Friday, September 15, 2006

Why Kerry Healey Will Win in November

AKA: Massachusetts Liberalism In a Nutshell

This post, written by a member of the so-called "reality-based" community over at The Daily Kos (and linked at Blue Mass. Group), pretty much nails it.

I wasn't planning to vote in the primary two weeks ago. Now I am, for Deval Patrick.

It's this simple: Patrick's campaign is running advertisements in which Patrick touts progressive Democratic concerns. On the other hand, Gabrieli has been running ads that argue, "It shouldn't matter whether an idea is Democratic or Republican, as long as it works."

That clears things up well enough for me!


In other words, it doesn't matter if a candidate has anything worthwhile to say, or anything resembling a feasible strategy for implementing sound policy. Results be damned, as long as there's a "D" next to his name and he moves in lockstep with the Ding-Dong wing of the party, he's my guy! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to flip over my Donovan record and get back to weaving my free-range hemp underpants.

This warped sense of logic might play well on the Loony Left websites, and in the hallowed halls of academia, where such thinking is encouraged and revered, but fortunately, for the rest of us living on planet Earth, that train runs out of track pretty damn quick once it weaves its way past the concertina wire perimeter and sees the light of day.

If that Gabrieli ad cleared up anything it was Kerry Healey's campaign strategy. She knows full well that Chris Gabrieli is the candidate with the best chance of beating her in November, hence, the negative ads from the Healey camp attacking Gabrieli's ties to companies that could stand to benefit financially from taxpayer-funded stem cell research here in the Bay State - a bit of a pre-emptive "just in case" strike, if you will.

Some folks have been postulating that she's running these ads, because she's afraid to take on Deval Patrick in the general election and she actually wants the Democrats to nominate Gabrieli, who some think would be easier prey for her to devour in the fall.

That argument holds as much water as a marble.

Now, if a majority of the voters in Massachusetts actually shared that Kos Kiddie's outlook on this matter, then you could probably make that argument stick. But, what I see happening is that once again, the moderate (relatively speaking) candidate [read: electable], will be given the cold shoulder by the party hardliners, in favor of the more left-leaning candidate who will serve only to lead the lemmings over the cliff.

Again.

Think 2004. If the Democrats pulling the party strings back then had half a brain amongst the lot of 'em, they would have nominated Joe Lieberman to run against George Bush, instead of selling out to the MoveOn.commies, and there would be a Democrat eating breakfast in the White House this morning.

All that said, with only a few days to go until primary day, it will be quite a task for Gabrieli to overcome Patrick's lead in the polls - though not an impossible one.

Assuming for a moment, that Patrick goes on to win the nomination on Tuesday (but, again, anything can happen in Massachusetts politics), the one thing it would definitely "clear up" would be Kerry Healey's calendar, giving her plenty of time to concentrate on writing her victory speech.