Let’s Hear It for Massachusetts Politics

 

 

Rally vs. Trump in Northampton on his birthday

 

Readers of this blog know that I lambast politicians on a regular basis just to stay in shape. This time I’m here to praise a few, not bury them. I’m lucky enough to live in Massachusetts, where politics is serious stuff. We actually expect our elected officials to listen to us. If you’re not good with constituent service, you’re chum for bigger fish.

 

Let me lead with something that made me proud to live in Northampton. On Saturday, thanks to the tireless efforts of our friend Devin Bruce and a generous donation from Marjorie Hess, we dedicated a roofed, outdoor stage at the Forbes Library. Such things happen across the country, but how often do you find a state senator dancing with the city mayor? Mayor Gina-Louise Sciara was unabashedly sashaying with Senator Jo Comerford, as Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, several city councilors, library trustees, the Forbes director, and the audience applauded. This wasn’t a political stunt; it’s how Jo and Lindsay act most of the time. Some in the crowd were elderly and I watched Jo and Lindsay offer their arms to help them get up and down. Jo told me it’s one of her favorite things to do. I hugged both of them, whom I see at my local café, and told them they “rock.” I don’t always agree with our mayor, but I’d be the last to say she doesn’t care. 

 

A shout out to U.S. Representative Jim McGovern. He lives in Worcester, an hour away, but his district is large. Jim is a member of the Amherst Cinema and attends all manner of events west of Worcester. How many people can say that about their U.S. Reps? He’s also an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. Jim attends protests and holds town forums on current politics that fill halls and large churches.

 

Most of us in Western Mass also love U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and find it rude, crude, and unrefined when Trump calls her Pocohantes. He hates her because she speaks truth to power and is uncowed by his bullying tactics. She knows way more about economics than Trump, supports working people, and thinks that consumer protection is far more important that unbridled capitalism. Nor is she afraid to rub noses with the masses.

 

Our governor is Maura Healey, the first lesbian governor of any state. Yeah, she’s the kind of person Republican radicals think is immoral. She was attorney general before she was governor and here’s what her “lifestyle choice,” as conservatives like to call it, affects her job. Not. One. Damn. Bit. I sometimes wish she was more forceful, but she has a 60% approval rating. Trump’s is 39%. ‘Nuff said.

 

How about Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston? She calls herself a “pragmatic liberal” and embodies that label. She not only supports working women, she has served on both the city council and as mayor while nursing her newborns. Wu helped develop the Boston Green New Deal, stood up to Trump when he claimed Boston was riddled by crime by using actual statistics, has told ICE it’s not welcome, and gets along well with cops and fire fighters. Right-leaning opponents got behind Josh Kraft, son of the New England Patriots owner. Wu crushed him in the primary with 72% of the vote.

 

The cherry on the sundae is that because we border Vermont, Bernie Sanders is a frequent visitor!

 

Area Code 413. That's us!

 It's true that neither Vermont nor Massachusetts is a utopia, but if you’re a dispirited progressive and can’t stand living in a red state any longer, move to Deep Blue Massachusetts. Even better, come to Western Mass, as pockets of old-style machine politics proliferate in Eastern Mass. In addition to the pols I praised, other progs in Western Mass include: Natalie Blais, Mindy Domb, Adam Gómez, Homar Gomez, Robyn Kennedy, David LeBouef, Jake Oliveira, and Budd Williams. Massachusetts grades strictly by percentages on the progressive scale. If you only vote according that scale 71% of the time, you get a C-! My apologies if I missed a few progressives. What a treat to live in a region where the list of hacks is short and mayors dance with state senators. 

 

Rob Weir