Yesterday's results in the GOP primary resulted in a first as well: Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey is the first woman that the state's Republicans have nominated for governor. (She ran unopposed, perhaps a reflection on the perceived strengths of Mitt Romney, a GOP presidential hopeful.) If Healey wins she will become the state's first elected woman governor. Either way, history is unfolding in Massachusetts, and while it is unlikely to provide any sort of national bellwether, that state that is so passionate about politics should provide another fascinating political campaign.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
A New Patrick's Day in Massachusetts
If you just read the headline you might think it was just another case of Irish-American dominance in Massachusetts politics. "Patrick Roars to Nomination," announces the Boston Globe, referring to the Democratic gubernatorial primary in the Bay State that wrapped up yesterday. But Deval Patrick is not your standard Boston Irish-Catholic pol. For one thing he is not Irish-Catholic. He is African American. And by winning the Democratic primary and garnering more than 50% of the vote against two better-known white candidates, Patrick may just represent the ushering in of a new age in Massachusetts politics. Patrick is the first black nominee of either major party in the state's history (Edit for clarity: he is the first black gubernatorial nominee). Massachusetts is a bastion of liberalism and a cradle of America's rights tradition. But it also has an unseemly history of vicious racism, embodied most chillingly in the anti-busing protests that hit areas such as Charlestown and South Boston in the 1970s.
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4 comments:
Derek, You'll need to modify the "Patrick is the first black nominee of either party in the state's history" thing. Republican Edward Brook served both as Massachusetts' attorney general and in the United States Senate -- the first African American to serve in the U. S. Senate since Reconstruction.
Living in NH, I get all the Boston network TV stations and I have to say, I was shocked that Patrick won. I'd been seeing ads on TV for his two competitors for months and it seemed like just a month or two ago I started seeing ads for Patrick. I watched a bit of the televised debates and both my wife and I found him to be quite charismatic and likeable. I can't speak to what he stands for--I really haven't followed it figuring that Gabrielli would win. But I was shocked to see on Monday a poll come out to show that Patrick had a commanding lead. His lack of TV exposure led me to believe he was an also-ran. Now I've become quite interested in the race. I found it interesting that as soon as he won Healey started the mudslinging. Patrick seems intent on not going down that path. It'll be itneresting to see if he's able to maintain that. I hope he does. Healey is ugly.
Ralph --
I meant for governor, of course, but I can see where that might not be clear. Thanks.
dcat
Thunderstick --
It seems as if Patrick has run a good campaign that has relied on really working the areas where he is strong and getting his people out. On a statewide level it will be interesting to see what effect Romney and Bush have. On the one hand Romney seems resonably popular and his presidential aspirations indicate that he feels pretty good about his record in Mass. On the other hand, if voters in the Bay State are ready to take their wrath out on Republicans, Healey could be in trouble, which might have deleterious effects on Romney as well.
dcat
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