Think About It

A brilliant column by Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe, in anticipation of today’s US Senate race.

Blue Hill Avenue runs like a vein through the city.

It stretches for 4 miles, from River Street in Mattapan to Dudley Street in Roxbury, and a little more than a year ago there was an Obama sign on every block. There were Obama signs in Mattapan barber shops, in the windows of the apartment buildings opposite Franklin Field and Franklin Park, in the restaurants of Grove Hall, in the bodegas near Jermaine Goffigan Park.

Fourteen months ago, there was a buzz on Blue Hill Ave. and the streets that run off it like caterpillar legs. This is the heart of the biggest minority community in the state, and the energy generated by the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president was palpable.

Yesterday, I drove the length of Blue Hill Ave. and counted exactly two Martha Coakley signs. One of them was on a fence next to the Roxbury Energy Gas station, on the corner of Moreland Street. The sign wasn’t properly fastened. It flapped in the wind, revealing a “Mike Flaherty for Mayor’’ sign underneath.

If Martha Coakley loses today, it won’t be because she didn’t put up enough signs on Blue Hill Ave. It’ll be because she failed to convince enough of the people who put up the Obama signs on Blue Hill Ave. and a lot of other avenues across Massachusetts that Obama’s ability to get anything done depends on her winning the election.

Blue Hill Avenue voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Blue Hill Avenue voted for Deval Patrick in 2006–”Together We Can” and “No Ordinary Leader” signs were in virtually every storefront in late-October and early-November of that year.

Think about that as you go into the voting booth today.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Tuesday for a special Election Night edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio beginning at 8:00pm EST. We will be joined by Stephanie Davis of RFC Radio and Paul Couturier of Blog Talk Radio. Plus, more from WBUR, the Globe and Herald.

“Get Hip To This Timely Tip…”

The good news: Gov. Patrick is well. The bad news: this state is sick!

Governor Deval Patrick is in “good condition, alert, and resting comfortably’’ after successful hip replacement surgery yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital, his surgeon said.

The procedure lasted about 2 1/2 hours and there were no complications, said Dr. Harry Rubash.

Patrick will have to remain in the hospital four to five days, then undergo a few weeks of outpatient rehabilitation, Rubash, the chief of orthopedic surgery at Mass. General, said in a statement.

Patrick’s left hip, painful and debilitating due mostly to arthritis, needed to be replaced. He first injured it in Sudan more than 30 years ago.

Patrick, 53, reported to the hospital at 6 a.m. yesterday and gave a thumbs-up to TV cameras as he went in, said spokeswoman Becky Deusser.

Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray has taken the reins of government in the interim. Patrick has said Murray would serve as acting governor for a day or two, Deusser said.

Tim Murray’s in charge? Holy @#$%!

UPDATE: Please join us Wednesday night for The Notes on BlogTalkRadio; our guest will be Stephanie Davis of PatriotGamesMedia.com and RFCRadio.com. Plus, more from the Herald and New York Times.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Boston Herald.

THIRD UPDATE: More from CQPolitics.com, WBUR, Holly Robichaud, New York Times and American Thinker.

Park The Carr II

Howie Carr, doing the Lord’s work.

Hey, Deval, if you thought your recent poll numbers have been abysmal – and they have been – wait until after this latest pool-closing fiasco.

You’ll be . . . drowning.

Do you know what the governor calls a Herald plane hovering over his sparkling pool and cabana on his $1.7 million estate in Richmond on the second-hottest day of the year?

“Every rich man’s nightmare.”

The name of Deval’s Berkshires retreat, by the way, is Sweet P Farm. Now we know what the P stands for – pool.

Talk about tone deaf – firing Dan Grabauskas, not firing Jim Aloisi, the billion-plus in new taxes in a moribund economy, the idiotic comments during Gates-gate, and now this. There’s a heat wave in August, and his Department of Conservation and Recreation, larded with the flotsam of John Walsh’s Plymouth County hackerama, is shocked, shocked.

Why, the lifeguards have to go back to school . . . Why, we’ve run out of chlorine. It’s hot in August. Who knew?

All of which proves, you can take the initials MDC out of the DCR, but you can’t take the MDC out of the DCR.

In the 2006 campaign, weren’t there stories that Deval could trace his European DNA back to Ireland? Now I’m thinking France, as in Marie Antoinette. From “Let them eat cake!” to “Let them open a fire hydrant!”

This is how bad it is for Deval. This latest public-relations fiasco has accomplished the near-impossible – it’s actually made Mumbles Menino look competent.

UPDATE: More from Michael Graham, the Boston Herald and Globe.

SECOND UPDATE: From Stephanie Davis, Max Schulz, Holly Robichaud and the Boston Herald.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Red Mass Group, AP, New York Times, Todd Feinburg and the Boston Herald.

Cashing Out

Stephanie Davis notes that Gov. Patrick is up to more mischief.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently signed the state’s FY2010 budget. The budget contained roughly $1 billion dollar in additional taxes, including a 25% increase in the sales tax rate. The increase (from 5% to 6.25%), was implemented in part to offset a previously planned increase in Massachusetts Turnpike tolls, and is slated to take effect on August 1.

Yet less than one full week into the new fiscal season, the governor is hinting that even more taxes may be in the offing. Massachusetts currently imposes a flat tax rate of 5.3% on individuals, but Patrick indicated a desire to see this change in favor of a graduated scheme.

Someone needs to save us from this madness. Christy Mihos. Charlie Baker. Tim Cahill. Someone. Anyone!

UPDATE: From Red Mass Group and Red State.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe, WBUR, Holly Robichaud, Howie Carr and the Boston Herald.

Hub Politics Covers Tonight’s Mass GOP Chairman Election

Tonight, Hub Politics will be on the scene at the Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Election.

Over the past couple months we’ve interviewed most of the candidates, but tonight we’ll find out who will be chosen lead the party…

To check out our interviews with each candidate, click on their name below:

• William Barabino (dropped out)
• Stephanie Davis (dropped out)
• Joe Manzoli
• Bob Parks
• Peter Torkildsen
• Ron Vining (dropped out)

Hub Politics wishes good luck to all the candidates!