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Election roundup: Results already locked in?
By adamg on Tue, 10/14/2014 - 8:08am
Three weeks left in the campaign, and not much will probably change in the race for governor from here on in, David Bernstein writes.
Still, Coakley continues to have problems with the Democratic base.
How a Globe writer ended up in a pro-Coakley PAC ad.
Coakley and Baker both marched in a parade and the Globe is on it.
Baker has a really big database.
Why Evan Falchuk deserves a podium at any debate.
Bottle bill pits retailers against environmentalists fighting litter.
A look at Question 1, which would repeal inflation-indexed increases in the gas tax.
Meet David D'Arcangelo, the Republican running for Secretary of State.
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Comments
Lots of Baker signs in WRox
Lots of Baker signs in WRox for quite a while. Only recently do I see a few for Coak.
Coakley or Baker?
Neither are impressive...but but Baker's 7 figure salary while working for a "non-profit" health insurance company is absolutely disgusting.
I wonder how many people went into financial ruin because Harvard Pilgrim denied people's claims so they can maximize profits and pay out undeserving 7 figure salaries.
..or even worse, people being denied services and dying.
Coakley it is.
Baker it is...
It wasn't a 'non-profit'. It was ebola-ing money. From your liberal Globe:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/09/23/charlie-baker-saved-harva...
" “Facts are important, even in politics,” said Tom Reilly, the attorney general who worked closely with Baker when Harvard Pilgrim was put into state receivership so members wouldn’t lose coverage. “The bottom line is that he did a very good job in the turnaround and restoring it to financial health.”
"This is big coming from Reilly, a Democrat who supports Coakley"
"Reilly said there was no bailout from the state. In fact, not a single taxpayer dollar was given to Harvard Pilgrim."
So tell me, how many would have gone " into financial ruin" if HP folded?
And remember
Both the board and the attorney general had to sign off on that salary. He didn't set it - and don't say "He could have declined" - nobody would do that.
friend of mine worked there under Baker's tenure and had nothing but good things to say about how he turned the company around. A lot of things that needed doing got done - and I'm sure some weren't easy.
This is one of my problems with Coakley - I try to picture who I want at the helm if there's another terrorist attack or an ebola outbreak or other disaster and I just don't see Coakley stepping boldly into the breach which is required at those times. I'm not saying Baker is God's gift to the Commonwealth - and if I thought they had a snowball's chance in Miami I might consider Falchuk or McCormick - maybe next time.
"Maybe next time" likely won't happen without support this time
If Evan Falchuk and the United Independent Party get 3% of the vote this time around, then the UIP gets recognized in MA as an established political party next time around (rather than a mere 'voter designation'). That means that like the GOP and the Dems, they'll get their candidates on all the state ballots without having to jump through a lot of hoops and spend lots of time and money.
They'll be in a far more influencial position to get their candidates into the debates and get their ideas in front of the voters. They'll get to raise money the same way the establishment parties do. They'll have a fighting chance to get more candidates elected at different levels of government. And that means they'll have a much better chance of actually affecting policy and the direction of our state.
In short, getting better candidates and elections in the future means voting strategically in this one.
I get that some people really support one of the two leading candidates and want her/him to be governor. That's a clear reason to vote. I also can appreciate a voter who has such a strong negative feeling about one candidate that in a tight election they vote for the one most likely to defeat them.
But in my case, I can't stand either of the two major party candidates, and I think we're in for a rough patch of leadership regardless of which one of them gets the nod. So I am delaying gratification, and voting strategically for the future of the state's political health. I really like what the UIP and Falchuk stand for, and I'm willing to play the long game to get it.
Exactly
I'm in a hold-my-nose-and-vote situation this time around. I detest that and blame both parties for putting up absolute crap for me to have to vote between in this two-party system we find ourselves in.
However, with Coakley, I find there will likely be a lack of leadership that we can weather through, whereas with Baker we'll get a Romney Republican-esque leadership where it's say one thing and do another and horrible Republican ideas housed in ways Democrats can convince themselves it's the right thing to do (like Romneycare or defunding the Long Island Bridge).
Either way, I'm hoping the electorate realizes the need for a better Democrat/Independent liberal/socialist candidate to pull ourselves out of our own muck that we're about to vote ourselves into.
The sad thing is that....
... whoever gets elected Governor, the person actually deciding what does and doesn't get done/funded/etc. will be DeLeo.
The MBTA, not Ebola
I'm not so concerned with disasters. I just want to see the MBTA increase service and decrease failures. I want our roads to not be in the worst condition of anywhere in US. MA used to be known for having the best run, nicest state parks in the US. It would be nice to return to those days.
I don't think Coakley is able to do any of these things given her tenure as AG where she lost a majority of the high profile cases she took on. My fear with Baker is that his solution for the MBTA is to cut funding and service in the interest of making it only useful for daytime suburban commuters. Will he cut funding for parks, trails, and worthy social programs in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy?
The choice is between one competent person with the wrong values and one incompetent person with seemingly no values at all.
Ugh.
Unfortunately, I agree with all of those points. Why doesn't anyone charismatic AND competent AND bold want to lead in this state. You would think, given our stature in the grand scheme of things, that we would have a line of awesome candidates circling the state house to sign up. Neither of the two-party candidates are worth [insert ad hominem attack on both], much less voting for.
I'm voting Falchuk. I have no idea if he can even lead, but if we can trip the 3% line then my vote was worth something, rather than cast for an empty suit.
"The choice is between one
"The choice is between one competent person with the wrong values and one incompetent person with seemingly no values at all."
It's a good thing there are more than two people running, then.
I'll likely vote 3rd party
Give me a call when we have an instant run-off style voting so that you can vote for someone you like without in effect giving the office to someone you hate. When you have a strong 3rd party you sometimes get someone like LaPage in Maine -- an absolutely horrible person who 2/3 of the state did not want yet he still got elected.
Wow that really encapsulated
Wow that really encapsulated my sense of this. Coakley is incompetent and will do anything that is politically expedient to her. Baker may just do stuff opposite that I want him to do.
I expressed before that I cannot vote for Coakley. But what I haven't said is the problem with Baker is I fear he will bring the MBTA to something back under Daniel Grabauskas with even older equipment.
Hey, some of my best friends
Hey, some of my best friends are plutocrats. But I'd not elect them governor.
What like
Deval, Warren, Markey and Clinton?
We may need to think through
We may need to think through what "plutocrat" actually means. They are people that are powerful *because* they have money, not people that became rich as a result of being powerful. It's a really important distinction.
ANYhoo.
OK
So 2 out of 4 names above still hold true!
Sorry, there's a big
Sorry, there's a big difference between "restoring [a company's] financial health" and running a not-for-profit so that it fulfills it's mission and provides the services it is charged with providing. In HPHC's case, that mission and service was to make insurance purchase monies go as far as possible in providing comprehensive insurance. HPHC did not do that under Baker's tenure-- and by such moves as increasing in-hospital surgery deductibles to over $7000 even for uncomplicated procedures, he sacrificed a lot of the mission.
That is a failure, no matter how financially beneficial to HPHC it was.
Basically, HPHC relied on the fact that it typically takes people 2+ years to switch insurance companies as people become dissatisfied with their current provider. That is a two year window of increasing premiums and fees while reducing services. This is where the "open season" model-- where the open season happens to coincide with the busiest time of the year for many of us-- is a problem, and creates a loophole that can be exploited. Of course you can "turn around" a not-for-profit if the leader does not have qualms about exploiting its clients.
"its" Sorry.
"its"
Sorry.
How many people has Coakley
How many people has Coakley put into financial ruin with prosecutorial harassment?
Still waiting for the people that stole a billion + from the Big Dig, Former Mayor Lantigua's goons, and the guys which stole from Franciscan Children's Hospital to be prosecuted. Oh wait, sorry I FORGOT they donated money to her campaigns.
The woman wouldn't even take in her mentally ill brother because it would have detracted from her career and is now standing on his coffin as part of her campaign.
I still find it self serving
I still find it self serving that she went after Cahill , she sees what she wants to see.
I suggest you look up the
I suggest you look up the definition of a not for profit corporation before you claim anyone's salary is undeserved. Not for profit doesn't imply volunteer.
Please...
Enough with the pearl clutching.
That kind of greed on the
That kind of greed on the part of Baker will cost him the election. It's despicable and he knows it. When confronted with this issue during the debate, he completely fumbled his response.
What greed?
Doing a good job and getting paid for it is now "greed"? What exactly should he have been paid for his work? Should he have given back some of the money?
Non-profit
OK, let's face it, this isn't your local dog shelter. Yes, it's legally a non-profit, but in name only. These are billion dollar organizations (HP had $2.7 billion in '12) where you need someone who knows how to run such organizations and expects to be paid accordingly. Far from disgusting.
VOTE MICKEY
I think I'm just going to vote for Mickey Mouse this election. Not one candidate stands out. All of them come with baggage.
It'll just be more of the same.
Honestly if I didn't want to vote on the questions in Nov, I wouldn't vote at all. So turned off by politics these days because of the two party system. Its sad that I feel this way.. Mr Political.. but eh, just grown tired of 'more of the same'.
SSDD all the time..
You can't vote Mickey. This
You can't vote Mickey. This is New England, we have our own guy. If you're going to vote Mickey Mouse, vote Vermin Supreme.
Lieutenant Governor
Our past Republican governors, Weld and Cellucci, didn't fill out their terms. Romney basically left his second term after two years, though he stayed as governor.
So take a good look at Polito and Kerrigan, and see if you have a preference for either taking over as governor.
I hope not to wake up some morning and find that Karyn Polito is governor.
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