The Boston Globe is reporting that Rufus Gifford, a Democratic candidate for the open Third Congressional District seat, is repurposing a campaign contribution from accused #MeToo miscreant CBS chief executive officer Leslie Moonves to Planned Parenthood. Good for him. But this raises the question, when does a pol have to give back dirty money? I…
Ayanna Pressley: Harbinger of Change to MA Democratic Party?
Both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature have been controlled by Democrats since 1959. In Political Science, we find single party control makes it less likely that the party in charge expands its base and stable of candidates. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Here in the Commonwealth, this has meant an increasingly diverse state…
#MaPoli Endorsements: the definitive list
Forget silly season or the dog days of August. With just over a month before our primary election and a few months before the general election, campaigns and candidates are in the midst of Endorsement Season. Every election year in Massachusetts, I re-up my piece on political endorsements in the Commonwealth. Note that the categories…
The Environmental Bond Bill: Good Policy, Great Politics
With all the talk about late budgets, overtime scandals, and, of course, contested primaries, the Massachusetts environmental bond bill (H.4613/S.249) has garnered little attention. At first glance, the bond bill, technically entitled An Act Promoting Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental and Natural Resource Protection, and Investment in Recreational Assets and Opportunity, looks rather innocuous. The most…
Tariffs as Economic Policy: Lessons from Latin America
President Trump loves tariffs. “They are the greatest!” he tweeted recently. The sentiment would be familiar to most Latin American leaders from the middle of the 20th century. At the time, Latin America was engaged in a massive attempt to develop local industries, so following the ideas of the Argentinian economist Raúl Prebisch, the region…
A Tale of Two Challengers
Much has been made of the similarities between the two women running in Democratic primaries this year against the Bay State’s two longest-serving U.S. House members, but the differences between the challengers are actually more significant. Both are benefiting from the surge of progressivism in the Democratic Party nationally as well as the anti-establishment fervor…
Springtime for Oligarchs
There hasn’t been a better time in memory to be an oligarch. In America, it’s Springtime for Oligarchs.
SouthCoast Rail: A 20th Century Solution for the 21st Century?
This week, Commonwealth Magazine ran a story with the headline: “South Coast Rail Optimism Grows.” The article details the recent approval of $28 million to complete the design for the $1 billion first phase of the SouthCoast Rail project that will bring commuter rail from South Station to New Bedford and Fall River via Middleborough. …
Why I fall in love with old Cape Cod
You know what’s perfect in the summer? Cape Cod. For all the obvious reasons: sun and sand, gin and tonics on a warm evening, seafood, shark sightings, fireworks, fishing, and sailing. But for this political scientist, a summer on the Cape brings another joy: the prospect of competitive elections this fall.
Springfield Republican Editors Choose Pandering over Persuasion
The editors of the Springfield Republican newspaper believe that Bay Staters should be embarrassed by the fact that the state legislature is the only one in the country that did not pass an annual budget by June 30th, the last day of the fiscal year. So you might wonder, why should this be embarrassing? What…