The Massachusetts Republican brand suffered more catastrophic damage, if that was possible, when Scott Brown and Richard Tisei, the party’s two leading lights, went down for the count in November. In the aftermath, however, rather than concentrate on contesting John Kerry’s US Senate seat, the state GOP has decided that the way forward is some good, old-fashioned internecine warfare.
The Republican reports that Rick Green, the First Middlesex Republican district committee member, and Quincy City Councilor Kirsten Hughes, a Brown 2012 campaign operative, are sparring over leadership of the state GOP.
Hughes has signaled a need to take the GOP message into the cities to attract new voters. She has Brown’s ear, which gives her standing among party insiders. Green wants Republicans to get up to speed in the social media game that Democrats currently dominate. As chairman of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, he has the backing of some of the more conservative elements of the state party, such as the Massachusetts Republican Assembly, which bills itself as the “Republican Wing of the Republican Party.”
For the Assembly, the November losses signaled that the party wasn’t conservative enough: “Since MassGOP insiders have consistently rejected conservative values and the losing message was not a conservative one, the absolute need for deep reform of the Massachusetts Republican Party is irrefutable,” the Assembly said.
A tussle over the soul of the party probably isn’t the best way to head into another fast-approaching election season. That’s even more true when Republicans comprise only 11 percent of the electorate and have a very thin bench of potential candidates for US senator and governor.
Bay State Republicans already seem to be preoccupied with tangential issues. Trying to paint Ed Markey, the current Democratic frontrunner in the Senate race, as being out of touch because the long-time congressman spends more time in Washington doing his district’s business than he does at the Malden Stop & Shop could potentially alienate voters in much the same way Brown’s harping on Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage did.
There’s also the more substantive debate about whether or not Republican candidates should adhere to “the People’s Pledge” to limit outside spending in upcoming races. The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby has thrown down the gauntlet, suggesting that the Brown-Warren pact was an “affront to the marketplace of ideas.” Yet the pledge has stoked interest elsewhere. A Democratic mayoral candidate in Los Angeles has already adopted a version of the pledge.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
Beacon Hill
The Massachusetts GOP wants to make tax breaks harder to pass, the Associated Press reports (via WBUR).
Gov. Deval Patrick taps Steven Tompkins, a top aide to outgoing Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, as her replacement. Cabral was sworn in yesterday at the state’s new secretary of public safety. Patrick shrugs off criticism of the pick, reasoning that the post is “a political job.”
CommonWealth’s Paul McMorrow, in his weekly Globe column, takes aim at state redevelopment plans for the 22-story former courthouse in East Cambridge.
Municipal Matters
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua files his campaign finance reports for 2011 and 2012, narrowly beating a deadline set by Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Two Braintree pubs, including one co-owned by state Sen. Robert Hedlund of Weymouth, are facing disciplinary actions after allegedly serving an intoxicated man out celebrating his 21st birthday.
The Worcester Housing Authority identifies $1.6 million in fraud over the past five years by residents, the Telegram & Gazette reports.
A controversial permit application for an Asian supermarket is back before the Quincy City Council after a judge accepted a lawsuit settlement that includes barring the council’s most vocal opponent from voting on the matter this time.
New Bedford officials are launching a crackdown on problem and absentee landlords, billing the owners for police visits and filing liens on unpaid bills to begin seizure proceedings.
Leominster approves an innovation school.
Casinos
A Bridgewater task force is studying potential impacts on the town if the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe builds a casino in Taunton as well as the impact of a potential casino by a private developer in Bridgewater if the Taunton proposal falls through.
National Politics/Washington
The Times of London says Beyonce was lip synching the Star-Spangled Banner at President Obama’s inauguration. The Globe weighs in with an editorial taking the star to task.
A shooting at Lone Star College in Texas puts a spotlight on legislation that would allow students, faculty, and staff to carry concealed weapons on campus for personal protection, the Daily Beast reports.
Elections
Joe Biden says that he has not decided what he is going to do in 2016.
The National Review says Mitt Romney’s transition team, internally dubbed “The Readiness Project,” was more impressive than the campaign staff; they just didn’t get a chance to do anything.
Business/Economy
Landings of cod expected to be cut dramatically by fishery regulators, the Gloucester Times reports. The four-person panel from the New England Fisheries Management Council is recommending catches from the Gulf of Maine be reduced by 80 percent and Georges Bank by 61 percent.
Nonprofits are urging Congress not to eliminate the discounted postage rate for charities as lawmakers mull how to bail out the debt-ridden Postal Service.
Education
Boston school officials roll out three proposals for revamping the city’s student assignment system. All would lead, on average, to students attending schools closer to home than is the case under the current scheme.
North Shore Community College President Wayne Burton is retiring this summer, the Salem News reports.
The Atlantic rounds up severe state cuts to higher education over the past five years. Massachusetts ranks tenth on the list. Collectively, the magazine says, states are spending 10.8 percent less on higher ed than they were five years ago.
Health Care
NPR reports on the racial divide for ADHD diagnosis.
The Wall Street Journal examines Boston’s spectacularly failed bid to shed 1 million pounds.
Transportation
The main artery of the MBTA’s Green Line goes offline at the height of the morning commute because of a smoldering electrical cable.
Energy/Environment
The Cape Cod Times explores the recent problems of the Plymouth’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, including Monday’s shutdown.
Two offshore fuel terminals, built at costs of $350 million and $400 million to offload imported natural gas, sit idle because the price of natural gas has plummeted, the Globe reports.
Criminal Justice
Aisling McCarthy Brady, the Irish nanny charged with assaulting a 1-year-old Cambridge girl in her care, pleads not guilty at her arraignment.
Media
The Donald may be exploring ways to buy the New York Times.
The Nieman Journalism Lab explores how to redesign news beats.
Paul Levy sings the praises of the Boston Courant — and community newspapers in general — for focusing on stories such as Hiscock Park in Boston’s South End.
