Jim Rappaport, and beg his forgiveness and put him back in the Chairman’s seat (if he will take it, that is). The Republican Party of Massachusetts can no longer be an “old boy network.” It’s time to put real leaders in leadership positions, not the CFO of the Lt. Governor’s husband’s company.

One more thing I would suggest the Massachusetts GOP do, is start propping up Reed Hillman to run for governor in 2010. I did say that is not very Republican to prop up our losers, but Reed Hillman did not lose this election, if anything, he kept the loss from being even worse. Hillman has the personality and charisma to be a leader in the Republican Party in Massachusetts, and we can’t risk having one of our remaining State Senators or Representatives giving up their seat to run for the Corner Office. Hillman has four years to build on what he’s already started, and it’s time to look towards the future of the Massachusetts GOP. Jim Rappaport has been out of the limelight too long to bare this responsibility, he will do nicely back at the helm of the Massachusetts GOP if he is up to the task.

Between now and 2008, the Massachusetts GOP needs learn a few things from the Democrats. Of course, they must develop their grassroots campaign and work on educating the voters. Democrats, with the help of the media, were very successful at pinning the blame on all the state’s problems 29 people on Beacon Hill (actually, they really did an excellent job on blaming in on four people: Weld, Cellucci and Romney, and Healey by association–five if you include Jane Swift).

This state is full of people who stand with Republicans on the issues, but have a horrible habit of voting for Democrats anyway, and this election was proof of that. The party needs to begin selecting a fine crop of candidates to put on the ballot, and run strenuous campaigns. It’s going to be tough in 2008, being a presidential election year, but if it’s not a year we’re electing a President, we’re electing a governor. No more excuses, it’s never a good year. John Kerry won’t be a factor in 2008, so get cracking. Start raising money now so the local level candidates don’t get burned like they did this time around. There is no excuse for it.

Wake up Massachusetts GOP, and get to work.

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry Healey

As disappointing as Deval Patrick’s victory is for many of us, there is a silver lining.

Four years from now, when Deval Patrick runs for reelection, he won’t be able to blame anyone but himself for the problems in our state which we all know will happen. He’ll be hard pressed to find a viable scapegoat in the few Republicans left in the legislature.

And all we’ll have to say is “don’t blame me, I voted for Kerry Healey.”

Massachusetts Made Its Bed, Now It Has To Lie In It

The voters of Massachusetts have spoken.

They voted for one party rule. They voted for higher taxes. They voted for driver’s licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. They voted for closed door meetings, back-room deals, and no accountability for those in charge. They voted for a rubber stamp. They voted for gimmicks and slogans rather than on the issues.

I’m sad for our Commonwealth. Do Democrats really think that one-party rule is going to invite businesses into Massachusetts? Do Democrats really think that one-party rule is going wear out the welcome mat into this state?

Higher taxes are coming. Even more illegal immigrants are coming. There’s no denying it. Massachusetts voted for them. Massachusetts voted for liberal empty suit with a good speechwriter but no good ideas. Make no mistake about it, we are in big trouble.

Massachusetts has made its bed, and now it has to lie in it for the next four years.

The reality of the situation is this, Deval may be the governor for the next four years, but he’s going to be sharing the Corner Office with the unions and all the Democrats in the legislature who have spat in the face of the voters for so many years.

Welcome back, Dukakis.

How Can 1,230,065 People Be So Dumb?

To borrow a little bit of a headline from the UK’s Daily Mirror from a few years ago: How Can 1,230,065 People Be So Dumb?

I remained hopeful, yet realistic, in the waning hours of the election. Hopeful that Massachusetts residents would realize the gravity of the decision they were making today, and do what was best for the Commonwealth. I was wrong.

We are now faced with four years of Deval Patrick. Four years of one-party rule. Four years of hubris. Four years of sound bites. Four years of slogans. Four years of Deval Patrick. While there may not be a Republican in the Corner Office, today was not about electing change. There is no change. Today in Massachusetts, democracy killed democracy. The voters of Massachusetts rejected two-party government; they rejected debate in the arena of ideas; they rejected the positive, and believed the negative.

Tonight I joked with my fellow Republicans that we should all just get up and leave this state and “just let the Democrats have it.” More often than I expected, many were already in the process of move to nearest (or warmest) red state they could find; for others, tonight was the last straw. The students from Tufts University I ran into tonight, most of them shared my sorrows, but relished in the fact that they are not residents of this state–lucky them. I am not as lucky as those students only a handful of years younger than me. I still have a few years left in my graduate studies before I can join the Massachusetts Diaspora (or Exodus if you prefer), and gleefully turn back and laugh at all the suckers.

I still have a few years left in this state, during which I promise to continue to fight the good fight. Many asked Rush Limbaugh what he would once Clinton left office, for they thought he would have nothing to talk about if he couldn’t complain about Clinton. Well my friends, our work has only just begun.

You had all the reasons in the world not to vote for Deval Patrick, yet you still did. You thought you were voting for change? You let him tell you that things were so terrible here, and you believed him?

You let Deval Patrick tell you to your face that he is against all the things you believe in (like the immediate tax rollback), and is for all the things don’t believe in (like in-state tuition and drivers licenses for illegal immigrants), and you still voted for him. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

We’ve heard it many times the past few weeks, but I’ll repeat it again now. In a Democracy, you get the government you deserve. Well, my fellow citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (and all you illegal immigrants, too), for the next four years, we will get what we deserve.

I’ll ask again: How Can 1,230,065 People Be So Dumb?