The craziness that is the Massachusetts Governor's race keeps coming.
Our story so far. Charlie Baker, a wealthy former health insurance executive, has long been viewed as the Smartest Republican in State Government from his tenure as the budget and finance guru in 1990's Republican administrations. This from his brilliant management of Boston's infamous Big Dig construction project that has cost Boston drivers $800 million in increased tolls, devastated transportation financing so badly a sales tax increase was required, gave us leaking tunnels, and tunnel roofs and guardrails that have killed innocent motorists.
Needless to say, when Charile Baker is the smartest man in a group you're not at a Mensa party.
Enter, stage right, Tim Cahill solid blue collar right of center Democratic State Treasurer. Suddenly Tim gets Corner Office Fever, bolts the party and runs as an Independent for Governor. He picks Republican Paul Loscocco, a former state rep so obscure even his mother doesn't remember him, as his running mate. He also picked a pack of former McCain staffers to run his campaign.
Charlie and the national Republicans have been obsessed with Tim, pouring millions into attacking him, believing that only Tim was keeping them from claiming the Governorship. Charlie's inept campaigning, his past, and being a wealthy former insurance executive notwithstanding.
Now the real crazy begins
Two weeks ago the McCainiacs managing the Cahill began quitting, citing Cahill's woeful poll numbers a proof he can't win, and sidled over to Baker.
Last week Loscocco stunned the masses by bolting from the Cahill ticket and endorsing Baker, just an hour or so after telling Cahill he was leaving.
While one might wonder about this coincidence, it was all perfectly aboveboard. So said all parties. Except Cahill.
The McCainiacs, who apparently learned nothing from 2008 about picking running mates, left an interesting paper trail behind on Cahill's email servers. Cahill filed a lawsuit yesterday and released the emails.
All the details are in the Boston Globe, start here.
No deal on the flip flop?
There's this:
"Paul will be given/offered a substantive lifeline," one of the strategists, John Weaver, wrote to an associate, John Yob, and Adam Meldrum, Cahill's campaign manager at the time, on Sept. 18. "Up to him to take it or not."
And, there's this:
The suit says the defendants possessed critical strategic information, including fund-raising plans, advertising schedules, and messaging tactics planned for the final weeks of the race. Until their departure from Cahill's campaign, Weaver was working with Yob under an arrangement that had paid Yob's firm at least $213,540 since March.
"The defendants ... knew (and know) essentially everything there was to know about the campaign's strategy and tactics for the final push to the election," the suit says.
When they left, the suit says, Weaver and Yob promised Cahill "that neither of us would go to work for his opponents."
"Even as they made that promise, however, they were actively preparing to break it," says the suit, which accuses the four former aides of breach of contract and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Working both sides of the street pays well in GOOPerLand.
Meanwhile Baker claims the lawsuit is just Cahill's poor attempt to coverup evidence he's been using state employees on his campaign.
More to come I'm sure.
Effect on the race? Deval Patrick floats above this, reminding voters of Charlie's pasts, and wins by 4-5 percent. And Cahill dances on Charlie's political grave.