Did the sky fall with last week’s Supreme Court ruling invalidating a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act? You would certainly have thought so judging by some of […]
National Politics
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Brown biding his time?
Massachusetts Democrats ousted Scott Brown by turning the election calendar against him. The short calendar between Brown’s January 2010 election and his November 2012 defeat meant that the state’s dominant […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Another shot heard ‘round the world
As was the case a couple of hundred years ago when the question centered on a struggle for sovereignty from royal rule, in the battle for same-sex marriage rights, it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Gomez: No tea for me, thanks.
In the 2010 special US Senate election, enthusiasm from the nascent Tea Party movement helped propel Scott Brown past Martha Coakley. In the 2013 special election, the Tea Party is […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Obama stumps for Markey
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICECritiqued by his Republican opponent as a symbol of the dysfunctional Washington D.C. establishment, Congressman Ed Markey enjoyed the backing of the nation’s top Democrat Wednesday as […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Putting the nix on presidential comparisons
Resolved: President Obama has had a pretty bad week. You might even say he’s had a horrible week. You could even say he’s had the worst week of his presidency. […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Deval Patrick’s Eric Holder problem
President Barack Obama needs Gov. Deval Patrick more than ever. Republicans are gleefully salivating over not one, not two, but three administration scandals, and Attorney General Eric Holder is front […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
GOP makes the going tougher for Gomez
By all rights, Regina McCarthy’s nomination by President Obama to head the Environmental Protection Agency should be sailing through the normally partisan-riven Senate. The Dorchester native and UMass Boston graduate […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Marathon bombings cloud immigration debate
About 2,000 immigrants swore allegiance to the United States yesterday as they raised their hands to take the oath of citizenship in the World Trade Center on the South Boston […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Oil and water don’t mix for Stephen Lynch
If the Massachusetts Senate race shapes up as the first US election where the environment is a decisive factor, Stephen Lynch could be in for a very rough ride. Lynch […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Paul Ryan doesn’t get it
US Rep. Paul Ryan ran two races last fall. He went one-for-two. The House budget chief won reelection as a sort of consolation prize, but he lost the race that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Sequester, what sequester?
The sequester is finally upon us. A sense of doom may be gripping Washington, but by the time one gets to Boston, the reaction is mostly “meh.” Even though Massachusetts […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Gomez launches Senate candidacy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEGABRIEL GOMEZ officially launched his campaign for the US Senate on Thursday, describing himself as a “new kind of Republican” interested in breaking the partisan divide in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Stealth may be good
The Globe seems perplexed by Gabriel Gomez, calling his campaign for the US Senate a “stealth candidacy” with no celebratory campaign announcement, no public schedule, and no interviews. Gomez’s approach […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Obama takes pages out of Romney’s playbook
Mitt Romney wasn’t invited to the State of the Union, but he showed up anyway. Presidents rarely use their vanquished rivals to make rhetorical points, but President Obama went above […]
Posted inPolitics
Brown bows out in text to Howie Carr
Scott Brown announced he would not run to fill the US Senate seat vacated by John Kerry in a text to Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr. He followed up by […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Secretary of State John Kerry soldiers on
As John Kerry embarks on his “Thank you, Massachusetts” tour, his move out of the shadow of Ted Kennedy is complete. While Kennedy’s heart was solidly in Massachusetts, the Vietnam […]
Posted inPolitics
Mr. Cowan goes to Washington
Three years ago, Gov. Deval Patrick filled a US Senate vacancy by deferring to the empty seat’s longtime occupant: He tapped Paul Kirk, a longtime Kennedy family friend, to cast […]
Posted inPolitics
Only some opinions count
PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS, done well, offer people an opportunity to speak to their leaders in an organized way. But the hunt for Electoral College votes tends to […]
Posted inPolitics
Mixed grade for Obama’s first term
BARACK OBAMA’S FIRST TERM was marked by daunting political realities. Upon entering office, he faced an economic crisis unmatched since the Great Depression. The banking system teetered on the verge […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Tsongas coming into her own
THERE’S A LONG TRADITION in Washington of political wives following their husbands into office. Sometimes those spouses have an impact apart from anything their husband accomplished—think Hillary Clinton—but more often […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Frank talk about Chuck Hagel
With US Rep. Ed Markey all but poised to try and grab the Democratic baton in the likely match up against perennial senator-in-waiting Scott Brown, it’s gone quiet on the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Elizabeth Warren banks on a plum assignment
The financial industry spent millions trying to defeat Elizabeth Warren, but throwing money at Scott Brown didn’t work out so well. In a classic case of instant karma getting Wall […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Rubio, Rubio, wherefore art thou, Rubio?
“I’m not a scientist, man.” It only took Marco Rubio five quick words to fence around the GOP’s path out of the wilderness, and toward electability. Pretending to believe in […]