| Jon Keller wrote on his blog (and reiterated in last night's conversation with us) that Christy Mihos, for all of his faults as a gubernatorial candidate, "has an interesting habit of being proven right about virtually everything he says about the Big Dig." Keller continues:
Mihos has consistently forecast the parade of problems with the Big Dig, the leaks, the shoddy workmanship, the lack of proper oversight, and now, the dire public-safety consequences of the whole fiasco. He had repeatedly called on Tom Reilly and Mitt Romney to take a much more aggressive posture, seizing records, firing managers, and so on. And he has predicted that the whole shambles would dissolve into criminal prosecutions.
All true. And all of which got me thinking: isn't it too bad that Mihos is wasting his time and money running a quixotic campaign for Governor when he could be doing something really constructive?
Mihos clearly has a talent for spotting waste and mismanagement, particularly when it comes to the Big Dig, and for speaking up loudly about it, no matter who he irks in the process. On the other hand, he clearly (IMHO anyway) does not have a talent for being a very good politician, or for demonstrating the kinds of qualities that most people want in the person running the state. Gosh, if only there were some job in which Mihos could put the talents he has to good use, and in which he wouldn't need those other skills that he lacks...
Oh yeah! There is such a job: the State Auditor. The Auditor's job is to "to ensure that funds are spent in an appropriate manner. In so doing, the State Auditor provides the Governor, Legislature, auditees, and the public with an independent financial, managerial, and technical assessment of the state's agencies, activities, contracts, and programs." In other words, the Auditor is essentially the state's whistleblower-in-chief. Sounds like a pretty good match for Mihos's talents.
Now, of course, there is one problem: we already have an Auditor, in the person of Democrat Joe DeNucci, and DeNucci is running for reelection to the office to which he was first elected in - get this - 1986. Really, though, I'm sure DeNucci is a nice man and everything, but when was the last time you heard about the Auditor revealing major-league fraud, waste, or mismanagement in state government?
DeNucci has no Democratic opponent in the primary, no Republican opponent in the general, and apparently must overcome only the Working Families candidate (who describes his own chances as "highly unlikely") to retain his job for another four years. Meanwhile, the questions about whether state money has been wasted are more urgent than ever. It's time for a change in that office.
In many ways, Mihos is the ideal person to challenge DeNucci. He's unenrolled - an excellent attribute in someone running for the job of calling out mismanagement regardless of which party was responsible. He's got a high enough profile, because of both his time on the Turnpike Authority and his gubernatorial campaign, and he's got enough money, that he could generate the media and public attention he would need to run an effective campaign against a long-time incumbent. And he's got a track record of doing pretty much exactly what the Auditor is supposed to do.
Moreover, what a revelation it would be to have an effective State Auditor! It's actually a great idea to elect the Auditor, rather than having him or her be appointed, because (at least in theory) an elected official is accountable only to the people, not to the party or the individual making the appointment. As Auditor, Mihos would have the ability to cause exactly the kind of shake-ups in state government that he wants to cause - and he'd be able to do a lot more in that office than he would by grabbing 10-15% of the vote in a gubernatorial election.
So what do you say, Christy? Let's face facts: you're not going to win the Governor's race. Here's a statewide office that you actually could win, that matches your talents well, and in which you could do a great service to the people of Massachusetts. (You'd even get to be Acting Governor if the Gov, Lt. Gov, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer happened to be out of state simultaneously!) There's plenty of time to change your mind and collect the 5,000 signatures you need by August 1. And I bet you'd find that a lot of people who aren't interested in your gubernatorial campaign would back you for Auditor.
Go for it. |
