More Polling on Patrick and Healey, et. al.
Earlier this week, we had encouraging electoral news from Suffolk and SurveyUSA, with Deval Patrick enjoying a healthy lead over his challengers, with the second place Kerry closer to third place Christy Mihos than Patrick. Today a new Boston Globe poll gives more good news for Patrick, as he garners a majority of voters (54%) while Healey doesn't even hold onto a third (29%). Healey's only majorities come in a most distasteful manner --- more than half of voters surveyed (51%) view the Lt. Gov. unfavorably and even more (54%, perhaps not coincidentally Patrick's share of the vote) believe that her negative ad campaign "crossed over the line." Only 34% viewed Healey favorably and only her ads only increased her vote by 10%.
At this point, I might as well cut and paste my last three posts on the polling in this race. Patrick has a ton of support that can't be moved by a wholly negative, substanceless campaign. The voters of Massachusetts are fed up with that kind of campaigning and don't think that the politics from which it springs represents them. Pandering to fear and racism will not win elections in this state. Etc., etc., etc. It's not to say that I'm not encouraged by the results and grateful to love among people who feel this way, but there is a sense of redundancy in the polling.
Which is also not to say, or imply, that it's not Patrick and his policies and tactics to which people are responding. I honestly believe that this lead is more a result of Deval Patrick's outstanding platform than it is a repulsion and repudiation of Healey's inability to campaign on issues that don't exist. Patrick's campaign has resonated with the people of Massachusetts on many levels, from his personality to his policies to his refusal to engage in negative politics. As I said earlier this week, a victory for Patrick will be a victory for sensible, rational and substantive politics over campaigns of fear and smear. And I will be all the more thankful on that day because not only did we reject those tactics, but we embraced a campaign of hope, a politician of integrity and a platform of progress.
But back to the poll, what is perhaps most revealing in this poll is Absentee Governor Willard Romney's showing in a fictional 2008 Republican primary. His Expediency (ht: BMG) comes in third place to Rudy Guiliani and John McCain, though admittedly nearly within the margin of error. Romney's distancing from the state, literally and politically, as well as his utter ineptitude as Governor (though that seems secondary at this point), has lost him significant support even among those who voted for him only a few years ago. I know that Romney isn't running on a platform that Republicans in this state (more clear-headed than those elsewhere, for the most part) find palatable, but it can't bode well that those who know him best place him third among likely options.
On a completely different note, in the coming days, you'll notice that there will be new contributors to this humble site. Though they will be infrequent and, most likely and sadly, temporary additions to this space, I hope that you'll welcome them and enjoy their posts, as they're more knowledgable on the subjects they'll be posting on than Lee and I are on the things we choose to write about [/self-deprecation]. I'll let them introduce themselves if and when they feel the need, but we're expanding for a little while, both in numbers and in scope. After all, once this election is over, we'll need something else to write about. Hopefully, our new posters will give us that opportunity. Enjoy and have a good weekend.
At this point, I might as well cut and paste my last three posts on the polling in this race. Patrick has a ton of support that can't be moved by a wholly negative, substanceless campaign. The voters of Massachusetts are fed up with that kind of campaigning and don't think that the politics from which it springs represents them. Pandering to fear and racism will not win elections in this state. Etc., etc., etc. It's not to say that I'm not encouraged by the results and grateful to love among people who feel this way, but there is a sense of redundancy in the polling.
Which is also not to say, or imply, that it's not Patrick and his policies and tactics to which people are responding. I honestly believe that this lead is more a result of Deval Patrick's outstanding platform than it is a repulsion and repudiation of Healey's inability to campaign on issues that don't exist. Patrick's campaign has resonated with the people of Massachusetts on many levels, from his personality to his policies to his refusal to engage in negative politics. As I said earlier this week, a victory for Patrick will be a victory for sensible, rational and substantive politics over campaigns of fear and smear. And I will be all the more thankful on that day because not only did we reject those tactics, but we embraced a campaign of hope, a politician of integrity and a platform of progress.
But back to the poll, what is perhaps most revealing in this poll is Absentee Governor Willard Romney's showing in a fictional 2008 Republican primary. His Expediency (ht: BMG) comes in third place to Rudy Guiliani and John McCain, though admittedly nearly within the margin of error. Romney's distancing from the state, literally and politically, as well as his utter ineptitude as Governor (though that seems secondary at this point), has lost him significant support even among those who voted for him only a few years ago. I know that Romney isn't running on a platform that Republicans in this state (more clear-headed than those elsewhere, for the most part) find palatable, but it can't bode well that those who know him best place him third among likely options.
On a completely different note, in the coming days, you'll notice that there will be new contributors to this humble site. Though they will be infrequent and, most likely and sadly, temporary additions to this space, I hope that you'll welcome them and enjoy their posts, as they're more knowledgable on the subjects they'll be posting on than Lee and I are on the things we choose to write about [/self-deprecation]. I'll let them introduce themselves if and when they feel the need, but we're expanding for a little while, both in numbers and in scope. After all, once this election is over, we'll need something else to write about. Hopefully, our new posters will give us that opportunity. Enjoy and have a good weekend.
posted by 1st Against the Wall at 14:51
2 Comments:
Healey's attempts at smearing have just proven flaccid.
I honestly believe that this is a tipping point in Massachusetts and around the country; not necessarily for a progressive agenda, but for honest discussion, fairness and winning popular sentiment based on merit and reason.
I wrote something similiar on my blog about the language of togetherness, check it out. Oh and I'm officially adding American Athens as a link on mine: http://blue-style-canopy.blogspot.com/
As Max Cleland, former Senator from Georgia recently said on AIR AMERICA about Rovian/Republican tactics: "You can't fool all the people all of the time."
Thanks for the link B-X! We're glad you enjoy what we're saying/doing here, and that you come by and comment.
And I think you're absolutely right that Massachusetts and, to a lesser degree, the country have had enough and are yearning to go back to civilized discourse after so many years of personal attacks and negative tactics. Politics and governance should be aboout policy and the common good, not tactics and fear. Hopefully, and I'm nothing if not hopeful, these elections will put us back on that road.
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