Crossposted at MyDD

I looked around and haven't found anybody on DailyKos writing about some exciting things happening in Massachusetts. Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick unveiled his new website devalpatrick.com is a whole new way to use the netroots/grassroots not only to campaign, but to govern.

I would, of course, be remiss if I did not mention the lovely liveblogging at .08Acres or the conversation at Blue Mass Group. Also, here are some photos of the governor meeting with local bloggers.

So what does it mean to be a netroots governor? Follow me after the jump.

I had a memorable time at Deval Patrick's inauguration today.  I'm really glad I made the decision at work to go for it and bike down to the capital to see the ceremony.  I stood to the left of the podium on Beacon Street among a very diverse cast of characters.  Standing next to me were a couple of businessmen in suits, a mother and her child, and a few teenagers in hip-hop gear.  And the satisfying thing was, they were all there with the same spirit, enjoying the same moments.  

Before I get into Patrick's speech, I want to mention Claudia.  She summed up the feeling of the day for me the best.  Claudia is an African-American woman, maybe in her 40s, who stood to my left.  How do I know her name?  When it was time for the governor's cabinet to collectively take their oath, Claudia, too, raised her right hand, and spoke along with them.  "I, Claudia, do solemnly swear..."  It seemed this was the first time Claudia really felt involved in her government, and the first time she had faith it would stand by her and do the right things.  It was an excellent thing to witness.

Deval Patrick was inaugurated today as the second African-American and the first Netroots governor in American history.  The ceremony was very grassroots oriented and a first in many ways.  Here is my first hand account of the day, and why Deval's election is so significant for all of us.

When a man's an empty kettle
He should be on his mettle
And yet I'm torn apart
Just because I'm presumin'
That I could be kind of human
If I only had a heart

Mitt Romney plays around
With the lives of tens of thousands
In the state he rarely stays,
The sick are screwed over
As he gives a big F-U to
Deval Patrick and sickbays

I'd be tender, I'd be gentle
And awful sentimental
Regarding love and art
I'd be friends with the sparrows
And the boy that shoots the arrows
If I only had a heart

This is my first diary here at Kos, so go easy on me :)

As posted on Slashdot and the ConsortiumInfo.org blog today, Deval Patrick announced a good chunk of his transition team just before Thanksgiving.  One group was formed to advise Patrick on technology related issues facing the state government.  Most of you that do not follow Intellectual Property in Technology issues probably are not aware that Massachusetts is currently an ongoing battlefield for the Open Document Format (ODF) war.  

One of the appointees to his board is Brian Burke, the Microsoft Regional Director for Public Affairs.  Microsoft has fought the ODF standard tooth and nail, even going so far as to promote their own "open standard" that is not exactly open and not exactly compatible with ODF.  Patrick has effectively let the fox into the henhouse.

Read on for more.

I just heard an extraordinary comment on a radio call-in show in Massachusetts. I was driving home after spending the evening at a friend's house watching the national results, so didn't hear the Deval Patrick acceptance speech. But the caller had heard the speech, and was moved by it, even though he had voted for Patrick's Republican opponent.

"I voted out of fear, and I should have voted out of hope", he said, after hearing Patrick speak. "I am jaded, I haven't been moved by a political speech for many years, but in Patrick I see another Martin Luther King Jr. I feel sorry that I wasn't in on the movement from the start. I feel that history is happening here." (Of course, I am paraphrasing to the best of my memory, as I was listening to this as I was driving and couldn't take notes.)

  I regret to inform you that the naked voting initiative here in Massachusetts has been (ahem) a bust. It's just too damn cold.  No matter what you choose to wear or not wear into the polling booth today, it's NOW time for all U.S. citizens to be counted!  Be there.  It's fun.  It's free.  It's just soooo sexy.

My ballot answers and voter fashion tips on the flip:

Poll open in less than 12 hours, and this marks the final edition of FTP. Has it only been about six weeks? Good lord, it seemed like a second job on some days, including today (of course) as we see the final push of polls before the "only poll that matters"...tomorrow.

Cautionary note--I am sure I have missed a few. Sorry. Today was a work day, and I also had a few other obligations today. I got what I could, which is two national polls and over 50 individual races.

Follow me below the fold for the last of it.....

I don't see that anyone has reported this yet. It's showing at the top of recent polls at Pollster.com...

Polimetrix, as part of the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, which brings together prominent political science researchers from around the country to do a massive national poll just before the election, has a raft of results just released. But I thought the one everyone most wants to hear is this one {pdf}:

Lieberman 48
Lamont 44
Schlesinger 5

DO NOT QUIT!
<more>

This afternoon soberdad and I took the little guy to Brockton to see Deval Patrick.  The rally was scheduled for 4:00.  We arrived early so soberdad could get into position for taking pictures.  It was obvious right from the beginning that this was a big tent campaign.  There were brochures in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Creole.  There were lesbians guiding people to their seats, veterans handing out stickers, elderly passing out signs, and plenty of space for wheelchairs.

Tonight we called independent voters to get them to support Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts.  We found that Independent Voters are a different breed than your registered Democrat.  Come see how our admittedly small poll might tell us something about the MA-Gov race.

A bit late tonight, unfortunately (had to be Dad tonight...the better half is coming back from a business trip).

No new national polls today, curiously, but we do have new numbers in a total of 35 races today. Follow me below the fold for the numbers.

This may be quite a local thing, but from my early childhood I can remember this poem:

    "And this is good old Boston,
    The home of the bean and the cod,
    Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
    And the Cabots talk only to God."

from Boston Brahmin Wikipedia entry

And when I think of these Yankee families today, I think of Republicans. Old Guard. Status Quo.  Preserve capital at all costs.  Tax cuts, if you please.

From this Wikipedia entry you will find references to a number of famous Boston families.  Of late, they are quite Republican families in many cases.

This is a diary for the Election Results Live Blogging project. This diary will be used to cover the results of the following elections: RI-SEN, RI-GOV, MA-GOV.

This diary is now online and ready.

NOTE: Deval Patrick has delivered his victory speech, and Kerry Healey has conceded. That's another Democratic governorship. There is a theory that Mitt Romney was hoping for a Democratic victory so that the Commonwealth will be so "messed up" that his Presidential bid will be a given. What say we, Kosters?

100% REPORTING! Sheldon Whitehouse wins!

Local news outlets continue to monitor the very close governor's race.

With 100% of precincts reporting, it would appear Charles Fogarty could not quite win the gubernatorial race, though there may well be a recount that will take a day or two. Bravo to him, however, for coming as close as he did! Don Carcieri is a respected incumbent. Please don't balme Charles Fogarty for this loss. His campaign was very good and serves notice to the Republicans... your margin of victory is very slim... and this isn't Bush country!

If you have questions, please contact FleetAdmiralJ.

Given that we are now 11 days away from the Big Dance, and the likelihood that the data is going to increase, not dissipate, I have a fear that I am going to run out of synonyms for "big" in my diary titles.

Indeed, while today we are totally bereft of national polling, we do see new numbers in 35 individual races, which is a new record for the ole FTP diary series. Alas, most of the House polling is internal polls, so there has to be a modicum of guarded optimism with those polls.

The issue of internal polls actually became quite the debate in yesterday's comment section, so allow me to explain my semi-skepticism about them, as well as give you all the new numbers, after the jump.

Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Murphy Healey has been demanding a 1-on-1 debate with Deval Patrick, who is now leading her by more than 20 points in their race for Governor of Massachusetts. She wants to exclude Christy Mihos, a hometown Libertarian, and Grace Ross, the Rainbow-Green Party candidates. (Both poll about 8% between them, but they've been fine agitants in the three debates to-date, needling both candidates on their lapses and getting in some good zingers.)

It turns out that a Roxbury civic group is happy to host a 1-on-1 debate--in fact, they've extended 3 invitations so far, and Patrick has accepted. The problem? Healey is trying to live down her notorious black-rapist-lurking-in-a-parking-garage ad. There wouldn't be awkward questions that she's trying to avoid, would there?

Another big polling day in the individual races, amid the total silence of national polling that continues into its second full day. Lest anyone spin into conspiracy theories, it is helpful to remember that there were five or six polls released Monday, although CBS and NBC remain conspicuously absent this week.

Meanwhile, across the threshold you will find new numbers in 28 individual races. For those who are following the momentum, today's polling numbers break down as such: Democrats have improved polling results in twelve of these races, Republicans improve in four races, and twelve of them retain neutral (2.5 points or less) momentum.

With that, let's look at the numbers....

The Boston Globe has an unbelieveable new article on the ongoing Big Dig tunnel repairs, which Mitt Romney is not handling well at all.  

http://www.boston.com/...

Incredibly, the Romney admin hired Bechtel to fix Bechtel's own faulty work on the Big Dig!  How can anyone talk about Mitt Romney for President in 2008 after the massive continuing problems with the Big Dig, culminating in an unfortunate woman's tragic death following the collapse of a ceiling panel.