Sunday column ping
Tight race means days are numbered for Deval Patrick
By Howie Carr | Sunday, January 10, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Deval Patrick is the canary in the coal mine for Barack Obama in 2012.
And Martha Coakley is Deval’s canary. And if I were Deval, right about now I’d be looking for the phone number of Herald veterinarian Dr. John de Jong.
The closer Scott Brown comes to winning the special Senate election next week, the worse it is for Deval’s already-dim prospects for re-election. I mean, Martha has but a supporting role in what state Sen. Scott Brown calls “the machine.”
As attorney general, Martha is the official custodian of the state broom. Whenever a hack gets in a jam - last week it was Dianne Wilkerson - Martha shifts into inspector mode, leaving no stone unturned, except of course the one the perp is hiding under.
Nothing to see here folks - move along. That’s Martha’s motto.
But the voters have figured out the grift - better late than never.
Consider what numbers Deval would be polling right about now if he were the Senate nominee. He’s the nominal boss - figurehead, actually - of the state hackerama.
Deval et al had been counting on state Treasurer Tim Cahill’s independent run to drain off just enough anti-Deval votes to re-elect him in November with, say, 41 percent. It’s an interesting strategy. Gov. Jon Corzine tried it in New Jersey two months ago. He’s now former Gov. Corzine.
Then Deval figured the economy would recover and save him - did anyone see the unemployment numbers Friday? Not even CNBC could put a shine on that sneaker. You can only say “unexpected” and “lagging indicator” so many times, especially when the real jobless number is more than 17 percent.
If Martha Coakley, who after all has built a career on not rocking the boat, is struggling to pull away, then what is going to happen next November to the guy who actually told the brain-dead voters of this state that he could improve their lives ... and cut their taxes?
You may be a Scott Brown voter if ... you’ve been wondering what Martha Coakley can start collecting for a state pension next month at age 56 if she’s sworn into the U.S. Senate.
The answer is ... $41,000. I’m sure Martha would claim that she has no plans to do the double-dip, and I’m equally certain we can believe her.
Just like Deval Patrick was going to cut your property taxes. Just like Barack Obama wasn’t going to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 ...
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1224467
Anthony Galluccio e-mail: Booze charge ‘was completely false’
By Dave Wedge | Sunday, January 10, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics
Jailed ex-state Sen. Anthony Galluccio pledged to continue to fight to prove he is innocent of charges he drank booze and hinted he may seek public office
again in an impassioned e-mail sent to supporters.
“When the recent violation was alleged that I used alcohol, I knew it was
completely false and believed that I could prove it in court,” Galluccio wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald. “My promise to
abstain from alcohol and get counseling and treatment was and is my word and goes to the very core of who I am. I have not breached the promises I made to my family, my constituents, my colleagues, the court and myself in any
way. I hope that you can respect my determination to prove my innocence regarding the violation of probation.”
Galluccio, a Cambridge Democrat, was sent to jail for a year last week by a judge who found he violated the terms of his probation when he failed a Breathalyzer test while under home confinement.
The pol has claimed that his whitening toothpaste led to the positive reading and vowed to pursue an appeal of the judge’s finding. Before the violation, he was under house arrest after pleading guilty to charges connected to an
October hit-and-run crash.
“In contrast to my original act of leaving the accident, for which I accepted responsibility, this allegation was completely different,” he wrote. “People will say I am crazy and that I should have just agreed to the allegation and made a deal but my family and I made a decision not to do that. The starting point to moving forward was honesty and accepting responsibility. Admitting to
something I did not do was not an option, even knowing how serious the consequences might be. I hope all of you will take a closer look at the case and the proof put forward. I think you will then understand how I feel.”
He also said he misses his legislative work and hinted that he could return to public service.
“To say I am sad or even devastated would not begin to say how helpless I feel,” he said. “I am not disappearing, just resigning until this bad storm passes.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1224499