Left In Lowell

If you want a chance to meet Andrea Silbert, she’ll be in the area tomorrow at the GLAD meeting, which starts at 8am. Info here.

What else do you call it when a candidate uses robocalls and other media to attack an opponent on an issue on which he’s not really strongly against?

David lays it out for us: despite Gabrieli’s supposed stance against the immigrant tuition bill which failed this past year, and his use of that issue to attack Patrick and Reilly, who are for it, he apparently isn’t really against it. David quotes the Globe:

Just a month ago, on Aug. 15, Chris Gabrieli told Globe editors he did not feel strongly about the issue of giving favorable in-state tuitions to illegal immigrants seeking to attend UMass and other public colleges. While he wouldn’t propose it, Gabrieli said, “I never say I’m actually against it.” If the Legislature approved it, he added, “I have not said I’d veto it.”

Okay…but that doesn’t sound like the Gabrieli campaign when they sent out this robocall. But I love this part:

His rationale: “I wish those kids would get the education, and I do feel they’re caught in between.” But there is a political problem for Democrats, he added. “Putting that out on our forehead is some kind of suicide impulse” suggesting that “our priority is to fund a group of kids whose parents are here illegally.”

So, Chris, you’d rather pander to the public, ignoring how you really feel, than stand up for your principles, in order to win? Sounds an awful lot like Kerry, to me. And he lost what should have been a cakewalk election. (Sure, there was fraud, but the election had to be really close for the fraud to work.)

I’ve said before that Gabrieli should be ashamed for cynically using a hot-button issue in order to win votes, especially since he bills himself the “education” candidate. Now I think he should be doubly ashamed for pandering to the voters on an issue while not telling the truth about his own stance on it.

Some part of me, by the way, wonders if this fake “stand” Gabrieli took against the immigrant tuition bill was one of the factors in his favor with the Sun editorial board. Just, you know, wonderin’.

No offense to the Lowell Sun (oh hell…yeah, some offense meant) but here’s what a real newspaper does when the editorial board chooses to endorse a candidate - you can get a glimpse into that process by reading this partial transcript from the Globe editors’ interview of Patrick. They’ve also posted their interviews with the other two candidates.

Everything you wanna know about why you should vote Patrick is pretty much in there! It’s lengthy (23 “pages”!) but seriously worth it, especially if you’re still undecided or not sure.

I dare the Sun to post the transcripts of their interview with the three candidates online so readers can decide for themselves. (If they have, I can’t find them, and MY GOD, is their website loading slow…either their server can’t handle increased traffic due to the upcoming primary, or something else is bogging the server. What an amateur operation they are. Buy some better hosting, willya?)

[Hat tip: The Deval Experience]

Those of us who live in Lowell know that local politics is a bloody and contact sport. The ranting in the local media regarding the arrest of the Head of the Math Department is a perfect example. The arrest is an extremely sad situation that will impact all of the members of the family involved. We should show some restraint in our public commentary. (more…)