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Will progressives elect a conservative in Brighton?
By adamg on Sat, 03/12/2005 - 11:58am
David worries what will happen in Brighton in Tuesday's special election:
There's a real risk that the "progressive" vote in next Tuesday's special election to fill Brian Golden's seat in the 18th Suffolk district will be split between two candidates, Tim Schofield and Michael Moran. And the result, if that happens, could be disastrous, as it could mean victory for ex-Golden aide Greg Glennon. Golden was a true DINO who campaigned for President Bush and now works for the Romney administration, and Glennon can be expected to carry on Golden's distinctly non-progressive ways if he wins. ...
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Comments
progressive vote unifying behind Schofield
I think this risk is being minimized by the fact that most of the local grassroots and progressive groups, and the Boston ward 21 Democratic committee, have pulled together behind Schofield. Schofield has active volunteers for canvassing, GOTV, and phone banks, from MassEquality, Progressive Dems of MA and Progressive Dems of Somerville, Democracy for America (both the national organization and all the local meetup groups), and others. These are the same groups of people who pulled off Sciortino's surprise upset in the 34th Middlesex last year - they contribute a lot of GOTV muscle.
Schofield is clearly in a stronger position than Moran, currently. The danger is that Moran might drain some votes from Schofield, and the Globe and Phoenix endorsements do increase that danger, but I think the larger and more motivated volunteer force can mitigate that.
I think this is a pretty libe
I think this is a pretty liberal use of the word disaster, a slightly more moderate democrat could be elected to a crummy Massachusetts state election? Horrors!
The REAL progressive in the race - Schofield
At public forums I've been to, only Schofield stood strongly for choice, for gay rights, and against the death penalty. To me, Moran's claims to be a progressive just don't hold up. He's previously supported the death penalty after all, a means of punishment which falls disproportionately on those without means and on minorities. It's the antithesis of a progressive issue. He's also worked for councillor Steve Murphy, a foe of gay rights. And he's been kind of hazy on affirmative action.
Of course, Moran is trying to sell himself as a progressive because he knows well enough that the district is progressive. But spin can only go so far. Tim Schofield has been right on the issues from the get go, and it's no wonder that he's been endorsed by a long list of progressive organizations and individuals.
Moran even seems to be arguing lately that progressive voters should "unite" and vote for him to keep Glennon from gaining the seat. Keeping Glennon out is a real concern. But that's exactly why so many progressive organizations have contributed so much volunteer effort to Schofield's campaign - because they judged his campaign to be the most well run and to have the best chance of winning. People like Robert Reich and groups like the Commonwealth Coalition don't lend their names lightly.
This is going to come down to GOTV. If you're reading this and you're a Schofield supporter, call the campaign office at 617-232-0043 and volunteer for a shift or several.