Kos's silence on the MA-09 Democratic primary becomes even more inexplicable today. Just to recap, kossacks have been requesting that kos add Mac D'Alessandro to the Orange to Blue list for months now, only to receive a cold shoulder. Mac's opponent, the incumbent conservadem Stephen Lynch, not only voted against Health Care Reform in March, he also has consistently supported George Bush's war in Iraq and just as consistently opposed a woman's right to choose. Move On has endorsed Mac, Mac was a runner-up in DFA's Grassroots All-Stars competition, Mac outraised the incumbent 3-1 over the summer, and still kos refuses to even address the question of why Mac is not an appropriate inclusion on the Orange to Blue list.
Now the premier newspaper in the Northeast, the Boston Globe, comes out with its endorsements in the MA-09 race. The lead headline?
D’Alessandro for Democrats; a chance for a new voice
Why is Mac D'Alessandro a good choice for the MA-09? In large degree for the same reasons he's an excellent fit for Orange to Blue: he's simply a better Democrat than the washed-up hack Stephen Lynch. Join me on the flip to follow the Globe's reasons why.
The Globe starts its analysis with a line of argument I've used a lot while canvassing: Lynch compares very poorly to his predecessor in the MA-09, the influential progressive legislator Joe Moakley. Where Moakley was a congressional leader, Lynch in nearly ten years in office has accomplished basically nothing -- other than ingratiating himself with the pro-war party in the Pentagon by making repeated visits to Iraq and voting religiously in favor of funding the wastehole of a war.
What about Mac? Well, here's how the Globe introduces him:
D’Alessandro has a ground-level perspective on the district. A graduate of Boston College Law School, he dedicated himself to community activism, first though Greater Boston Legal Services, where he rose to legislative director and lobbied Beacon Hill for job-training programs, and more recently as political director of the Massachusetts Service Employees’ International Union. Clearly, SEIU’s anger at Lynch over health care motivated D’Alessandro’s challenge. But his quarrel with Lynch is also about style and energy: He argues that the district needs a more resourceful advocate, a representative who defines his priorities clearly and sets out to produce measurable returns.
A community activist running for Congress? Sounds like Orange to Blue to me. The Globe highlights Mac's key argument against Lynch, the hack's vote against health care reform:
From the start of the health care debate, while other representatives were striving to put together a bill that met the complexities of the challenge, Lynch held himself out as a critic. He was the only Massachusetts House member who refused to commit to a public option. But then he voted for a bill that had a public option, and whose near-universal coverage was funded by a surcharge on the wealthiest Americans. When that bill had to be changed to accommodate the Senate, he flipped again, opposing it on the grounds both that it lacked the cost-saving mechanism of a public option and that it was funded by a tax on expensive health plans.
Lynch is a sleazy vote-flipping hypocrite. Why is Mac better? Well, for reasons kossacks would definitely take to heart:
D’Alessandro would be quite different: More cautious about military interventions, including Afghanistan; more willing to do the necessary work of reforming the economy, even when it involves unpopular fixes like bailing out the banking and housing industries; more eager to be a leader both in extending health coverage and in bringing research dollars to Massachusetts.
Coming into Congress as a freshman, D’Alessandro would be at square one, but ironically would have more favor with his party’s leaders than Lynch. For nine years, Lynch has honorably followed his own path. D’Alessandro is an articulate advocate for working people who deserves a chance to show what he, too, can do.
An articulate advocate for working people? A former community activist? A potentially powerful progressive voice in Congress?
C'mon, kos! Add him to the list!
Move On endorsement, here.
DFA Grassroots All-Star runner-up, here.
Mac outraises Lynch in summer, here.
Donate to Mac, here or here.
Mac's candidate webpage, here.
We can win this thing with your help! Donate to Mac today!
Update: Thanks to mem from somerville and shpilk for their advice in comments. Here's the link to the Globe editorial.