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Your editors bring you the following recommendations for tomorrow's state primary.
US Senate: John Kerry. This was not a difficult call for us. We applaud Ed O'Reilly's spirited campaign, and we are disappointed in Senator Kerry's failure to live up to his own rhetoric about the importance of an informed electorate and vigorous participation in the democratic process by grudgingly agreeing to a single 20-minute debate. But Senator Kerry remains an important leader both locally and nationally on issues that matter to all of us. And anyone who saw his convention speech could have no doubt that he still has plenty of fire in his belly. We'd like to see more of that guy, and less of the overly cautious one who sometimes shows up. But we see no compelling reason to turn out someone as effective as Kerry has been in favor of someone who found chairing the Gloucester School Committee too time-consuming.
Middlesex Register of Probate: Thomas Concannon (write-in). We've been over this before; no reason to reiterate it all now. Suffice it to say that, while pablo makes an interesting case for voting for Buonomo on the assumption that, having resigned his office, Buonomo will withdraw from the ballot if he wins the primary and thereby trigger a caucus, we find even a small risk that Buonomo might change his mind and end up on the general election ballot to be unacceptable. We urge you to write in Thomas Concannon, and let the chips fall where they may. You can download printable stickers at this link.
Second Suffolk Senate: Sonia Chang-Diaz. Again, this is an easy call for us. Despite Dianne Wilkerson's long and impressive record of advocacy for progressive causes, she remains unable to get her own house in order. She has recently paid a fine of thousands of dollars to settle campaign finance violations, and questions continue to arise about her compliance with the laws that just about everyone else seems to manage with little difficulty. Having the right set of beliefs is a necessary but not sufficient qualification for holding an office of public trust. We respect and honor Wilkerson's record of service to progressive causes, but we believe it is time for someone to hold that seat who will both advocate for progressive causes and will meet the high ethical standards that her constituents deserve. Sonia Chang-Diaz is that person.
In addition, one of the few disagreements on the issues between the two candidates is the scary-virus biolab that Boston University wants to open in the district. Chang-Diaz opposes it (or, at least, is very cautious). Wilkerson supports it, perhaps to keep Mayor Menino happy. Whatever Wilkerson's reasons for supporting the biolab, Chang-Diaz has much the better of this issue.
34th Middlesex State Rep: Carl Sciortino (write-in). And speaking of easy calls, this one's a no-brainer. Sciortino is one of the best state reps we have -- a solid, hard-working progressive who has already developed a fine track record in his relatively short time in the State House. He richly deserves reelection. It is most unfortunate that he has to run as a write-in candidate, but here's hoping that his organization is adept enough to supply voters with all the stickers they need. There's lots of information on the write-in campaign at this link.
35th Middlesex State Rep: you be the judge. There are two solid progressives running to unseat Rep. Paul Donato, who has not exactly distinguished himself when it comes to progressive causes. Both Patrick McCabe and Jim Caralis (a BMG regular, and the creator of the excellent OpenMass website) would do the district proud. We are not inclined to endorse one of them over the other; rather, we urge progressives in the district to check them both out and make an informed choice. By way of disclosure, Charley has been volunteering for the McCabe campaign.
