| How to describe this? It's courtesy of sharp-eyed Adam Reilly at the Phoenix, who apparently makes the Taunton Gazette one of his daily reads!
"I voted for Reilly, but now I am going with Healey, because I have heard that Patrick supports the idea of giving in-state tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants," said Charlie Flannery, owner of Flannery Real Estate in Taunton. "I think having a republican governor will help maintain a balance of power in a predominantly Democrat-run state - and she is a babe."
As Adam notes, the state's foremost proponent of in-state tuition for children of undocumented immigrants is: Tom Reilly. D'oh! Plus, "she is a babe"?? My goodness. Well, Mr. Flannery, I'm sure Team Healey is psyched to have you ... maybe.
Adam also points to a SHNS item in which Rep. Eugene "Portugal" O'Flaherty (among other hacks) castigates Deval Patrick for being too much of a lefty.
O'Flaherty, the House Judiciary Committee chair who supported Attorney General Thomas Reilly's campaign, told reporters, "I support the Democratic nominee but I would also want to make it clear that I think in order for the Democratic nominee to become electable, what has to happen is he has to get rid of the notion that has been percolating around out there that he is a liberal left-leaning individual that will bring Massachusetts back to what some have referred to as the 'Mike Dukakis era..' "
O'Flaherty added: "He needs to make that case over the next several weeks to Democrats like myself who have been increasingly frustrated over the last 16 years over the ability of Republicans to divide Democrats" and cause some to leave the party. In order for conservative Democrats to be comfortable with Patrick, "we need to know a little bit more about him. "It has to be a little bit more than 'Together, We Can'," O'Flaherty said, referring to Patrick's campaign slogan.
As Adam correctly notes, O'Flaherty might as well have been reading from Kerry Healey's debate prep book. Reportedly, the Patrick campaign declined comment, no doubt because they're too polite.
Fortunately, I'm not. Guess what, Eugene: it's "Democrats like yourself" that have given Kerry Healey whatever chance she has of winning this election. O'Flaherty, aptly deemed "The Zell Miller of Charlestown" by Charley, is particularly at fault for this situation: as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, he was the one who engineered the now-notorious watering-down of the drunk driving bill that eventually became Melanie's Law. In case you had forgotten his shameful performance:
O'Flaherty and a little band of colleagues, who also happen to be active defense lawyers, effectively watered the bill down, dominated the debate, and successfully blocked legislators from presenting the original legislation for an up or down vote.
After he lost one key amendment, O'Flaherty was seen near the rostrum harshly cussing and warning legislative opponents in no uncertain terms that he would exact revenge.
After he and his colleagues neutered the bill and then jetted off to Portugal, Mitt Romney successfully pressed the legislators still in this country to restore several of the original, tougher provisions of the bill.
Interesting footnote: news coverage at the relevant time - late October, 2005 - makes no mention of Healey's alleged role in restoring the tougher provisions. In fact, a Google search for Globe articles including "Healey" and "Melanie's" picks up not a single article from late October of 2005. In contrast, a search for Globe articles including "Romney" and "Melanie's" picks up at least four articles from that time period - and Kerry Healey is not mentioned in any of them. A couple weeks back, when Healey's ad touting her alleged role in re-toughening the bill came out, Charley wrote:
I'll bet no one remembers Kerry Healey from the whole contretemps. I'll bet that this is the first that most people have heard that Kerry Healey had a significant role in passing that or any other law.
Well, she sure slipped her role past the Globe.
In any event, the legislature's - specifically, Rep. O'Flaherty's - absurd performance on Melanie's Law has given Kerry Healey one of her best campaign issues, and has helped making running against the legislature a strategy that could gain real traction. And O'Flaherty thinks he is in a position to tell Deval Patrick how to win?
Um, no. |
