Boston mayoral election

[Garys]

Seriously. I don't think either of these guys is capable of a 'fix'.

That said, I'll confess my own disposition. I didn't vote - just couldn't get motivated. In doing the math I just wasn't able to get any feel for how my life (or my city for that matter) would be better or worse off with one or the other.

My wife's union was behind Walsh but I'd be surprised if she actually got around to voting herself.

I'm just happy not to have people ringing the door and having to pick up and discard a stack of campaign pamphlets every day.

This confuses me since Walsh is supposed to be on 718s side in a certain issue of importance to her union.

Other than that, I'm don't think a whole lot will change for most people in Boston. Whoever wins will continue whatever policies of Menino's policies that he agrees with and dump the others. Of course one of the first things to be done will be removing Menino's name from signs, vehicles, buildings, stationary, and so on, and replacing it with his name. Any department heads that haven't already left (Ed Davis) will be expected to tender their resignations. Then he'll appoint his own people to those positions and bring others in as staff.

The city will continue along it's trajectory more or less unchanged.

 

[Riverside]

I don't blame you for not voting. There just is not much of a difference between them, they are just typical D's. One thing I think might hurt Connolly is his very limited campaign. He seemed fixated on education and being the "education mayor". That I think only sells to certain people. How much does a 60 yr old with adult kids care about the schools? How much does a 25 yr old? He should have pushed several issues and not focus so much on the schools.

For a poster who wrote in Post # 42 on this thread:

" If someone likes Boston, hey good luck to you. I know the city well and have been to every neighborhood. It is a sh!thole. There are drugs everywhere, crime all over, the worst roads in the country, the people suck, oh yeah and the traffic and terrible layout tops it. All cities suck, they are liberal hell holes filled with poverty, crime and drugs.

If I were given free rent in Boston, I'd say no. I'm not dealing with the crap of that place, not now, not ever. "

You certainly have continued to seem quite interested in Boston's Election despite your previous derogatory remarks about the City and those of us who live here.

 

[Garys]

With 13% of precincts reporting, Connolly up 52%-48%. Might be a long night for the candidates and their peeps.

 

[Hoover]

For a poster who wrote in Post # 42 on this thread:

" If someone likes Boston, hey good luck to you. I know the city well and have been to every neighborhood. It is a sh!thole. There are drugs everywhere, crime all over, the worst roads in the country, the people suck, oh yeah and the traffic and terrible layout tops it. All cities suck, they are liberal hell holes filled with poverty, crime and drugs.

If I were given free rent in Boston, I'd say no. I'm not dealing with the crap of that place, not now, not ever. "

You certainly have continued to seem quite interested in Boston's Election despite your previous derogatory remarks about the City and those of us who live here.

Oh don't get me wrong, I hate that place. I hate this state too. But I hope both get better. Menino dropping dead would be nice, but I hope many more follow.

 

[M1911]

One is a union liberal, the other is a limousine liberal. If I had to pick between the evil of two lessers, I might go with Walsh, mainly because I think he is less pompous. But I live in the burbs so all I can do is kibitz from the sidelines.

The one saving grace of this election is that Menino hates both of them.

 

[Riverside]

According to Boston.com, Connolly has conceded the race and Walsh is the winner.

 

[Hoover]

Kathy Goode, 52, from Dorchester, said her husband is in a cook’s union, and she voted for Walsh because of his strong ties with unions and because he has overcome personal tribulations — specifically alcoholism.Kathy Goode, 52, from Dorchester, said her husband is in a cook’s union, and she voted for Walsh because of his strong ties with unions and because he has overcome personal tribulations — specifically alcoholism. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...ston_eastie_casino_fails#sthash.IwzXx32F.dpuf

Kathy Goode, 52, from Dorchester, said her husband is in a cook’s union, and she voted for Walsh because of his strong ties with unions and because he has overcome personal tribulations — specifically alcoholism. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...ston_eastie_casino_fails#sthash.IwzXx32F.dpuf

He gave up drinking and that gets a vote? Oh brother. And cooks have unions? What a screwed up state we live in.

 

[flintoid]

Boston is still under the thumb of a union thug. Go figure.

I was kind of hoping Connolly would win it with his emphasis on education. As I have a young family, I was sort of excited about that.

What's funny is that while I can be a drunk, I have never had "bouts with alcoholism" or "recovered" from any state there-of. And I can't think of a worse person to lead a city- someone who can't keep his mouth off of a bottle of booze. Perhaps that's why his long-time girlfriend never marries him: he gets too sloppy and offensive to be marriage material.

 

[Gillham]

I didn't vote. I'm a bad Bostonian.

 

[M1911]

He gave up drinking and that gets a vote? Oh brother..

What gets a vote is the help that he has given a lot of people -- people who others have written off as not worth helping: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...artin-walsh/wXThr9upmQWDXwqkbSljVL/story.html

Are you really surprised that folks that he helped when they were down and out now support him?

And I can't think of a worse person to lead a city- someone who can't keep his mouth off of a bottle of booze.

He's been sober for 18 years.

There may be many reasons why he may be the wrong person to lead the city (for example, he's in the unions' pocket), but this isn't one of them, IMO.

 

[richc]

Boston is still under the thumb of a union thug. Go figure.

I was kind of hoping Connolly would win it with his emphasis on education. As I have a young family, I was sort of excited about that.

What's funny is that while I can be a drunk, I have never had "bouts with alcoholism" or "recovered" from any state there-of. And I can't think of a worse person to lead a city- someone who can't keep his mouth off of a bottle of booze. Perhaps that's why his long-time girlfriend never marries him: he gets too sloppy and offensive to be marriage material.

Ray Flynn was quite the opposite of a tea totaller. His drinking was legendary.

 

[Hoover]

What gets a vote is the help that he has given a lot of people -- people who others have written off as not worth helping: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...artin-walsh/wXThr9upmQWDXwqkbSljVL/story.html

Are you really surprised that folks that he helped when they were down and out now support him?



He's been sober for 18 years.

There may be many reasons why he may be the wrong person to lead the city (for example, he's in the unions' pocket), but this isn't one of them, IMO.

If he personally helped them, sure. But that nitwits statement was idiotic. He's smarter than Menino but not by much. He's pretty slow, pretty damn slow. Also, I official hate him, he got on stage and joyously said he just talked to the washington dc thug in charge and...

He'll be under indictment within 5 years for corruption ala the other D felons.

 

[flintoid]

He's been sober for 18 years.

There may be many reasons why he may be the wrong person to lead the city (for example, he's in the unions' pocket), but this isn't one of them, IMO.

Oh, you are right. I'm just bitter in a bit of disappointment.

Functional is still functional. Alcoholic, recovered, or not.

 

[M1911]

If he personally helped them, sure.

No ifs about it. He personally helped many, many people.

As I said, he may well be the wrong guy, but I don't see this as a reason to condemn him.

 

[Hoover]

What gets a vote is the help that he has given a lot of people -- people who others have written off as not worth helping: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...artin-walsh/wXThr9upmQWDXwqkbSljVL/story.html

Are you really surprised that folks that he helped when they were down and out now support him?



He's been sober for 18 years.

There may be many reasons why he may be the wrong person to lead the city (for example, he's in the unions' pocket), but this isn't one of them, IMO.

If he personally helped them, sure. But that nitwits statement was idiotic. He's smarter than Menino but not by much. He's pretty slow, pretty damn slow. Also, I official hate him, he got on stage and joyously said he just talked to the washington dc thug in charge and...

He'll be under indictment within 5 years for corruption ala the other D felons.

 

[drgrant]

One is a union liberal, the other is a limousine liberal. If I had to pick between the evil of two lessers, I might go with Walsh, mainly because I think he is less pompous. But I live in the burbs so all I can do is kibbutz from the sidelines.

The one saving grace of this election is that Menino hates both of them.

All the choices were terrible, but the fact that Mumbles hates the winner is a step in a better direction.

-Mike

 

[garandman]

He gave up drinking and that gets a vote? Oh brother. And cooks have unions? What a screwed up state we live in.

The fact that he was open and honest about that helped some people decide he was honest and humble.

Walsh lives three streets over, and all the long term residents here know him. One of the reasons he won is that most of the people he met decided they liked him. Connelly was much better talking about policies, out not personable in the way Walsh is.

There are some people who believe he will be more successful at dealing with unions than Connelly would have been. He can say, "Look, I know where you are coming from, and this is what we can do."

No expert but the problem I saw with Connelly was that he only sounded authentic on education. Many of his other positions seemed to come from think-tanks or academics. Small business, he wanted to create a "Small business venture capital fund." We asked "Really? No micro-loan program? No crowd sourcing?" Ditto public safety: vague statements about crime, but nothing that seemed concrete or actionable. And on. He had many of the families with children in BPS, younger voters, wealthier voters, many small business owners, and in one poll 80% of Republicans (Beacon Hill I'm guessing).

The one area where we had some success was keeping lawful gun owners from being the target. We contacted many campaigns, showed them the crime and gun stats during Menino's tenure, and asked, "Do you plan to continue with Mayor Menino's failed policies?" Some did - but Connelly and Walsh seemed to be trying not to get locked into those policies.

We also pointed out to both campaigns that while there were not a huge number of gun owners voting in Boston, there were a huge number of gun owners outside the state who could contribute to their opponent.

Do I think there will be wholesale changes soon? No way. We'll see who becomes police commissioner. I believe the communities of color will press hard for an outsider to be brought in, while others are pushing for an insider. Interesting to see how that goes.

 

[garandman]

Registered Voters 372064

MAYOR CTY
Precincts Reporting 255 100.0 %
Total Votes 140,680
MARTIN J WALSH 72,514 51.55%
JOHN R CONNOLLY 67,606 48.06%
Write-in Votes 560 0.40%

Boston is still under the thumb of a union thug. Go figure.

I was kind of hoping Connolly would win it with his emphasis on education. As I have a young family, I was sort of excited about that.

What's funny is that while I can be a drunk, I have never had "bouts with alcoholism" or "recovered" from any state there-of. And I can't think of a worse person to lead a city- someone who can't keep his mouth off of a bottle of booze. Perhaps that's why his long-time girlfriend never marries him: he gets too sloppy and offensive to be marriage material.

In my personal opinion this a very unfair statement.

Nobody chooses to be an alcoholic and by all accounts he has been sober for many years. Ask anyone you know with a drinking problem how easy it is to stay sober like that. It's the ones (Ray Flynn comes to mind) who are in denial that are a problem. The Globe savaged Flynn over his drinking habits.

 

[WatchCityCPA]

In my personal opinion this a very unfair statement.

Nobody chooses to be an alcoholic and by all accounts he has been sober for many years. Ask anyone you know with a drinking problem how easy it is to stay sober like that. It's the ones (Ray Flynn comes to mind) who are in denial that are a problem. The Globe savaged Flynn over his drinking habits.

In my personal opinion this is a ridiculous, irresponsible and simply vile statement.

Nobody chooses to be an alcoholic??? Do government thugs force drinks into one's hand and watch him drink for years until his/her liver and brain turn to mush? Wow - I did not have you pegged as an apologist.

Everybody who becomes an alcoholic has chosen to drink, then chosen to drink to excess, then chosen to continue doing so... for a long time before alcohol dependency kicks in making it harder to choose to stop.

 

[M1911]

Folks, let's turn it down a notch and discuss the issues without personal attacks.


I'll put it somewhat differently. For some people, they made many bad choices on the way to becoming an alcoholic. For others, they seemed to drink alcoholicly from the get go. Regardless of how they got there, staying sober isn't easy for them -- if it was easy, then chances are they weren't an alcoholic.

Yes, they made bad choices and are responsible for their actions. And if they take responsibility, do their best to right the wrongs they have committed, and then work to help others, then I don't condemn them.

 

[Bendad97]

Reading these posts makes me think it's time for a drink....

 

[WatchCityCPA]

Reading these posts makes me think it's time for a drink....

Be advised that it will take a while until your drinking habit becomes a political advantage - for that, you need to dedicate yourself to drinking for the long term, finally quit, then spend the rest of your life telling your success story to everybody who will listen.

Note: I do agree that Walsh has genuinely tried to help lots of individuals in similar situations... but he's still making political hay from his bout with alcoholism and subsequent recovery.

 

[M1911]

Note: I do agree that Walsh has genuinely tried to help lots of individuals in similar situations... but he's still making political hay from his bout with alcoholism and subsequent recovery.

That's not what the Globe article said. According to the Globe article, he didn't talk about it much, but a bunch of people who he had helped decided to volunteer for him. And those people felt strongly enough about what he did to help them that they made it known.

I don't think it is wrong for him to acknowledge that he has, still does, go out of his way to help people. What is wrong with that?

 

[Garys]

It's Boston, the fix is in Walsh will win.

And the St. Louis Cardinals will win the 2013 World Series CUP!

 

[WatchCityCPA]

That's not what the Globe article said. According to the Globe article, he didn't talk about it much, but a bunch of people who he had helped decided to volunteer for him. And those people felt strongly enough about what he did to help them that they made it known.

I don't think it is wrong for him to acknowledge that he has, still does, go out of his way to help people. What is wrong with that?

No problem with helping people (even when one could argue that it's a form of patronage since some of those people go push for his election - but that's stretching it some). No problem with getting credit for the help he's giving personally, but I do have a problem with him directing government resources to causes that benefit him politically

Was merely making a point that he is talking about his alcoholism and recovery (directly to the press or indirectly through his volunteers) and it results in political capital for him. It's a free country and he can do it, I just find it surprising that people consider his alcoholism and recovery to be a reason to vote for him.

Kathy Goode, 52, from Dorchester, said her husband is in a cook’s union, and she voted for Walsh because of his strong ties with unions and because he has overcome personal tribulations — specifically alcoholism. From http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...o_eastie_casino#sthash.IwzXx32F.sQZJ5RRZ.dpuf

From the article you posted earlier:

Barbuto is among the volunteers who make up the most unorthodox and perhaps most ardent group of volunteers of this campaign season: reformed alcoholics and drug addicts whose shared vulnerability has made them devoted acolytes of Walsh.

“We’re not organizing in the halls of AA,” Walsh said. “That’s not appropriate.”


Still, word got around, and individual volunteers enlisted.

We're not organizing... it's just that my involvement with AA is bringing me a bunch of really committed volunteers.

Though Walsh doesn’t use his sobriety in his stump speech, it comes up on the trail. At his campaign kickoff, he was introduced by James Taylor, a 61-year-old Dorchester resident Walsh had helped years ago, on a night Walsh was at Boston Medical Center to help someone else get into detox. Taylor was down and out, with no place to go. Walsh got him into a halfway house and invited him to come visit the State House after he got his act together.

Look, ma - I'm not talking about it - I just arranged for somebody else to bring it up so I look better

If you choose to assume that Walsh is doing all this out of the goodness of his own heart with complete disregard for the political benefits he's getting from it, feel free to.

I'm more cynical (and have seen plenty of people in the past get involved with charities and volunteering opportunities because of the benefits they were expecting to get later by posting this on their resume), so I believe that while he is helping, he knows very well that his involvement will pay big political dividends. Does that decrease the value of his volunteering in my eyes? Of course. But what matters in the end is what the people he's helping feel, and they helped make him mayor. Smartly played... now let's wait for the inevitable union payoffs.

 

[M1911]

No problem with getting credit for the help he's giving personally, but I do have a problem with him directing government resources to causes that benefit him politically

That's a different issue. I share your concern with him taking $175k from the unions while being a state rep.

It's a free country and he can do it, I just find it surprising that people consider his alcoholism and recovery to be a reason to vote for him.

If someone was down and out due to their addiction, and Walsh helped them out of the gutter, out of addiction, and back to being a productive member of society, don't you think they would be thankful to him? Don't you think that their families and friends would be thankful to him?

If you choose to assume that Walsh is doing all this out of the goodness of his own heart with complete disregard for the political benefits he's getting from it, feel free to.

I'm more cynical (and have seen plenty of people in the past get involved with charities and volunteering opportunities because of the benefits they were expecting to get later by posting this on their resume), so I believe that while he is helping, he knows very well that his involvement will pay big political dividends.

I'm sorry, but I think you are all wrong here. I expect that campaigning for Mayor in a city like Boston is an all-out job, from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. How many politicians have you met who would take time from that to take multiple calls every day from alcoholics and addicts who need help or just need someone to talk to? For 18 years he has been talking and meeting with those people. They would figure out pretty darn quick if he wasn't genuine.

 

[Hoover]

darnit, sorry Hoover, I meant to reply with quote not edit your post. Sigh. New moderator still getting used to the menus. My bad.

 

[M1911]

Hoover, I absolutely agree with you that the union's money and manpower were a critical factor in the election. Those unions will undoubtedly want some return on that investment and Walsh has carried their water on Bacon Hill for years.

I hate Menino, but one thing I have to give him is that he kept Boston financially solvent. I hope Walsh is able to curtail the unions' power, but I have my doubts. Only a conservative like Nixon had the political room to maneuver to negotiate with China, so some may say that only someone with Walsh's credentials has the room to maneuver with the unions. But I'm skeptical that Walsh is that guy.

Time will tell (and pretty quickly as the police union contract is on the front burner).

 

[WatchCityCPA]

...
If someone was down and out due to their addiction, and Walsh helped them out of the gutter, out of addiction, and back to being a productive member of society, don't you think they would be thankful to him? Don't you think that their families and friends would be thankful to him?

The quote said nothing about getting help from him:

Kathy Goode, 52, from Dorchester, said her husband is in a cook’s union, and she voted for Walsh because of his strong ties with unions and because he has overcome personal tribulations — specifically alcoholism.
“He’s an honest man that has been through a lot, overcome a lot,” she said. “I really feel he has the best interest of the ordinary people who work in the city.”
- From: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...o_eastie_casino#sthash.IwzXx32F.LHtZY0Ns.dpuf

It merely states that being an alcoholic, then beating the addiction makes a politician more electable. I strongly disagree with that point of view.

...

I'm sorry, but I think you are all wrong here. I expect that campaigning for Mayor in a city like Boston is an all-out job, from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. How many politicians have you met who would take time from that to take multiple calls every day from alcoholics and addicts who need help or just need someone to talk to? For 18 years he has been talking and meeting with those people. They would figure out pretty darn quick if he wasn't genuine.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one

 

[Hoover]

Hoover, I absolutely agree with you that the union's money and manpower were a critical factor in the election. Those unions will undoubtedly want some return on that investment and Walsh has carried their water on Bacon Hill for years.

I hate Menino, but one thing I have to give him is that he kept Boston financially solvent. I hope Walsh is able to curtail the unions' power, but I have my doubts. Only a conservative like Nixon had the political room to maneuver to negotiate with China, so some may say that only someone with Walsh's credentials has the room to maneuver with the unions. But I'm skeptical that Walsh is that guy.

Time will tell (and pretty quickly as the police union contract is on the front burner).

Oh they definitely want a return. The issue pol's in states and cities have is their charters or constitutions often require a balanced budget. There are ways to fudge but it's not like the feds who just spend to oblivion. So if he goes overboard, taxes will be raised and people will flip. I have no idea if he'll take a stand against them to some degree. The one thing I think he might do is be more friendly to the development of the city. I don't think Menino was very friendly to development unless his cronies were getting a cut.


Nixon wasn't a conservative. He wanted universal healthcare, price controls, etc. He was a pretty liberal guy.