Sorry for the delay in getting these out this week. My professional life has been extremely busy. I apologize in arrears.
1. Kravitz still silent
Over a month and law scholar extraordinaire David Kravitz is still silent on Elizabeth Warren's lack of law license in Massachsuetts.
2. Go Local Column on Health Care Cost Control
My latest column in GoLocal Worcester is on the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform 2.0 and what it means. You can read it here:
As you've driven down Central Massachusetts' main highway, route 290, over the past few months, you've no doubt seen the sign for St. Vincent Hospital touting its high rankings.
As citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we are blessed with world leading hospitals. Even here in Worcester County we have two above average institutions in St. Vincent's and UMass Memorial. Recent actions by a Massachusetts Democrat controlled legislature have put the quality of our care in jeopardy, despite the opposition of the majority of Central Massachusetts' Republican legislators.
3. Nothing more important you can do than Knock on doors
There is nothing more important that any of us can do over the next two weekends than knock on doors. On Saturday, I will be knocking my old neighborhood in Lowell. I did this in 2007 and Jim Ogonowski won those two precincts, his only in Lowell. Get some literature and knock your neighbors doors. Tell them why its important that they vote for Scott Brown.
As promised, Brown has represented a more moderate voice on social issues, voting for example to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy against gays serving in the military. And before critics start waving the so-called "Blunt amendment" around to prove this father of two young women is a misogynistic cretin who wants to ban birth control outright, his position is informed by the very sensible view that the federal government shouldn't be in the business of forcing religious institutions to violate their core beliefs.
Democrats have made much of the fact that, should he win election to a full term, Brown would represent a vote in favor of the current GOP leadership. But Brown at least has a track record of breaking with that same GOP leadership and representing a more moderate voice. We're less certain that Elizabeth Warren would challenge Harry Reid & Co. on important issues.
5. Brown courts African American Voters
Here's an interesting story from the Boston Globe regarding Scott Brown and the black vote.
Two new billboards, standing over a Nation of Islam mosque and a hair salon in Roxbury, show Senator Scott Brown shaking hands with President Obama. Underneath the billboards, the state Republican Party has opened an office with workers wearing "Obama supporters for Brown" T-shirts.
In the last week, the senator has met with black pastors in Boston, visited a black church in Dorchester, and called into a black pastor's radio show in Springfield.
It is a highly unusual effort by a Republican to court African-
American voters, who are traditionally Democratic. Brown's campaign is betting that even a small gain could tip the scales in November. But judging from the people who live and work around Brown's office in the Grove Hall section of Roxbury, it is more than a tough sell.
