Oh Happy Day
TAGS: Charlie Baker, Christy Mihos, Deval Patrick, Education, Michael Graham, Richard Tisei.
Charlie Baker surges financially.
In one of the most aggressive political fund-raising pushes in recent memory, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Charles D. Baker has amassed a $1.85 million war chest over roughly five months of campaigning, tapping into a broad range of supporters and establishing himself as a major threat to Governor Deval Patrick’s reelection bid.
Baker doubled, in less than half the time, what Patrick raised for the entirety of 2009, despite a fund-raising visit by President Obama this past fall for the Democratic governor. Baker’s coffers currently hold more than 10 times the amount in Patrick’s campaign account.
The Republican has also raised 3 1/2 times the amount that state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, an independent rival in the governor’s race, collected last year. Baker’s rival for the Republican nomination, Christy Mihos, lags far behind, relying mostly on personal wealth.
Baker’s fund-raising haul, which has broken records for a nonincumbent candidate who is not yet a party nominee, provides another jolt for Democrats already discouraged over Patrick’s underwhelming poll numbers and comparatively slow pace of fund-raising.
“This is the political fund-raising version of shock and awe,’’ said Warren Tolman, a Democrat and former state senator who ran for governor in 2002. “Baker has cast a pretty wide net.’’
Campaign finance records show that Baker has collected $2.3 million since late summer, when he assembled a team of Republican fund-raisers and set up events almost nightly from Labor Day into late December. In addition, his running mate, Richard Tisei, the Senate minority leader, who joined the ticket in late November, raised $313,000.
Last month, typically the toughest of the year to collect political donations, Baker reported raising a whopping $726,000, ending the year with a donor base of 7,449 people. Raising money every year is key for candidates in Massachusetts, because the annual contribution limit for individuals is $500.
The fund-raising success has allowed the campaign to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars already to position itself for this election year.
Baker’s feat exceeds the expectations his aides had when the former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care decided to jump into the 2010 governor’s race.
UPDATE: Tune in Wednesday night at 8:00pm EST for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio. Our guests will be Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz, authors of From Poverty to Prosperity. Plus, more from WBZ and the Herald.
SECOND UPDATE: More from Michael Graham, Gov. Patrick, the Globe and Herald.
THIRD UPDATE: From Michael Graham, the Herald and Globe.
The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is…Fear Itself!
TAGS: Christy Mihos, homeless, Matt Margolis, WTKK.
(More) bizarre behavior from the governor.
Firing an early salvo in the 2010 gubernatorial race, Governor Deval L. Patrick predicted yesterday that his opponents in next year’s election would use “fear mongering’’ and seek to prey on voters’ apprehension about their economic security.
Speaking with reporters at a year-end press briefing, Patrick said that with state and national economic conditions the way they are, his challengers will try to exploit the public’s concerns in trying to persuade voters not to reelect him.
“Fear is going to be used as a tool in this campaign,’’ Patrick said. “You watch it. I will.’’
Patrick and his supporters made a similar assertion during his 2006 campaign, but back then it meant something different. In that campaign, many in Patrick’s camp were incensed at how his Republican opponent, Kerry Healey, sought to raise doubts about what a Patrick administration would bring, particularly on crime.
Yesterday, Patrick declined to be more specific about what he meant. He did not name his rivals – Republicans Charles D. Baker and Christy Mihos and Independent Timothy P. Cahill – nor did he cite comments they had made to prompt his political forecast.
“Make a marker and then watch it as we go along. I promise you,’’ he told media gathered in his State House office. “People are afraid right now, the people I meet who are out of work, the people I meet who are in homeless shelters, the people I meet who are at soup kitchens. . . . They are afraid about the future; they’re worried about that.
“And there are going to be people, because fear is a classic political tool, who will be saying, ‘My goodness gracious, if we stay on this course, you have even more to be fearful of.’ ’’
When challenged to elaborate, Patrick did not point fingers, but said his opponents’ political views would be the basis for their rhetoric.
“These are good people,’’ Patrick said. “I don’t mean to personalize this to any of the challengers. They have very different views and visions of government and of the future. And I think part of what they are about is that sort of, ‘You’re on your own – every man and woman for him or herself.’ ’’
How will he respond?
“I’m going to keep my cool,’’ he said, adding that he wanted to be able to look himself in the mirror after the campaign. “Win or lose, I intend to have my integrity and values intact.’’
UPDATE: More from Matt Margolis and the Herald.
SECOND UPDATE: More from Bowdoin College and the Herald.
THIRD UPDATE: More from Red Mass Group.
Rumble in the Jungle
TAGS: Christy Mihos, Deval Patrick.
Who will be the #1 contender to Deval Patrick’s title?
Initially, the thought of having to face Christy Mihos in next year’s Republican gubernatorial primary produced some teeth-gnashing in Charles D. Baker’s camp.
But the thinking among Baker advisers has shifted: They now believe that having Mihos in the race could be a good thing, in part because a primary fight would give Baker a good tuneup for the general election next fall.
They say they have no plans to try to keep Mihos off the primary ballot.
Whether that’s a smart move remains to be seen.
Though Baker is the favored candidate of the Republican establishment, Mihos has millions of dollars at his disposal to spend on a campaign. When he ran as an independent in 2006, he used $4 million of his own funds, though he captured 6 percent of the vote.
Mihos also has a certain populist, antigovernment appeal that could play well against the Ivy League-educated Baker among some GOP primary voters.
UPDATE: More from the Globe and Frum Forum.
SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald and WCVB.
Going Rogue
TAGS: 9/11, Charlie Baker, Christy Mihos, Deval Patrick, Economy, property taxes, Taxes.
There are two candidates for the Governor’s office on the right – Christy Mihos and Charlie Baker. Both are good men, but something less than perfect. We will not find a perfect candidate no matter how hard we try. That being said lets not forget that ‘perfect is the enemy of good’. Let’s not trash either of the GOP candidates or their LG choices.
Starting here and starting now let’s remember that the REAL enemy here is the Democrat party that has lied, cheated and stolen away our economy and our liberties. Deval Patrick lied when he said he would lower our property taxes. Deval Patrick lied when he said he would create 100,000 jobs. Deval Patrick lied when he said he would make it easier for small businesses in Massachusetts. The Democrats cheated when they forced Sen Kirk on us prematurely by falsely claiming a state emergency. The Democrats cheated us out of our money when they promised to lower our income taxes so many years ago. The Democrats stole our money when they offered up big pensions to criminal state hacks like Billy Bulger.
The Republicans are not the problem. Not Senator Tisei, Charlie Baker or Christy Mihos. The Republicans do want to be part of the solution. And whoever wins the primary should be promised the unwavering support of the other candidate and his staff. Remember, once the primary is done you can’t take back the bad things that are said of the opponent.
UPDATE: More from the Globe, Herald and AP.
SECOND UPDATE: From State House News Service and the Globe.
Who Isn’t An Insider?
TAGS: Charlie Baker, Christy Mihos, Legislation, Richard Tisei, Timothy Murray.
State Senator Richard Tisei is being labeled an “insider” by critics of his selection to be Charlie Baker’s running mate.
Gubernatorial rivals yesterday pounced on Republican candidate Charles Baker’s choice of Sen. Richard Tisei as his running mate, painting the GOP minority leader as an entrenched insider who has strayed from the party’s anti-tax gospel.
Republican Christy Mihos said Baker’s pick means more of the same for tax-weary Bay State voters. “You can’t paint yourself as an outsider if you’ve worked on Beacon Hill for more than two decades,” Mihos told the Herald.
You know who wasn’t an “insider,” and was supposed to be the savior of the Commonwealth back when he was elected Governor in 2006? Sorry folks, but being an alleged “outsider” isn’t a guarantee of success either.
So what does Lt. Governor Tim Murray, an insider, have to say about it?
Said Democrat Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray: “Sen. Tisei is a 25-year State House insider who typifies the Republican establishment elite that created record levels of debt and deferred maintenance. I was a quarterback on my high school football team when Sen. Tisei started serving in the Legislature.”
Excuse me, Lt. Governor, but who is responsible for the record levels of debt and deferred maintenance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? It isn’t the Republicans…
So if being an “insider” is such a terrible thing, where is legislation for term limits? The State House is running rampant with insiders…
No way am I going to buy the argument that being an “insider” is more of a bad thing than being an outsider. The fact is, the minute you start serving elected office, you are an insider.
Being an outsider is a wonderful campaign slogan, and being an insider is a great label to throw around, but it doesn’t mean a thing. The people of the Commonwealth are repeatedly reelecting insiders that are doing a lousy job…and electing outsiders who are doing lousy jobs.
Insider? Outsider? Who cares? Everyone is an insider.
