I voted Saturday. I responded to a universal mailing from the Secretary of State's office, indicating I wanted a mail-in ballot. The pandemic has blunted my decades-long pleasure of going to the local polling place and participating with others in my community in one of the greatest gifts of living in a democracy. I filled …
Tag: Jim Braude
Markey tops Kennedy in 4th district debate
Last week's WGBH debate between Senator Ed Markey and challenger Congressman Joe Kennedy took me back to August, 1979. Joe Kennedy's uncle Ted was about to challenge fellow Democrat and incumbent Jimmy Carter for the Presidency. Seasoned CBS News correspondent Roger Mudd went to Hyannisport to interview Kennedy. The network set aside a full hour …
Barbara Anderson memorialized
Supporters and opponents of the late anti-tax advocate Barbara Anderson gathered Sunday in Randolph to remember her good natured individualism, civic activism, political savvy, professionalism and not insignificant success in lowering the tax burden for the people of Massachusetts. She and I were often - make that, usually - on opposite sides of issues. (The video …
Sal DiMasi doesn’t deserve death sentence
Former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi used his office to enrich himself to the tune of $65,000, securing a state contract for Cognos, which paid him on a monthly basis for his efforts. The third House Speaker in a row to be found guilty of crimes related to office, DiMasi was convicted on seven out of nine corruption …
Coakley v. Baker – almost a yawn
Tonight's televised benign if mildly tense debate between Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley was clearly a draw, which may have been the defensive objective of all concerned. Comfortably moderated by WGBH talk show hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, both candidates stuck to their well honed, but by now shop-worn messages, spoke calmly, and smiled wanly …
Eric Cantor’s House of Cards falls
I always thought that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was the brat, the youngish sharp-elbowed, supercilious, conservative Congressman assumed to be John Boehner's heir apparent as Speaker of the House. Bookish. Dogmatic. So determined was he to be the ideological antidote to a liberal Obama administration, he was a driving force behind the Republican congressional strategy to …
Choosing a governor: let’s get on with it!
“Ground Hog Day” is how Boston University Assistant Professor John Carroll, speaking on Jim Braude’s debate analysis on NECN, described last night’s debate. Helicopter into the debate at any point and you know you’ve been here before. The only slightly new matter under discussion was today’s revelation of a memo written by Charlie Baker when …
Barney Frank faces a legitimate opponent for only the second time
Brookline businessman and Marine major Sean Bielat is the first credible candidate whom three-decade congressman Barney Frank has had to face since defeating Cong. Margaret Heckler in a 1982 redistricting fight. While Frank is likely to win the race for the 4th district seat in Congress, he is right to take Bielat seriously. Nothing can be taken …
Continue reading Barney Frank faces a legitimate opponent for only the second time
