Jordan Michael Smith at the Washington Monthly has an interview with Mike Dukakis, who is living well:
WMSmith: You stumped pretty hard for Obama in 2012. What did you think of the election as a whole?
MDukakis: Remember also that Kitty and I were deeply involved in Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. It was the best election night I’ve ever experienced, including my own victories [laughs]. I’m serious. I thought it was a terrific result, obviously coming from where I come from. There’s a reason Mitt Romney loss Massachusetts by 23 percent points: we’ve seen him in action. In fact, I think only John Fremont in 1856 lost his home state by a greater margin. So the prospect of a Romney presidency was [laughs] frightening, to put it mildly. We also had huge battles in Massachusetts, and Elizabeth is I think going to be a terrific Senator.
And in both the national and Senate race in our state, serious grassroots made the difference. Frankly, I hope that my party now gets that. I’ve been [laughs] rather obsessively hammering this line for a long time. If after the result we had in the Massachusetts in the Senate race and the result we had in the presidential race hasn’t convinced Democrats that precinct-based grassroots organizing is the way to win elections, then we don’t understand just how important that is. I hope and expect we do, and I don’t think we ought to buy into this notion that in the off-year inevitably the party that is in power loses seats. I think we have a real chance to take the House back. And I think that effort ought to begin the day after tomorrow, on a precinct-based, grassroots level, which is where the president won this election, and where Elizabeth Warren won this election.
WM: You don’t think the redistricting that the Republicans have done will prevent that?
MD: It’s a problem, and it’s outrageous, and voter suppression is, too. And Citizens United is one of the two or three worst decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States. But I think clearly at the national level, and certainly in my state, we demonstrated without any question that if you’re serious about grassroots organizing at the precinct level, you can win, and you can beat big money anytime. That’s something we Democrats have to understand, and we have to practice that every election cycle. Quite frankly, we haven’t been doing it, except in the presidential campaigns, and some Congressional and Senatorial campaigns. But the Warren campaign stands out as being a great example of that. I’ll take a little bit of credit for that, but not much. She deserves it, because she listened, and she said, “okay that’s what we’re going to do.” On election day, she had 26,000 volunteers out. That was the culmination of an increasingly powerful grassroots campaign that just blew Brown out of there. Not surprisingly, he had money, but no grassroots support. In fact, he was bringing young people in from DC, which gives you just some sense of how weak his grassroots support was in comparison to hers….
Repubs have always been better than Democrats at remembering that in politics there are no lost causes, only abandoned ones. And the causes they refuse to abandon are always so godsdamned toxic…
***********
Apart from old memories and new battles, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
liberal
OT: Lew for SecTreas, apparently.
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
I’m back at the airport. Just arrived in Detroit from Conn and now I’m going back for 1 day. FML….
RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Good to see Dukakis is still in the game. We need all the seasoned pros we can get.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
What’s a journalist to do, rely on the internet? (heh) The censors used to be concerned with the Seven Dirty Words, because saying Phuck on TeeVee was the worst thing you could do.
http://consortiumnews.com/2013/01/09/where-rachel-maddow-dare-not-tread/
Villago Delenda Est
Gosh, sort of like another campaign that was being run at a different level at the same time, wouldn’t you say?
“ZOMG, I finally figured out what they were doing with all those volunteers in Ohio!”
Yutsano
@Villago Delenda Est: Come on! That massive fail was pure comedy gold!
gbear
I’ve had the MN version of the cold from hell for almost two weeks now. I am going to go home, feed the cats, and fall asleep on the couch until it’s time to go fall asleep in bed. This will be repeated for the rest of the week and then I will probably spend the weekend feeding cats and moving slowly between the couch and the bed. I hate life.
The Red Pen
I was spelunking another “armed revolution is nigh” post on Free Republic when I came upon this priceless exchange.
Freeper #1
Freeper #2
It’s like diving into the black hole at the center of a galaxy made from stupid.
? Martin
?
MikeJ
I’ve talked to many Democrats who love to talk about people power and grass roots organizing who can’t tell you how many people live in their precinct.
Before people study up on Iowa’s 99 counties and which issues to stress in each, they need to learn how many people live in their precinct, where the boundaries are, and who the people who need a ride to the polling place are.
LanceThruster
@Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
It’s not always possible to telll when it’s something they cannot talk about verses something they voluntarily choose to censor themselves over (for whatever reason).
First rule of Fight Club and all that…
Roger Moore
I’m still pissed off about the Baseball Hall of Fame vote. Even discounting the obvious juicers Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, and Palmeiro, there were plenty of qualified guys on the ballot. Biggio, Bagwell, Piazza, and Raines are clearly deserving, and you can make an excellent case for Schilling and Martinez. Now, though, since nobody was taken off the ballot by being elected, next year’s ballot is going to stuffed to the gills. In addition to all the guys who are perfectly qualified who were on the ballot this year, we’re going to get Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina, and Jeff Kent, all of whom clearly meet established standards for the Hall. Unless the HOF eliminates the limit of 10 players per ballot, voters are going to have to leave qualified players off for lack of space.
scav
@The Red Pen: Well it’s a step up from believing it’s apparently a form of astrology baed on propaganda.
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
@LanceThruster:
(for whatever reason).
I get your drift and I am shocked……shocked, I tell you.
SatanicPanic
@Roger Moore: I’m not really upset about any particular player getting or not getting in, but I do think the process of selecting is embarassing. If they want to bury baseball as the old white guy sport, why not give George Will a vote? (please tell me he doesn’t already have a vote)
aimai
@Villago Delenda Est:
It was officially a “co-ordinated campaign” with the Obama campaign and with every other local Democratic campaign. That enabled them to share workers, share literature drops, and not overlap or redo too much. Its why I’m not worried about taking Kerry’s senate seat in a few months. I doubt very much that the machine is dead, and I know for a fact that Scot Brown’s is non functional and/or won’t work for the next repbublican candidate.
aimai
Emma
@The Red Pen: as the kids say, LOLWHUT?
What were they talking about, for goodness’ sake?
Brachiator
I love it.
LanceThruster
@The Red Pen:
How about this odd morsel –
One more “long-shot coincidence”: Sandy Hook, Dark Knight Rises
Roger Moore
@SatanicPanic:
I’m actually mostly OK with the voters. The voters are members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who have been members for at least 10 years. That means they have some professional qualification to judge players and have been watching for long enough to have seen the candidates play. If there’s a problem, it’s with the lack of clear standards for who should and shouldn’t be in the Hall. That leaves open the possibility that you’ll get voters disagreeing wildly on the standards, which seems to be the case with steroid users. Add the problem with limited ballot space, and there’s a real risk of having too many qualified players on the ballot so that the vote gets split and nobody can get in.
Jim Faith
@The Red Pen:
I’m reminded of the Budweiser (I think) commercial with the 4 guys at the football game holding their bottles with the labels out to ensure the field goal is good. One guy is confused and another explains it’s like magic … only real
Roger Moore
@LanceThruster:
Conspiracy nut is crazy. Film at 11.
Roger Moore
@LanceThruster:
Conspiracy nut is crazy. Film at 11.
SatanicPanic
@Roger Moore: Maybe I’ve just read too many of their silly justifications for not voting one in today.
aimai
NPR just interviewed a fantastic guy who says he wants to run for Governor of MA in 2014: Donald Berwick. I would have linked to his wiki page but it was clearly stormed by republican lunatics because it looks pretty bizarre. He’s a professor of pediatric medicine at Harvard who was also an Obama appointee for a year and a half. He sounds completely amazing. Maybe we could finally move on from local Democratic Apparatchiks and get someone to follow Deval who isn’t either 1) Republican or 2) an idiot. This is all very inside baseball but I am so fucking tired of steve whats-his-name who is perpetually running for stuff on the democratic side. He was treasurer once and he has the personality of a flounder and the appearance of a dessicated manniquin and yet HE KEEPS RUNNING.
aimai
Anoniminous
@LanceThruster:
smintheus
This piece by Harold Meyerson ought to be required reading.
Raven
Check out this really cool app about Skulls.
hitchhiker
Uh . . . my kickstarter project got funded the other day, so I am WRITING A BOOK. This is SO INSANELY GREAT and also a bit scary.
Rex Everything
I like Mike.
JPL
@aimai: By the magic of google, this is an article from mother jones..
gogol's wife
@Rex Everything:
Yes, he sounds so sane.
Brachiator
Yeah, it’s not about American domestic issues, but I am just sickened and appalled at some of the reaction in India to the rape of young women. And these attitudes echo some of the shameful crap you hear from anti-women American wingnuts.The war against women is, unfortunately, a global war.
From the yahoo news story:
Comments by an Indian spiritual leader that a gang-rape victim shared blame for her assault disgusted many in a country shaken by the crime, but his view represents a deep streak of chauvinism shared by a broad swathe of a society in transition.
The 23-year-old physiotherapy student and a male companion were left bleeding on a highway after she was raped and beaten on a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16. She died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital from internal injuries.
“Guilt is not one-sided,” the guru, Asaram Bapu, told followers this week, adding that if the student had pleaded with her six attackers in God’s name, and told them she was of the “weaker sex”, they would have relented.
Such views have caused outrage among India’s growing urban middle class.
Protesters burned effigies of the yoga guru near his headquarters in western India, media reported, and Twitter exploded with posts calling him “medieval” and a “misogynist”.
But he is not alone.
Similar opinions are being expressed by leaders in the mainstream of society, not just on the fringes….
the Conster
@aimai:
I would love to see Jarret Barrios run for something state wide. In addition to being really smart, really funny, a great campaigner and totally committed to public service, he checks every box – gay, latino, and extremely handsome.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
My agenda for the evening? Gee, I’m glad you asked. I’m prepping for the colonoscopy on Friday. Looks like I gotta get me some of this!
Comrade Jake
@hitchhiker: hey, good luck! That is pretty awesome.
SiubhanDuinne
@aimai:
Also too, former chair of AIPAC (sorry, apparently my office workstation will not allow me to link).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Grossman_(politician)
smintheus
Curious. I linked to Harold Meyerson’s latest column, and for no apparent reason the comment went into moderation.
Cassidy
@LanceThruster: That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check this shit out.
Go ahead. Savor it. I’ll wait
.
.
.
Fun huh? These people are fucking loons.
Gravenstone
@Roger Moore: This ignores the fact that players can remain eligible for the ballot for up to 15 years as long as they earn 5+% of the votes. I expect Bonds and Clemens will eventually make it before this eligibility lapses and they go to the Veteran’s Committee. And the 2014 class looks to have 3-4 first ballot choices, so they’ll clear future ballots for reassessment of older players. The player most at risk right now is Jack Morris, since 2014 is his last year of eligibility under the writers.
gogol's wife
@Brachiator:
Nauseating.
handsmile
Those who followed/participated in Soonergrunt’s two threads yesterday on the Bradley Manning court martial might be interested in today’s proceedings;
The presiding judge Col. Denise Lind has rescheduled the start of the trial from March 6 to an undetermined date in June, to grant extra time for determinations on classified material. Lind also indicated that she would rule on two prosecution motions at a hearing next Wednesday: to bar Manning’s defense team from introducing evidence on his motives for leaking US diplomatic cables and to block evidence that the US government overclassifies information.
But I found more interesting this story: military prosecutors are using a 1863 case from the Civil War in their efforts to convict Manning of aiding the enemy. Union Pvt. Henry Vanderwater was convicted of providing information later published in a Confederate (Alexandria, VA) newspaper. He was sentenced to three months of hard labor. Bradley Manning will likely receive considerably more.
(Those not following this affair may not know that yesterday Col. Lind reduced Manning’s eventual sentence by 112 days, ruling that he was subjected to excessively harsh treatment during the nine months he spent in military detention at Quantico.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/09/bradley-manning-civil-war-alqaida?intcmp=239
Lojasmo
@gbear:
Influenza is rampant here. Take care.
Redshift
If you want to see telescopic images of the asteroid Apophis passing near Earth, it’s happening now at SLOOH.
Redshift
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Ooh. I did that a few weeks ago. Not fun (though at least the not-fun part is all before the procedure.)
WereBear
@hitchhiker: Congrats! That’s so awesome.
xian
@hitchhiker: congratulations!
and, i’m sorry for you… writing a book is hell (at least at some point)
you’ll love it!
Roger Moore
@SatanicPanic:
There is a small group of voters who love to make ideological points with their votes and then brag about it in their columns. I don’t think there are enough of them to have a major influence on the vote, but since they’re so damn vocal about it, people are inclined to think that voters as a group are crazy. With the exception of the annoying and currently active disagreement about how to treat PED users, I think the election results generally argue otherwise.
handsmile
@smintheus:
Always glad to know that others are reading/appreciating the excellent Harold Meyerson. He’s one of the very few reasons (Dana Priest, Greg Sargent, Ezra Klein, E.J.Dionne (meh)) ever to click on the otherwise baneful Kaplan Test Prep Daily. Thanks for the link!
MikeJ
@Redshift: I got excited when I thought it would let me switch from the high mag tele to the Alinsky camera, but disappointed when it didn’t send any republicans to reëducation camps.
Jeremy
@smintheus: Yeah but the ACA includes taxes on investments and interest so you have to factor that in. If you combine all of the tax increases the wealthy will deal with a higher burden than the Clinton years. More can be done to create greater fairness but the tax deal was a good deal and a start.
Roger Moore
@Gravenstone:
The problem is that at least Biggio and Piazza on this year’s ballot ought to have been first ballot selections, too, and Bagwell and Raines probably should have been in before this year. That leaves a logjam of players who really deserve to be elected. If the voters don’t manage to clean up the ballot by actually electing some people, it’s going to get more and more crowded, which will make it harder for any of the qualified players on the ballot to convince 75% of the voters to vote for them. I’m worried that we may wind up with a situation like the HOF had in the early 1950s when there were so many qualified players on the ballot that the vote got split and none of them were elected.
Villago Delenda Est
@The Red Pen:
This reminds me of some fundie who was telling everyone a couple of years ago that they shouldn’t worry about the Mayan calendar rollover because, even though it was based on numerology, the numerology was false because it was not Biblically based.
handsmile
Check out these absolutely astonishing photos of a family seeking safety from the wildfires ravaging Australia. They (particularly the first) are about to become iconic. There’s a link to an accompanying article as well.
“Pictures: The dramatic moment a family fleeing Australia’s wildfires shelter in the water to escape the flames”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jan/09/wildfires-australia-pictures
Brachiator
@Jeremy:
Not entirely true. You get a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for people with incomes over $200,000. You get an extra Medicare tax of .9 percent on earned income over $200,000. This is hardly a hefty increase.
On the other hand, the recent tax compromise retains the ZERO tax rate on capital gains and dividend income for people in the 15% bracket and hardly touches those in the new 39.6 bracket.
I note that some deal was necessary, but upper income people still get a sizable break over the old Clinton era rates.
? Martin
@handsmile:
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@hitchhiker: I’ve made two attempts to write a book in my life. I went aground on Robert Heinlein’s 2nd rule: “You must finish what you write.”
I learned you just have to sit there and stare at the paper or the screen and get words down, any words. Edit later. On a good day I could crank out five pages.
SatanicPanic
@Roger Moore: Well yeah, that’s what I’m saying. The people writing columns right now are embarassing. Maybe some worthy people will get left off, but that happens. Some borderline people get in sometimes too.
Brachiator
@hitchhiker:
Good luck to ya. What’s the book about?
mainmati
@Jim Faith: Bud Light actually but your point is correct.
handsmile
@? Martin:
Well, maybe on Fox.
As Rupert Murdoch is an Australian native, I wonder if he gives a damn that his homeland is now offering up a preview of what other industrialized/urbanized nations (e.g., South Africa, Mediterranean Europe, western US) can expect from global climate catastrofucks.
[Actually no, that’s SATSQ.]
pluege
so can anyone name the authoritative studies lapierre has cited backing up his claims that video games and Hollywood movies cause violence?
anyone recall anyone in the corporate media asking him name his sources for his claims?
…
didn’t think so.
mainmati
@hitchhiker: Congrats! Now, remember make sure you write something everyday even if it doesn’t make it into the final.
patrick II
@Brachiator: it’s about brave writer who saves the world by writing brilliant comments on a blog. You know — fiction.
Mnemosyne
@pluege:
Well, to be fair, France must have seen a huge upsurge in violence because of their extremely violent films, right?
Oh. Oops.
peggy
@aimai:
Like the Berwick wiki–but– I think he’s got foot in mouth disease. “They quote Berwick as saying, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care – the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”
Agree that Mass pols are a tawdry lot.
Do you think Menino will run for Mayor of Boston again at age 70, with diabetes, after spending two months in the hospital and still not out of rehab? I know who I don’t like- anyone with an Irish name (that includes Kennedy) but nobody that I do.
Frankensteinbeck
@Brachiator:
I could use a better explanation. The top capitol gains tax rate has gone back up to 20%, where it was before. What is the difference? From the way you’re talking there are devils in the details, but I don’t know what those details or those devils are!
Southern Beale
@hitchhiker:
Wow congrats. What’s your book about?
Southern Beale
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Writing a book is the hardest fucking thing ever. But yeah. Really it comes down to that. Sit down and … write. It’s that easy … and that hard.
hitchhiker
Thanks folks re: my kickstarter thang. You can read about it here if you like.
This will be the 3rd book I’ve done of my own; I also edit and produce for others who like to use print on demand apps but don’t have the patience or willingness to muddle through the process.
I love it so much that I live in a time where the publishing houses don’t get to gatekeep the shit out of writers who can’t make them a zillion dollars, don’t you? Every time I look at a best-seller list, I think, damn, are there really only SIX people in the USA who can make publishers rich? And then I think, damn, I really don’t have to care. Sweet!
Baud
@hitchhiker:
Best feeling in the world. Congratulations.
Scamp Dog
@Brachiator:That’s quite an insight from Asaram Bapu:
Why exactly! If they had only known it was a woman they were raping, they would have stopped! I had no idea things were this easy, this should solve the rape problem once and for all.
I guess it’s somewhat a relief knowing that our country isn’t the only one where major whack jobs show up in public spouting harmful nonsense.
aimai
@peggy:
Yeah, I actually figured that was a serious misquote. That’s why I said I thought the Wiki was suspect. I also think that national crazy issues are not MA crazy issues at all. He spoke very well, when I just heard him, about health care and MA issues which are quite different here because we already cover almost everyone. I think, actually, that given what a huge part of our economic issues health care coverage and costs are–I mean that voters recognize–people might be eager to turn things over to A) a doctor and B) someone with both national and international experience of large systems.
He might be able to grab the same hi tech, technocratic, money people who ultimately supported Warren and Deval because they want to see MA be world class academically, financially, technologically.
We’ll see.
aimai
Anne Laurie
@peggy:
Better question: Who’s the (Democratic, progressive) candidate that wants to challenge Menino *and* can draw support beyond a handful of close friends & whatever funds they can raise on a second mortgage?
Because, from where I sit slightly north of the city, there’s a lot of warring neighborhood factions and not a lot of big-donor interest. Some not-insignificant part of Menino’s long tenure is that he really loves his job, poor bastid, and everyone who’s thought about taking it away from him in the last decade has been either
crazytoo narrowly focused, or just thinking about ‘mayor’ as a stepping-stone to higher office.Southern Beale
@hitchhiker:
Wow I’m so impressed! This community never fails to amaze me. The incredible things people here are doing every day, and y’all don’t brag about it — no one even mentions it. Until somehow it slips out and then it’s just, wow.
redshirt
Dukakis anecdote: I was walking through Kenmore Square circa 2003 or so, and saw Mr. Dukakis walking towards me. He was all by himself in a frumpled suit and he had a briefcase. I was excited and was getting ready to say hi, when he reached down and picked up a stray piece of trash, and deposited it in a trashcan. I was blown away – I judge people in the city based on littering (among other items). This was 100 out of 100. I was so blown away he just walked by me and I said nothing.
I say it now: Thank you, Mr. Dukakis!
redshirt
@hitchhiker: Can you share what you know about self-publishing? I’ve got 6 books in the can from decades ago (I tried publishing but like you said, 6 people!), and am thinking of trying some self-publishing sites.
Any advice would be appreciated. Congrats on your efforts!
Southern Beale
Wow, so shocking
I’m sure nobody so THAT coming .. not.
Maude
@redshirt:
You can go to KDP help at Amazon. They have all the info about self pub.
ETA, that’s ebooks. Create Space for print on demand. Good company.
Emma
@Southern Beale: Sometimes I think the Universe is trying too hard.
scav
guttengerg seems have something too for self publishing now: self.gutenberg.org/, not to imply I know anything more about it or the subject (I just read a lot).
Rome Again
Update on my efforts to get in touch with onlymike:
I went by the apartment complex that he lives at, and they said he had been there all day but that he had already left.
He visited his cats. He apparently is having trouble getting on his email. I left my phone number. The woman I talked to said he’s a very nice man who has been no trouble at all.
I’m hoping he will call or email me.
I’d like to help set him up with Paypal so we can take up a collection and get him on his way to a better future. He apparently doesn’t have all of the requirements necessary to have a Paypal account at the moment and I can help him get them.
ellie
There was a post in the last couple of months where someone mentioned a low-cost ISP. I, of course, didn’t write anything down nor did I bookmark anything. Anyone have any suggestions for a low-cost ISP? I thank you.
redshirt
@ellie: I have some AOL CD’s that are free, I think. I’ve got a lot of them.
WaterGirl
@Brachiator: I had thought last week that it wasn’t possible for me to get any angrier about the brutal rape of the young woman in India. Then I read this week that she was 5’3″ and weighed 90 pounds. 90 fucking pounds.
A bunch of fucking rabid animals did this to her, and I think cruel an unusual punishment should not be out of the question.
hitchhiker
@redshirt:
Self-publishing: I use lulu.com for printed books because it’s free and pretty simple to navigate. Choose a size and shape for your book, download the appropriate template, feed your content into that template, and upload the file back to them. Play as much as you like with covers and such. Order a proof copy, do your edits, repeat.
Then set a selling price, make it available to the public, and put it on amazon if you want. Buy some copies!
The work I do is so specialized in terms of market niche that I don’t need it to go into bookstores, which is very hard with print-on-demand products. Independent sellers will take it, but you have to be their supplier (or at least that was true the last time I tried.) My first book did quite well with the local independents (I live in Seattle, where there are lots of ’em) and I had an agent try to get it to a “regular” publisher.
All the NYC editors she asked to read it were enthusiastically regretful. :) That’s how that seems to go.
For this book I’m gonna learn how to do the kindle/nook thing, too. I hear that’s where you can actually make a little $$.
Good luck! I so encourage you to do it. There’s nothing like holding the thing in your hands.
WaterGirl
@Rome Again: Thanks so much for doing that and for posting it here. I find that very uplifting after getting upset again about the woman in India.
Mnemosyne
@hitchhiker:
Werebear put her book up on Amazon as a Kindle book. You may be able to get some advice from her on how to do it.
debbie
Problem with the Republicans is that while they realize they need to utilize things like grassroots and social media, they think that just setting up an account will be sufficient. They give absolutely zero thought to strategy and instead they think carpet bombing is the answer.
During the campaign, I, a registered Democrat, was robo-called by Wayne LaPierre and by Franklin Graham (speaking for Pops). Both messages were incredibly rabid and clearly tailored for their own troops. Maybe they got suckered into buying the wrong phone list. But I think they were delusional enough to think that anyone would be swayed by their message and that they were so convinced of their righteousness that they didn’t need to adjust their message to anyone not firmly in their camp.
ellie
@redshirt: Ha! I mean website hosting. Cheap website hosting.
Amanda
@aimai: I like your optimism and totally agree re: the value of the coordinated campaign (it not only won big for Elizabeth Warren but saved Deval Patrick’s bacon in 2010).
As a fellow Mass voter, I am very hopeful as well that the Liz/Deval army will re-mobilize effectively to take out Scott Brown, should he run, for good in the special election.
Amanda
Thank you so much for the link to the Dukakis article @ Mother Jones! What a great interview — I just love that guy, and Kitty too.
One of my fondest memories of them from the past few years is from the 2006 Dem nominating convention when Deval Patrick won the nomination for Governor the first time. I arrived to the packed hall, which was literally vibrating and shaking with the enthusiaism of Deval’s supporters — and was the most racially diverse Mass Dem gathering I had ever seen, btw — and there standing in the entryway were Michael and Kitty Dukakis, holding court, patiently and graciously shaking hands with hoards of gleeful delagates.
They are, both of them, treasures. Long may they canvass Massachusetts neighborhoods!
Amanda
@aimai: The Governor’s race is looking like it’s gonna be a massive free for all, eh? I’m all for a big field and a robust conversation about the issues we face, I just hope we don’t have too much of a slicing and dicing of the progressive vote so someone more centrist/right sneaks in…Berwick sounds great but he will need to convince a lot of folks that he can campaign hard and well a la Warren. We shall see…
BTW did you see the Pheonix article the other day re: another outsider considering the US Senate special?
http://blog.thephoenix.com/BLOGS/talkingpolitics/archive/2013/01/07/rabbi-run.aspx
Not sure he’s got even a remote shot against someone like Ed Markey, but holy cow this guy sounds FANTASTIC if he could raise the $ and his name ID, because clearly the campaigning thing would be no problemo and he would light up the activist base, I would think. What do you & others think?
peggy
Pesner is a good guy and GBIO is a fabulous organization that doesn’t get enough publicity.
But I wouldn’t support Pesner over Markey. Making sure Brown doesn’t win is too important.