Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Reilly in Free-Fall
Cross-posted at RedState.
Perhaps there won't be much of a coronation for the most ineffective Attorney General in the Nation after all. From today's Boston Herald:
As I pointed out last week, Reilly's attempts to out-flank former Clinton Administration DOJ official Deval Patrick (who happens to be black) by hand-picking as his running-mate State Rep. Marie St. Fleur (who happens to be a black woman) backfired when it was uncovered that Rep. St. Fleur has, so to speak, a problem paying her taxes.
That the chief prosecutor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seemingly incapable of sniffing-this out prior to going to the public with his choice with all the fanfare of a royal wedding sort-of feeds this perception. Who knew?
Apparently y'all don't pay attention to the police blotter, either.
For the record, as hard as it is to find a republican in Massachusetts - particularly one who will admit to said affiliation - I know not a single, solitary member of the minority party who supports Reilly for Governor. Perhaps they are out there, but such a statement by Reilly's mouthpiece simply defies logic.
And while we can (and shall) all have a good laugh at the stumbling and bumbling of a man friend and foe alike have taken to referring to as "Unfortunately" (as in, "Unfortunately" Tom Reilly...), things are not all caviar and roses however for the lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth - Mitt Romney's chosen successor. In the same poll (400 registered Massachusetts voters conducted 2-4 February), Kerry Healey was found to trail both Patrick (32-39) and Reilly (32-47), indicating that while it looks like the Republican's base of support is roughly 32-percent, the Democrats' base support is between 39- and 47-percent - a clear advantage that will be difficult for an unseasoned campaigner such as Ms. Healey to overcome.
Given that this is, after all, Massachusetts these results are not surprising. Also, the Lt. Governor has only recently started campaigning - in fact, her official campaign kicked-off only yesterday. She is well financed (largely self-financed as she and her hubby are loaded), very bright, and will have the added advantage of being able to sit-back and watch the Democrats act on their every-fourth-year compulsion to eat their own - a process that has only begun and will get ever-more delicious as the September primary approaches.
However these poll results do illustrate, in striking detail, the very high hurdles Ms. Healey will have to negotiate if she is going to keep the Beacon Hill corner office this very blue state in red hands for another 4-years.
And don't think for a second that Mitt Romney's prospects as a presumptive nominee for President of the United States won't be impacted by just how successful is Ms. Healey in accomplishing this nearly impossible task.
Perhaps there won't be much of a coronation for the most ineffective Attorney General in the Nation after all. From today's Boston Herald:
Attorney General Tom Reilly’s support among Democratic voters has nosedived, with his once-formidable lead over rival Deval Patrick collapsing to single digits, a new poll shows.
Reilly’s nearly 40-point lead from a year ago shrank to just 9 percentage points, according to the just-released Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll.
As I pointed out last week, Reilly's attempts to out-flank former Clinton Administration DOJ official Deval Patrick (who happens to be black) by hand-picking as his running-mate State Rep. Marie St. Fleur (who happens to be a black woman) backfired when it was uncovered that Rep. St. Fleur has, so to speak, a problem paying her taxes.
Reilly’s bumbled handling of his gubernatorial running mate choice has helped lead to one in five Democrats believing Reilly is “out of his league.”
That the chief prosecutor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seemingly incapable of sniffing-this out prior to going to the public with his choice with all the fanfare of a royal wedding sort-of feeds this perception. Who knew?
The poll shows Reilly besting Patrick 39-30, a statistical dead heat given the poll’s 4.9-point margin of error.
Reilly campaign spokesman Corey Welford dismissed the results, saying, “We never pay attention to polls.”
Apparently y'all don't pay attention to the police blotter, either.
“Tom continues to have great support from Democrats, independents and Republicans,” he said.
For the record, as hard as it is to find a republican in Massachusetts - particularly one who will admit to said affiliation - I know not a single, solitary member of the minority party who supports Reilly for Governor. Perhaps they are out there, but such a statement by Reilly's mouthpiece simply defies logic.
And while we can (and shall) all have a good laugh at the stumbling and bumbling of a man friend and foe alike have taken to referring to as "Unfortunately" (as in, "Unfortunately" Tom Reilly...), things are not all caviar and roses however for the lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth - Mitt Romney's chosen successor. In the same poll (400 registered Massachusetts voters conducted 2-4 February), Kerry Healey was found to trail both Patrick (32-39) and Reilly (32-47), indicating that while it looks like the Republican's base of support is roughly 32-percent, the Democrats' base support is between 39- and 47-percent - a clear advantage that will be difficult for an unseasoned campaigner such as Ms. Healey to overcome.
Given that this is, after all, Massachusetts these results are not surprising. Also, the Lt. Governor has only recently started campaigning - in fact, her official campaign kicked-off only yesterday. She is well financed (largely self-financed as she and her hubby are loaded), very bright, and will have the added advantage of being able to sit-back and watch the Democrats act on their every-fourth-year compulsion to eat their own - a process that has only begun and will get ever-more delicious as the September primary approaches.
However these poll results do illustrate, in striking detail, the very high hurdles Ms. Healey will have to negotiate if she is going to keep the Beacon Hill corner office this very blue state in red hands for another 4-years.
And don't think for a second that Mitt Romney's prospects as a presumptive nominee for President of the United States won't be impacted by just how successful is Ms. Healey in accomplishing this nearly impossible task.
# posted by Doc J @ 12:51 PM 
