Left In Lowell

One race I haven’t talked much about is the Sec of State Democratic primary. It is definitely contested, with John Bonifaz taking on three-term incumbent Bill Galvin. Bonifaz made a strong showing at the convention to get his place on the ballot with 29% (great for an unknown challenger).

I’ve been ambivalent about this race; on one hand, it’s good to see an incumbent, who is something of an insider, challenged. On the other, though I often agree with Bonifaz, some of his statements are given over to rhetorical sharpness that didn’t sit well with me. And supporters of both sides have a tendency to seriously overreact.

I do know that Galvin has done quite a lot of good in his position as SecState, such as giving better access to public records(for instance, at the Registrars of Deeds). And though I do think that the real work of protecting the Commonwealth from non-paper-verified voting machines is done in the legislature (hence I have said I’d have loved to see Bonifaz run for Representative), I do think Bonifaz is a smart, dedicated activist who has a history both online and off of protecting people’s rights. He’s also become more polished in this race with time.

But what am I to think about Galvin backing out of the one of the few times he actually agreed to face Bonifaz on the same stage? It has appeared for a while now that Galvin is riding his name recognition into a fourth term. Just like I criticized Rep. Lynch for not debating Phil Dunkelbarger yesterday, I find his excuse - being “stuck in New Bedford” - flimsy at best. Since he knew he was to appear in Medford, is he that unable to dictate his own schedule? I find that hard to believe. Tentative reporting says he was at a New Bedford Victory ‘06 event…laudable, but the state Dems could have done without you, so you could have done your duty and show up to ask for our vote. And what, he didn’t know ahead of time about this conflict so he could make it clear whether or not he would make it?

BMG reports that Galvin’s due to appear tonight with Bonifaz and Green Party SecState candidate, Jill Stein, in Worcester. Let’s hope Galvin takes it seriously enough to show up this time. I wasn’t going to endorse anyone in this race, but I may just change my mind.

A new comment on a pretty old post (June 11’s Column on the Column) showed up in the blog’s administrative interface today…so I ended up going back to read some of the comments that preceeded it. I can’t help ribbing frequent commenter Mike a little on his ready agreement on former CM Cox’s reputation here, where he starts by quoting someone else:

“Lowell’s been pretty good at weathering fiscal messes unlike other similar cities like Springfield.”

Agreed, I’ve been saying this here for months. Council will be lucky if they get someone anywhere near Cox’s capabilities.

Seems a little ironic given the revelations we’ve had these last few weeks about the status of Lowell’s finances…

We love ya, Mike, I single you out because I care! But I can’t help but gloat (really friendly-like) a little in your direction! (In a sort of dark humor way, given I’d rather Mike had been right, for the good of the city…)

Blue Mass Group and comedian Jimmy Tingle present a night with the Lt. Governor candidates (Murray and Silbert, Goldberg cannot attend) as they are interviewed by Tingle. The show is on September 7th and starts at 6pm. This would be a great place to learn a little more about these candidates in a different setting than the usual. Also joining Tingle are Dem candidates for Middlesex County Clerk of Courts, Ruth Desmond and Michal Sullivan.

$20 bucks gets you a buffet and lots of laughs, plus I do know some bloggers (myself included) will be there as well. So if you don’t know who to vote for downticket, come and join us!

Since we don’t have any interesting local primary challengers here (more’s the pity) but there is an extremely interesting primary in Mass’s 9th Congressional district, I am posting about something which doesn’t directly affect us locally.

The incumbent in the 9th, Rep. Steven Lynch, archconservative war supporter Democrat, has refused to debate primary challenger Phil Dunkelbarger, using the “but I’m in session that date” excuse (like Congressmen don’t shove off their duties for sillier things). BMG also covered this, and in comments, Cos comments that “Lynch hasn’t wanted to debate for months. Heck, I’ve known Dunkelbarger was running since January. Certainly they could’ve found a mutually agreeable date if Lynch had been willing.” Agreed. I think I can say with confidence that “Dunk” as he’s affectionately called, has likely been asking the Lynch campaign for months for a debate.

Not only that, but his duty to the people of Massachusetts also includes asking for their vote, and losing it if he isn’t representing them anymore. It’s nice he wants to show up to his job (anyone have Lynch’s attendance rate for the rest of the Congressional calendar?) but showing up to a debate with his credible primary opponent is not only important, it hardly takes much time off at all. Lynch is a shameful excuse for a Democrat, and now he’s a sorry example of a (little “d”) democrat as well.

Show Dunk some love…send him a donation to help him point out Lynch’s arrogance to the voters of the 9th. Dunk’s for getting out of Iraq, pro-choice, and universal health care.

If you are not register to vote in Massachusetts and are tired of business as usual, you need to register by tomorrow so that you can vote in the September 19th primary and help us change our state government.

Residents of Lowell who are 18 years old and U.S. citizens will need to go to City Hall at the Election Office to register. It is probably too late to do it by mail.

Tomorrow is also the deadline to change party affiliation, just in case you accidentally registered as a Republican.

There is still time to volunteer to support your candidate (preferably Deval Patrick) but if you are interested in observing the election process and may need extra cash, the Lowell Election Commission is looking for poll workers for both the Primary and General Elections. They will pay you $90 - $125 for a day’s work. They are also looking for translators.

I know you guys prefer me to talk about more local politics, but when my husband mentioned it yesterday, I couldn’t believe it, then I came across it again today, so I am posting about it. The Bush administration is officially insane.

What have we become?? Was it worth it, America? Feel safer?

It was a very cold and rainy day today for the Pepperell BBQ fundraiser for Deval Patrick (for which I was on the hosting committee), but that didn’t dampen the turnout as much as I would have thought. It was an exceptionally organized affair, and three large tents kept the guests from getting too soaked! Deval mingled with everyone for quite a while and before he left, made a speech and did a Q&A session, before heading off to an event in Fitchburg.

The initial goal for the fundraiser was $10,000 (from at least 100 $100 tickets). Those that have maxed out their $500 were invited to come as a special guest. Getting most of that money up front is usually difficult, but by last week, we had reached $11,000 and so the goal was stretched to$14K.

Today I heard the number 169 - the number of RSVPs for today. I don’t know what the final fundraising amounts are, but they almost certainly reached $14,000. Thanks to Alice and Mauricio for opening their backyard and home for a very fun gathering with a great purpose! Well done to all the hosting committee, I can’t believe how smooth and unstressed the preparation was.

On another, navel-gazing hilarity moment, KRS (both my co-bloggers were at the BBQ) told us about how David and Charley of Blue Mass Group made the front page of the Herald (picture and everything, at least in the print version) as part of their grouping of focus articles on the