Well, sort of. The print edition of this column is still a ways off — it’ll probably debut in January — but there’s enough going on that I felt compelled to resurrect the column early as an online-only dealie.

Quick aside: this blog’s guts are a bit befouled at present, so trying to comment will lead only to frustration and heartbreak. If you feel the need to chew me out for anything, you can e-mail me at bailey at capenews dot net (sorry to spell it out, but man, the spambots have it out for me lately).

The development that really inspired my early return to whinging about politics is this week’s development with Alan Khazei, who on Wednesday dropped out of the US Senate race, citing an inability to raise money and gather support now that the Democratic Party has embraced Elizabeth Warren as its official horse in the race.

Alan. Dude. Has the Presidential race taught you nothing? A couple months ago, Rick Perry entered the Presidential race and everyone went “Michele who?” Now look at him! He’s running third in most polls behind Mitt Romney and Herman freakin’ Cain — and Herman is kind of crazy! Warren still has plenty of time to say or do something insane and give you a shot at overtaking her!

She’s already dipping her toe into that pool with a recent comment to The Daily Beast that she “created much of the intellectual foundation for what” Occupy Wall Street and its spinoffs are doing now. She’s since backtracked on that remark, so she’s obviously mastered the necessary campaigning skill of saying something rather outrageous and/or self-aggrandizing and then nimbly backpedaling when someone calls her on it.

But, to my intended original point: Khazei was the most promising candidate in the field beside Warren, who really needs someone to run her through the paces, if nothing else. There are four other Democrats that I know of who are still in the race — Tom Conroy, Marisa DeFranco, Jim King, and Herb Robinson — and I’m betting you haven’t heard of ANY of them.

And chances are you will continue to hear nothing about them, because the media, like the Democratic Party, is currently latched onto Warren, and now that Khazei — who had a degree of name recognition — is gone, it’s going to be All-Warren All The Time until after the September primary.

Anyone remember what happened the last time the Dems named an heir apparent to the Senate seat and left that candidate to cruise to an “easy victory”? The Democratic Party apparently doesn’t. Party leaders should have at the very least given Khazei enough support to keep him active through the primary so we the voters — remember us? We (ostensibly) choose elected officials — could see who the better candidate truly was.

***

Speaking of denying voters choice, it was also announced yesterday that longtime Congressman John Olver (D) is retiring, freeing up the race for the First Congressional District — and, perhaps more notably, giving the special joint legislative committee on redistricting every excuse in the world to let the First District take the big hit so the committee can, for the most part, maintain the existing boundaries for the other eight Congressional districts.

You see, when Massachusetts lost a district following the 2010 Census, there was a lot of concern that redrawing district lines would end up pitting two incumbent Democrats against one another in the primary race, and there was heavy speculation that the 10th Congressional District (which includes the Cape and Islands) would be eliminated and its towns folded into the Fourth or Ninth Districts — potentially setting up a contest between freshman Congressman William R. Keating and, respectively, Barney Frank or Stephen Lynch.

But now that Olver is out of the picture, the committee can carefully redraw the district boundaries to avoid any hot Dem-on-Dem action in September. Convenient, isnt it?

***

On a more local note: while there has not yet been an official announcement, there’s every indication that Republican Thomas F. Keyes is planning to challenge Senate President Therese M. Murray (D) in 2012. Keyes lost to Murray in 2010 in a surprisingly tight race: 52.5 percent of voters in the Plymouth and Barnstable District sided with the eight-term incumbent Murray, and 47.5 percent voted for Keyes, making this Murray’s tightest re-election race ever.

After the 2010 election, people on Keyes’ e-mail list (including me) continued to receive e-mails from the campaign, in which Keyes was referred to as the man “who is seriously considering” a rematch in 2012. The e-mails started out as stock rebuttals to everything Murray did (“Keyes Disappointed Murray Refuses To Create An Independent Commission On Redistricting” read one early notice), but soon turned into rally and fundraiser announcements. Once you start raising money, I think it’s safe to say you’re no longer merely “considering” running for office — especially when, according to a mid-year finance report filed with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, you’ve raised a little over $11,000 over the first six months of 2011.

The question is not whether Keyes is running, the question is: can he effectively run against Murray on his own? Last year Keyes’ campaign ran concurrently to those of two strong candidates — State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) and Jeffrey D. Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress — and Keyes’ detractors insisted the only reason he made as good a showing as he did was because he hitched his faint star to two much brighter and, in Perry’s case, more high-profile wagons.

An upset victory is certainly not out of the question, but Murray’s undeniable clout has benefited the region for many years, and that’s going to be a hard thing for voters to give up in favor of a man with no clout, few connections in the State House, and little political experience beyond the town and county level.

***

Finally, we bid a fond farewell to State Representative Susan D. Williams Gifford (R – Wareham), whose Second Plymouth District has been shifted completely off Cape Cod due to the aforementioned redistricting. She represented three precincts in Bourne, which will now be divvied up between Hunt and State Representative David T. Vieira (R – Falmouth).

While the Cape delegation is losing one of its number, Gifford had a minimal presence on Cape Cod, so I expect her loss to be negligible. I very rarely saw her at any major event attended by the other members of the delegation, and I’ve on occasion heard some critical remarks about her non-attendance from a couple of her colleagues.

I would have to say the big news for this week is State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry’s (R – Sandwich) loss to William R. Keating in the Congressional race. It was a long, hard, and very ugly fight, and Rep. Perry lost by a mere five-point margin.

The Perry haters, who have fanatically railed about his past controversies, are no doubt doing a happy dance this morning, but I’d have to question how much of that issue actually played into the loss. Let’s not forget that Massachusetts, despite its majority of unenrolled voters, still leans left, and Rep. Perry was espousing unabashedly hard right-wing values. It’s just as likely voters were turned off by his heavily partisan message as they were his background.

Then there is the Tale of Two Patricks, Deval and Matt. Governor Deval L. Patrick also won a rather tight race, besting Republican Charles D. Baker Jr. by a seven-point margin. Mr. Baker tried to convince voters Gov. Patrick was taking the state in the wrong direction, but recent signs of economic turnaround undermined that message.

It didn’t help that Baker’s campaign never hit high gear. He was active, but somewhere along the way his momentum faltered and he failed to make that final big push in the closing days.

The other Patrick, State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth), was one of the precious few exceptions to the Democratic rule this year. Rep. Patrick lost his re-election bid to Republican David T. Vieira, the man who Rep. Patrick beat in his first bid for the office in 2000.

So what happened there? Hard to say. Maybe Rep. Patrick’s support of the Cape Wind project finally caught up to him. Maybe voters sensed that he’d lost his influence in the State House following his falling out with Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (R – Winthrop). Maybe voters didn’t care for his increasingly stinging criticism of the GOP and wanted someone a little more cooperative.

In any event, the loss of an incumbent always means a bit of a step back for a district since there’s a learning curve and settling-in period for the new guy, but hopefully Mr. Vieira will find his stride sooner rather than later. He’s got the potential to be a great state rep.

As a point of amusement, I’m tickled that Charles O. Cipollini won the race for governor’s council of the first district. As regular readers know, Charles was running a non-campaign for the seat against his younger brother, Oliver P. Cipollini of Marstons Mills, and said very publicly that he wanted Oliver to win.

And yet, Charles won. Why? My theory is simple: no one knows jack about the position (or cares) so they just voted for the first name on the list of candidates. I firmly believe that’s what Oliver won the Democratic primary in the first place: his name was at the top of the list.

For more details and candidate reaction, check out the story in the front section of this week’s Enterprise.

***

Personally, I’m very grateful this whole election thing is done with for a while. This has been an exhausting year, not only due to the effective length of the campaign – a few folks declared their candidacies last summer – but because of the rampant negativity that has been inflicted on voters.

The races for governor and the 10^th Congressional District have been particularly nasty as national organizations representing the Big Two Parties dumped millions into advertising, ostensibly to promote their respective candidates, but really their motivations are more self-serving: the Democrats want to hold on to their precarious majority rule, the Republicans want to wrench it away.

Thanks for thinking of the American public first, guys.

Voters, regardless of whether your candidate won or lost, your job is not over. You still have a responsibility to be involved in the process, and you can do that by reaching out to your elected officials and letting them know how you feel on the issues.

Don’t write them, don’t e-mail them, CALL them (we’ll help you by continuing to post their contact info in the Beacon Hill Roll Call report). Tell them who you are and what you want out of the next two years. If an issue of particular concern pops up, call them and let them know how you feel about it.

In short: pester the hell out of them. Drive them nuts. Make your name a Pavlovian trigger that causes them to roll their eyes and grumble, “This guy again…” It’s civic-minded, it’s occasionally productive, and yeah, it’s sometimes a lot of fun.

***

I leave you all with a handy household hint, for removing those bumper stickers from your car: soak them in vegetable oil. Let the oil sink in and you should be able to pull the stickers off fairly easily.

Catch you all in 2012, and in the meantime you can get your semi-regular dose of commentary, sarcasm, and obscure pop-culture references at this here blog thing o’ mine.

So, here we are. For the next several hours, voters will hit the polls (hopefully in appreciable numbers), and then this evening we all play the waiting game to see who won, who lost, and who will be dragging this mess out for several more weeks with recounts and court challenges.

Around here the big race is, of course, for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District. Who will win? I honestly can’t make a call, but here’s one scenario to consider: moderate and left-leaning unenrolled voters look at Bill Keating and see a guy who more or less represents their own stances on the issues, but has disenchanted voters with his relentlessly negative campaign (and maybe the fact he moved into the district specifically to run for this seat).

Does this drive them all to State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich)? Not necessarily. Many are unsatisfied with the answers he’s given to his various controversies, and besides, his very conservative views don’t jibe with voters’ opinions, so the liberally inclined and some of the moderates float over to MaryAnne Lewis, who is close to their own political viewpoints and has run a clean campaign.

The result? Perry has the Republican block sewed up, Keating likewise with the Democrats, but Lewis steals unenrolled voters away from Keating, allowing Perry to score a victory — not a landslide or even a “clear voter mandate” win, but enough of a victory to prevent Keating from challenging the outcome.

The there’s the governor’s race, and my hunch is that we’ve got four more years of Deval Patrick ahead of us, and I say this as a guy who, for most of Patrick’s administration, was ready to dump the guy.

I want to say Charlie Baker will pull off a win, because I’m cool with the idea of a fiscally conservative/socially moderate Republican in the Corner Office to balance what I’m sure will remain a Democrat-controlled State House, but Baker just never lived up to my expectations. His campaign never felt like it hit high gear, his ideas (which were decent, if not especially noteworthy) got buried under all the sniping between him and Patrick, and — like it or not — the state has shown positive steps forward in terms of economic recovery over the past several months.

There’s still a ton of work to do to get the state back on its feet, but it’s heading in the right direction, slowly but surely, and I personally am disinclined to switch horses midstream.

There are a few races I’d qualify as slam-dunks for the incumbents: I fully expect Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth), State Representative Susan D. Williams Gifford (R – Wareham), AG Martha Coakley, and Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin to all be returned to office by wide margins.

Not only did the audience refrain from hooting, hollering, cheering, and jeering, but the candidates themselves were completely civil – and by “candidates” I mean State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) and Democrat William R. Keating, who have sniped at each other almost relentlessly since the primary race wrapped.

I won’t go so far as to declare any kind of winner, but Mr. Keating, Rep. Perry, and unenrolled candidate MaryAnne Lewis came across as solid candidates. Perry especially stayed on-topic and always answered the questions as posed to the panel, but Keating and Lewis came across as well-informed and were able to articulate their thoughts.

Then there was unenrolled candidates James A. Sheets and Joseph van Nes. Sheets seemed to spend as much time taking potshots at the Democrats as he did discussing the issues. Several times during the evening they went badly off-topic and often failed to directly answer questions, and at times van Nes’s lack of knowledge on a given topic was glaring.

***

Another note on the Congressional race: a WGBH poll of 400 voters showed that Rep. Perry held a narrow one-point lead over Mr. Keating – 41 percent support to 40 percent – but when voters who are still waffling were asked who they were leaned toward, Keating pulled ahead and took a three-point lead over Perry (46 percent to 43 percent).

On the fundraising front, Mr. Keating is closing in on the $1 million mark, much of that money coming from unions, while Rep. Perry has raised more than $800,000. Ms. Lewis has raised about $57,000, Mr. Sheets has raised about $8,500 according to unofficial sources (he failed to file a report with the Federal Election Commission by the most recent deadline), and Mr. van Nes has not raised enough money to warrant filing a report.

***

When Charles D. Baker Jr. first hit the scene, there was an air of promise around this fiscally conservative but socially moderate candidate. Governor Deval L. Patrick was not faring well in the court of public opinion and was a prime target for a well-coordinated, focused campaign from the former high muckety-muck of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare.

Over the summer and into the fall Mr. Baker made slow but steady progress on Gov. Patrick, and every month the voter polls showed the Republican challenger was gaining ground on the incumbent. Now the governor appears to be pulling away again.

The latest Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll of 500 voters revealed that Gov. Patrick was the preferred candidate, receiving 46 percent support to Mr. Baker’s 39 percent. Baker’s numbers are up five points from the September poll, but so are Gov. Patrick’s.

Dr. Jill E. Stein has lost what little support she had; last month four percent of voters backed her, now she’s down to one percent. Two percent of voters have made up their minds, leaving the “undecided” category.

And, not surprisingly, some of those voters came from Timothy P. Cahill’s base; his support dropped four points from September, to 10 percent.

While several voters said they would vote for Baker if Cahill were to vanish from the ballot, one in four said the whole debacle between Baker and Cahill involving turncoat running mate Paul Loscocco and several staffers who may or may not have been GOP moles, is driving them to the Patrick camp.

***

James H. Crocker Jr. is back on the campaign trail after helping his family deal with the loss of his in-laws.

Mr. Crocker, the Republican candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, briefly suspended his campaign last week after his in-laws were killed in a car crash.

His opponent, Democrat Daniel A. Wolf, gracefully limited his own campaign work during that period out of respect for Mr. Crocker instead of pouncing on the opportunity to glom all the attention for himself.

***

Patricia L. Mosca of Bourne, the lone woman in the Democratic primary race for governor’s councilor of the first district, is back to try again. She has announced she will be challenging the brothers Cipollini – Democrat Oliver and Republican Charles – as a write-in candidate.

I normally am not a write-in candidate fan, but considering that this is such a non-race – Charles has said quite clearly he wants his brother to win – I applaud Ms. Mosca for wanting to make Oliver C. actually work for this gig.

***

And now for the endorsement lightning round!

Thomas F. Reilly, the state’s former attorney general, has jumped party lines to endorse Mr. Baker for governor (delayed revenge for Gov. Patrick trouncing him in the 2006 primary?).

Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) has endorsed State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth) in his re-election bid.

Rep. Perry was endorsed by the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.

F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, received an endorsement from Citizens for Limited Taxation.

***

This week’s event reminders:

The Committee to Elect Therese Murray and Olive and Dave Chase are hosting a fundraiser this evening for Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) at the Sandwich Glass Museum from 6 to 7:30 PM. Suggested donation for both events is $50 per person.

Mr. Hunt is holding his final campaign fundraiser tomorrow at the East Sandwich Grange Hall. The Tony Lujan Quintet will perform.

Lance W. Lambros, Democratic candidate for State Representative of the Fifth Barnstable District, will be holding a (not quite) Halloween  meet-and-greet at the Grundman household on Wing Boulevard East in Sandwich. That’s happening tomorrow from 5 to 7:30 PM.

Desperados in Mashpee will on Monday hold a “meet the candidates” night from 5 to 7 PM. That will feature candidates for the Legislature who represent Mashpee.

James M. Cummings, Barnstable County Sheriff, is hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Perry on Wednesday. That’s at the Hyannis Conference Center from 5 to 7 PM.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

Things are getting seriously ugly between Democrat/Norfolk County DA William R. Keating and State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich), and that’s saying something considering the tone of this race from the get-go was far from cordial.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently unveiled an attack ad that strips down (and in the process, slightly sensationalizes) the Scott Flanagan/Wareham PD scandal. The Massachusetts Democratic party has also launched a “fact-based” anti-Perry website called “The Perry Files,” which links to a ton of media stories about Rep. Perry’s various controversies.

Meanwhile the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee launched a new website, “Bill Keating – Just the Facts,” a blog-style site that picks apart Keating’s political career, and boy, what timing! That launched just as news broke that Mr. Keating was accepting campaign donations from a defense attorney on the other side of a case Mr. Keating’s office is prosecuting.

Keating is dismissing this as no big deal, attorneys donate to him all the time, but the GOP is calling this a conflict of interests.

Then there is the startling new wrinkle in the form of a new endorsement for Rep. Perry from Thomas Joyce, who was the chief of the Wareham Police Department during the Flanagan scandal – a man who has completely avoided the media (and continues to do so) to discuss the matter.

Why he has emerged from hiding has not been revealed, but his endorsement has only served to embolden the converted and provide the Keating folks with more ammo; recent e-mails from the Keating campaign gleefully point out that the former chief was himself a co-defendant in the court cases resulting from the Flanagan incidents.

This is tiresome, guys. Really. This negativity is making both candidates look like a word I can’t print here in a family newspaper.

***

Now, here’s a surprising and related bit of news: last week the five Congressional candidates met in Plymouth and debated (read: Perry and Keating sniped at each other), and the candidate who came out on top in a subsequent straw poll was unenrolled candidate MaryAnne Lewis.

WATD, which sponsored the event, held the poll following a Friday rebroadcast of the debate, and Ms. Lewis – who, as you might have noticed, is profiled this week – came out on top with a whopping 76 percent support. Rep. Perry came in second (16 percent) and Mr. Keating (eight percent).

Ms. Lewis apparently scored major points when, at last Thursday’s debate, she remarked to the two party candidates that people were sick of listening to them slap each other around (I know I am). Whether she can successfully parlay voter irritation at both the current status quo and at Perry and Keating’s carping has yet to be seen, but she has become a much more interesting and potentially dangerous candidate.

***

Back to Scandalville and its growing population. Suzanne M. Bump, Democratic candidate for auditor, is defending (read: rationalizing) her decision to claim two big tax breaks in Great Barrington, which she calls home, and in Boston where she owns a condo.

Ms. Bump — a lawyer, mind you — insisted she was not doing anything illegal, but the Massachusetts Department of Revenue begged to differ: the DOR said residents cannot claim two primary residences in Massachusetts to get two sets of property tax breaks.

Despite her adamant belief she was getting the tax breaks legally, she last week ponied up $5,875 to reimburse the City of Boston for the taxes she didn’t pay. The city then reviewed the situation and confirmed that yes, she was not entitled to both perks.

And this is the woman who wants to be the person who ensures our tax money is used properly. Lovely.

***

From the world of weird endorsements: James A. Sheets, one of the three unenrolled candidates for Congress, recently announced that he’d received an endorsement from Peter Boylston Adams, a descendant of President John Quincy Adams.

And that’s all he’s got: he’s related to someone famous and influential in shaping the United States. Whoop-de-do.

***

And now, a nice endorsement: for Daniel A. Wolf, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, from environmental groups the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.

***

On Friday, October 29 starting at 6 PM, there will be a multi-candidate Republican rally at the Hemisphere Restaurant in Sandwich. On the roster of attendees: Rep. Perry; Thomas F. Keyes, Republican candidate for State Senator of the Plymouth and Barnstable District; F. Randal Hunt, Republican candidate for State Representative for the Fifth Barnstable District; Michael D. O’Keefe, the Cape and Islands’ district attorney (who is unopposed this year); and James Killion, who is running for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates.

***

This week’s event reminders:

Rep. Perry is the guest of honor at a reception at the Flying Bridge in Falmouth on Sunday. That runs from 5 to 7 PM.

That same day Mr. Keyes will hold a fundraiser at the Aqua Grille in Sandwich beginning at 4 PM.

Next Friday, October 22, the Committee to Elect Therese Murray and Olive and Dave Chase will host a fundraiser for Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) at the Sandwich Glass Museum from 6 to 7:30 PM. Suggested donation for both events is $50 per person.

Mr. Hunt is holding his final campaign fundraiser on Saturday, October 23 at the East Sandwich Grange Hall. The Tony Lujan Quintet will perform.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

Of the relatively few primary contests from last week, there were only two surprises to my mind, the first of which was Eric R. Steinhilber’s loss to James H. Crocker Jr. in the Republican primary for State Senator of the Cape and Islands District.

Mr. Steinhilber was an active candidate, he had a decent platform, he presented himself very well in interviews and debates, and had the support of several well-known Cape Republicans…so what happened?

Simply put, I think name recognition played into this race. Mr. Crocker has been around for a while and, especially in Barnstable, is very well-known, whereas Mr. Steinhilber is a relative newcomer.

That factor I think is a non-issue now, since Mr. Crocker’s Democratic opponent is Daniel A. Wolf, who is well-known in his own right. Their race will come down to which candidate’s platforms better resonate with Cape voters, now that what each candidate will stand in clearer contrast to the other.

Surprise the second was State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry’s (R – Sandwich) win over Joseph D. Malone in the Congressional race – which is to say, his victory was not a surprise, but how badly he crushed Malone was. I was never especially impressed by Malone, as regular readers well know, but I thought the contest would be a LOT closer than it was.

The results are not just a result of Rep. Perry’s aggressive campaigning, they are not just the result of a guy who has been in the game for the past eight years running against a guy who has been out of the game for the past 11; I firmly believe that Malone’s negative campaigning backfired in a big way.

I’m not here to slog through the merits of any of the accusations that have been tossed at Rep. Perry by Malone, the media, or a handful of bloggers with an anti-Perry bug up their collective butts. I’m only pointing out that there’s a standing theory of Massachusetts politics that Malone ignored to his peril, and indeed in his loss provided further supporting evidence: negative campaigning doesn’t work.

I wonder if William R. Keating, the Democratic candidate, will embrace that message? I somehow suspect he will not; in his victory speech he alluded to Rep. Perry’s past controversies, stating, “You stood five steps away as your partner sexually assaulted a young girl. If you couldn’t see something so despicable right under your nose, how can we depend on you in Washington?”

If Keating cannot stick to the issues and keep the mudslinging to a minimum, if not avoid it altogether, you can put good money down right now that we will in seven weeks be saying “Congressman-elect Jeff Perry.”

***

A surprise of a different sort from last week: James P. McKenna’s write-in campaign was a success, and he is now the official Republican candidate for Massachusetts Attorney General. I’m curious to see whether he can mount a successful formal campaign against Martha Coakley, who has a very solid record in that office – and he January special US Senate election loss is far enough in the background that it is unlikely to haunt her (not that the GOP won’t try, mind you).

***

Back to Mr. Keating for a moment. His campaign announced this week the candidate had been named to the “Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) highly competitive Red to Blue program by surpassing demanding fund raising goals and skillfully demonstrating to voters that he will work to create jobs and stand up for the middle class.”

This appears to be the Democrats’ answer to the GOP’s “Young Guns” initiative, to which Rep. Perry has been named.

***

Obviously the Democrats in Massachusetts, who are currently running the show, want to stay in power, and are now trying to rally supporters to keep any kind of Republican takeover from occurring — not likely, considering not enough Republicans are running for the Legislature to take away the Dem’s majority stake, but they’re still a-tryin’.

Governor Deval L. Patrick sent a strong message to his party colleagues last week, telling the Democratic Party to “grow a backbone” and take a stand against the GOP.

Now, while I’m not a fan of any one party holding all the cards and would love to see true balance in the State House, kudos to Gov. Patrick for telling the Dems to stop acting like such wimps.

***

Speaking of the governor’s race, Gov. Patrick continues to hold a slim margin over Republican Charles D. Baker Jr. in the latest Rasmussen poll: 45 percent to 42 percent. Timothy P. Cahill continues to fade into the distance, earning only five percent support from those surveyed. Another five percent supported “some other candidate” (wow, Dr. Jill E. Stein still doesn’t even merit a mention by name), and two percent were undecided.

***

Event reminders for this week:

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.

Thomas F. Keyes, Republican candidate for State Senator of the Plymouth and Barnstable District, is the guest of honor at a reception at the Beachmoor Inn in Bourne Wednesday starting at 6 PM.

David T. Vieira, Republican candidate for State Representative of the Third Barnstable District, invites the public to a “meet the candidate” night at the Pocasset Golf Club on Wednesday, October 13. Dutch and Addie Drolette are hosting the event, which runs from 4 to 6 PM. RSVP by calling 508-540-6727.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

Check www.capenews.net for the lowdown on who won what (I put this thing together on Tuesdays, hence the lack of results here), but this week marks the beginning of the election season in earnest, because all those candidates who had no primary opponents have to now wake up and start campaigning.

A precious few get to kick back and relax as they have no opponents whatsoever – Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings, Cape & Islands DA Michael D. O’Keefe, and State Representative Timothy R. Madden (D – Nantucket) – but everyone else has to do at least a little legwork.

There are some solid local races here, but also a few that I’m expecting to be rather uninspiring affairs. I look first to State Representative Susan D. Williams Gifford (R – Wareham), whose Democratic challenger David A. Smith of Wareham is thus far striking me as another in a long line of lackluster opponents for Rep. Gifford.

Turning my gaze northeastward, I see an uphill battle for Thomas F. Keyes, who is challenging Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth). Sen. Murray holds a major power position in the Legislature, has crazy cash in her campaign war chest, and – perhaps most importantly – has successfully spearheaded health care and economic development reforms in the past two years, so one cannot accuse her of having a do-nothing term in her rearview mirror.

***

Governor Deval L. Patrick’s firing up his re-election campaign and has opened several “regional coordinated campaign offices” across the state, including four on Cape Cod. If you’re looking for information on The Guv, check out the local offices at 359 Main Street in Falmouth and 4 Merchants Square in Sandwich.

The governor, by the way, received an endorsement last week from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Mayor Menino called Gov. Patrick “whuh rhl leddeh en Mussashuztz” (translated for those who don’t speak Mumble: “a real leader in Massachusetts”).

***

Dr. Jill E. Stein is hopping mad that she’s being overlooked by the Boston media.

Dr. Stein, the Green-Rainbow Party candidate, was not invited to participate in a radio debate in Boston this week, and she initially was not invited to participate in a televised debate scheduled for Tuesday – in the latter case, because her campaign war chest was about $31,000 short of meeting a minimum $100,000 threshold.

She is now going to participate in next week’s televised debate, but still got shafted from this week’s radio debate on WBZ.

The Boston Herald’s Margery Eagan opined this week that Dr. Stein should not be so catered to, and in fact should not be in the race, citing her inability to raise money on the same level as her rivals and her history of failed campaigns (governor in 2002, state representative in 2004, secretary of the Commonwealth in 2006).

Eagan rationalized that she has a snowball’s chance of winning the election, so why should the media waste time on her when that time could go to Gov. Patrick, Charles D. Baker Jr., and Timothy P. Cahill.

This arrogant attitude – “I don’t think this person can win, so I think he/she should just drop out now” – is part of what’s wrong with contemporary politics. The media adopt their darlings early on, the candidates they determine to be “viable,” and leave all others out in the cold, in the process do the voting public a grave disservice by burying the “weak” candidates under a ton of coverage for the “strong” contenders.

In the gubernatorial race it’s Dr. Stein. In the Congressional race Republicans Raymond Kasperowicz, the first guy to declare his candidacy, and Robert E. Hayden III were largely ignored in favor of State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) and Joseph D. Malone. In 2008 Jeffrey K. Beatty’s challenge to US Senator John F. Kerry (D) was barely acknowledged, even after the media’s chosen sweetheart Jim Ogonowski tanked hard by failing to collect enough signatures to earn a spot on the primary ballot.

The decision whether to run for any elected seat – and whether to continue running when “they” say it’s futile – belongs first and foremost to the candidates themselves, and then to the voters, not the media. Ever.

***

State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth) has added Virginia Ryan to his re-election campaign team. Ms. Ryan recently left her post of several years as the Housing Assistance Corporation’s assistant to the CEO/director of special projects.

***

Upcoming campaign events:

Rep. Gifford is hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Perry on Monday. That’ll be held at the Mezza Luna restaurant in Bourne from 5:30 PM to 7 PM.

Sen. Murray is the guest of honor at a September 26 fundraiser in East Sandwich. Betsy and Bill Lehrer will host that event at their home from 4 to 6 PM. For more information, e-mail Bet6453@aol.com or call 508-888-2016.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

As is often the case, the turnout for the primaries will probably be on the light side, but if you’re reading this then you better bloody well get off your cans and go out to vote on Tuesday.

There are four Republicans and two Democrats vying for their respective party nomination for US Representative of the 10th Congressional District, perhaps the Cape’s most crucial race of the season. Congressman William D. Delahunt (D) was a strong voice for the Cape for many years, and the region can’t afford to be without a staunch advocate in Washington.

Although this paper is not going to offer any endorsements for the primaries, I’ll exercise some editorial privilege and urge voters to support State Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D – Barnstable) and State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R – Sandwich) for the very reason I just cited. As Cape residents themselves, either man would immediately be a superior spokesman for the region’s needs in federal government.

You might think their general credentials pale when compared to those of, respectively, William R. Keating and Joseph D. Malone, and I’d argue that point, but there’s a greater concern here: considering the state of the economy, Cape voters need to be more than a little self-serving and stick with the hometown boys.

PS: If you don’t go out to vote and the guy you wanted to win doesn’t, you waive your right to gripe about it later.

***

By the way, Gatehouse Media’s poll on the Congressional race augers good news for Rep. Perry, bad news for everyone else. As of Tuesday Rep. Perry was winning with 48 percent of 652 voters supporting him, 36 percent backing Malone, eight percent for Republican Raymond Kasperowicz, and Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating each receiving two percent support.

***

Regular readers know that, while I list noteworthy endorsements in this column, I find them generally useless. They’re more reflective of a candidate’s political allegiances than a true measure of his or her value to the masses as an elected official.

And yet, sometimes endorsements are very telling. I look to Mr. Malone, whose endorsements have been largely from people like him: guys who used to big kind of big wheels in politics and haven’t done anything worthwhile in that arena for years. That always said to me this was a guy set in old and perhaps outdated ways of thinking.

Last week Mr. Malone got an endorsement from Christy P. Mihos, former (and spectacularly failed) gubernatorial candidate. In his endorsement, Mr. Mihos harkens back to a golden time when state government was flawless and effective and everyone was a establishment-defying reformer, and applauded Malone for being part of a glorious time that I’m sure was not at all quite that spiffy in reality.

Let’s be honest: as the saying goes, the past was never as perfect as we remember, just as the future is not always as bleak as we dread. Sometimes old ways fade into the mists of history for a good reason, and in an election cycle when – according to the national media narrative, at least – voters are crying out for fresh ideas, why should voters turn to someone whose heyday was 20 years ago?

***

Remember what I said about endorsements being about political allegiances? Well then, make of these what you will: State Representative Susan D. William Gifford (R – Wareham) is endorsing Rep. Perry’s Congressional campaign, and State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) is endorsing Daniel A. Wolf for State Senator of the Cape & Islands District.

And yet more: Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Malone got the nod from the Boston Globe last week.

Sheila R. Lyons, Democratic candidate for State Senator of the Cape & Islands District, received the endorsement of the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter – Political Action for Candidate Election.

Patricia L. Mosca, Democratic candidate for governor’s councilor of the first district, received the formal endorsement of Carole A. Fiola, the current and departing councilor.

Rep. Perry got the endorsement of the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund.

James M. Cummings, Barnstable County sheriff, has endorsed Democrat – yes, a Republican has endorsed a Democrat! – Walter Moniz in the race for governor’s councilor of the first district.

***

Now that we have all the praise out of the way, let’s move on to the obligatory last-minute controversies.

Last week the Boston Globe discovered that Timothy P. Cahill, Guy W. Glodis, and Timothy P. Murray – candidates for governor, state auditor, and lieutenant governor, respectively – all had some tax issues in their backgrounds.

The campaign committee for Mr. Cahill, the sitting state treasurer, had failed to pay about $15,000 in state taxes over the past decade. Mr. Glodis, Worcester County sheriff, had neglected to pay $2,568 in taxes on interest collected by his campaign committee between 2007 and 2009. Lt. Gov. Murray’s campaign committee failed to make tax payments on campaign fund interest in 2007 and 2008.

Mr. Cahill and Lt. Gov. Murray acted on the delinquencies right away and offered the perfunctory “This was just a simple mistake” explanations.

Sheriff Glodis, however, is being a bit more obstinate and is insisting that his campaign does not also owe federal tax payments on his accrued interest, which runs contrary to federal tax code. Not a wise position to take in light of recent revelations that he once received a questionable loan from a hedge fund manager now doing hard time in federal prison for bilking investors.

***

The gap between Governor Deval L. Patrick and Charles D. Baker Jr. continues to shrink. That latest Rasmussen poll showed that 44 percent of voters surveyed currently support Gov. Patrick, and 42 percent support Mr. Baker. Mr. Cahill trails waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind at 8 percent (Green-Rainbow Party Dr. Jill E. Stein was not named in the poll).

***

It’s not too late to plan to hit the Daily Brew in Cataumet this evening, for a fundraiser for State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D – Falmouth). He’ll be there starting at 5:30 PM for a casual meet-and-greet with voters. His special guest is Cape Cod RTA director Thomas S. Cahir, who previously held the Third Barnstable District state rep seat.

Call 508-540-6308 to RSVP.

***

This week’s event reminders:

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 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. 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.

***

Finally, a quick correction of sorts. In the ongoing verbal girly slap-fight between Sen. O’Leary and Mr. Keating, the former recently chided the latter for collecting a pension from his State House days while also serving as Norfolk County DA and running for Congress.

According to an official statement from the Keating campaign, “Bill Keating is not colleting [sic] a pension at this time. If he is elected to the serve in the Congress, he will donate the state pension he has contributed to for 33 years to the Norfolk Advocates for Children. Bill founded the Norfolk Advocates for victims of sexual abuse with money obtained in drug seizures.”

So there.

Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net

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.”

***

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

I look at it now and realize I rather wasted my time. I can sum that epic up much more succinctly, so I shall.

There are people out there, on both sides, who are trying to tell voters what is the truth. One side, led by a pair of anonymous bloggers, would have the public believe Rep. Perry’s culpability in the Scott Flanagan case is absolute and unquestionable. The other, Perry’s supporters, insist that Perry knew of nothing wrong and himself did nothing wrong in his capacity as Flanagan’s supervisor.

As is often the case, the truth is somewhere in-between these two extremes. In 2002, when I first read the court documents detailing the sordid Flanagan case, I came to the conclusion that there was no compelling proof one way or the other. There were dots that did not connect cleanly, but there was nothing that painted an incontestable picture of guilt on Perry’s part.

The Enterprise did not champion a position for or against Perry. We instead presented the evidence as best as we could — in a thorough and even-handed manner — so that the voters could make up their own minds. They did, and Rep. Perry won his 2002 legislative bid.

That is what voters need to do again as Rep. Perry runs for Congress: do the reading, weigh the facts, and make up their own minds, and not let agenda-driven bloggers presenting themselves as crusading journalists or self-interested politicians and their assorted hangers-on make it for them.

I’ve since re-read the court documents, as well as several other media accounts, and my position from 2002 is unchanged; I see nothing 100 percent exonerating or damning. If any reporter or blogger or campaign rep or Perry supporter or opponent tells you they know the “real truth” behind the story, they do not; they have established their own version of the truth and are trying to sell you on it. Don’t get suckered into that trap.

The bloggers have been for some time calling for Rep. Perry to drop out of the race over the Flanagan flap. Perry’s chief rival Joe Malone, who by all measures is trailing behind Perry in the race, is now calling for Perry to get out.

I say: stay in the race, Rep. Perry, and let the voters once again make the decision for themselves — and all parties should be prepared to live with the outcome, whatever that proves to be.