You kids get off my damn lawn!
By “lawn” I mean the hill near the Bourne rotary, and by “you kids” I mean off-Cape candidates for office sticking their campaign signs in among those for local candidates. Take a look sometime and you’ll see names for people running for office in and around the Norfolk County area…you know, races that Cape Cod residents know nothing about and can’t vote in.
I assume that these signs are there to catch the attention of any summer visitors who actually do live in those areas, but for candidates from other regions to clutter our landscape with their signs is rather obnoxious.
***
It seems that no race is safe from a little nastiness, not even the race for state auditor.
Yes: state auditor.
Last week the Boston Globe reported that Democrat Guy W. Glodis, the current Worcester County sheriff, failed to report the true source of a $20,000 no-interest loan he received in 2004. He’d claimed in state ethics commission filings that Robert J. Zannotti of Shrewsbury wrote his the check for that loan, but Zannotti said during a 2008 federal trial the money actually came from Amit Mathur.
The problem is that Mathur got his money bilking investors, and is now sitting in the pokey serving a 10-year sentence. State law requires candidates who receive loans for their campaigns to report the original source of the money, not a “go-between.”
Mr. Glodis maintains he did nothing wrong since the check was written by Mr. Zannotti (who now lives in Mashpee, FYI) and came from his personal account.
Curiously, days after receiving that loan, Mr. Glodis lent his campaign fund for sheriff $20,000. He’s declined to disclose the precise source of that money.
His rivals in the primary, Suzanne M. Bump and Michael E. Lake, have both blasted Mr. Glodis for this revelation. Ms. Bump has called upon Glodis to “come clean” (cripes, there’s that phrase again) about the money, and Mr. Lake has accused Glodis of playing a “fiscal shell game.”
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Speaking of nastiness, the sniping continues between Democratic candidates for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District William R. Keating and State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable).
Last week I mentioned that Sen. O’Leary ranked among the five senators with the worst attendance in the 2010 session (he missed 22 out of 227 roll call votes). No surprise, Mr. Keating pounced on that tidbit, giving his rival grief for holding down two part-time teaching jobs at state-backed institutions (the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Cape Cod Community College), and Keating proposed a ban on teachers at state educational institutions from serving in the Legislature.
Sen. O’Leary retaliated by chiding Mr. Keating for working as the Norfolk County district attorney while also collecting early retirement benefits through the state.
“Keating, who voted to give himself early retirement, and thinks it’s OK to collect that early pension while his constituents are also paying his salary as a Congressman, is attacking me for having a no-tenure, no-benefits, no-pension part time job as a teacher when I’ve been a teacher for 35 years and have a 98 percent (lifetime) voting record in the Senate?” Sen. O‘Leary said in a press release. “The hypocrisy is astounding, but the implicit insult to teachers is even worse.”
***
On different note, Mr. Keating last week scored two rather significant endorsements, first from the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy organization.
But the big one is an endorsement from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which is being a little stingy with the endorsements this year because of the casino bill, which got hung up over language whether to also allow racinos in the state.
However, a few other folks have indeed received the AFL-CIO’s blessing, including William F. Galvin, incumbent Democratic candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth; Martha Coakley, incumbent Democratic candidate for Massachusetts Attorney General; Steve Grossman, Democratic candidate for state treasurer; and Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate (sensing a trend here?) for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District.
***
A quick side note: the AFL-CIO has also taken official positions against all three questions on the November ballot: proposals to reduce the state sales tax to three percent, to do away with the sales tax on alcohol, and to get rid of Chapter 40B, the state’s affordable housing law.
I normally don’t jump on-board with tax cut proposals, simply because they feel like empty promises designed to attract voters, but in this case I thin the AFL-CIO is off-base. To echo a comment from one of my recent interviews, I don’t think the state has been the best steward of our tax money lately, so I don’t feel at all inclined to let them keep more of it.
***
Sen. O’Leary is holding a fundraiser rally on Wednesday evening. That’s at Tommy Doyle’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Hyannis and runs from 5 to 7 PM.
Diane Parvin, Roberta Duane, Helen Bresnahan, Linda Edson, and the Committee to Elect Rob O’Leary host the event, which comes with a $15 admission charge. RSVP to Jon Patsavos at 508-534-9956 or patsavos@olearyforcongress.com.
In other O’Learyish news, he last week received the endorsement of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters.
***
State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) has received endorsements for his Congressional campaign from the Republican National Committeeman and Republican National Committeewoman for Massachusetts, Ron Kaufman and Judy Dow, respectively.
Of course, since Joseph D. Malone can’t let Rep. Perry sneeze without calling shenanigans, the Kaufman endorsement has come under fire since, according to the Malone camp, Mr. Kaufman is a lobbyist for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
Malone is trying to draw a straight line between Chavez and Perry to devalue this endorsement, which doesn’t quite work; Kaufman is, more precisely, a lobbyist for Citgo, the US subsidiary of the parent corporation, which is owned and operated by the Venezuelan government, which Chavez controls.
And, of course, a young Chavez co-starred in “Footloose” with Kevin Bacon.
***
Guy A. Carbone, one of two Republicans running a write-in campaign for Massachusetts Attorney General, has launched his campaign website at http://carboneforag.com.
I can’t help but feel that this gent, along with fellow Republican write-in candidate James P. McKenna, are wasting their time. Write-in campaigns for major seats have been successful, but they are very much the exception rather than the rule; by choosing not to run full and proper campaigns, these men start off with significant handicaps.
The fact that they’re both Republicans doesn’t help at all, either, since they’ll likely split the anti-Coakley voters.
***
This week’s event reminders:
Mr. Grossman will be at Four Seas in Centerville from 5 to 6 PM this evening.
Daniel A. Wolf, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District invites the public to “Howl for Dan Wolf” at the Cotuit Art Center on Sunday. That event, featuring comedian Jimmy Tingle, runs from 8 to 10 PM.
William Zammer is hosting at his Flying Bridge restaurant a fundraiser for David T. Vieira, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District. That is scheduled for Sunday, September 12 from 4 to 6 PM. Donations will be accepted at the door.
James F. Munafo Jr., Republican candidate for State Representative of the Second Barnstable District, invites supporters to a “FUNdraiser” in support of his campaign. Join Mr. Munafo at Sandwich Mini-Golf on Route 6A in Sandwich for the “Vote Munafo Mini-Golf Tournament” on Sunday, September 12. The tourney runs from 4 to 7 PM. E-mail votemunafo@integrity.com to reserve a spot in the tournament. Cost is $10.
F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, is holding a pasta supper fundraiser at the American Legion Hall in Sandwich on Saturday, September 25 starting at 6 PM; a golf tourney fundraiser at Holly Ridge on Sunday, October 3 starting at 8:20 AM; and “Pizza & Politics with Pizzazz” at Two Brothers Pizza & Mexican in Sandwich on Monday, October 11 at 5:30 PM.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Tags: 10th Congressional district, 2010 election, Bill Galvin, Dan Wolf, David Vieira, Jeff Perry, Jim Munafo, Joe Malone, Martha Coakley, Randy Hunt, Rob O'Leary, Sheila Lyons, William Keating
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
You are a great writer. Pithy and punchy, I truly enjoy reading your posts.