Editorial

As Massachusetts goes, so goes the nation! At least that’s the hope of the national Republican Party. That hope may be ironic, but it’s not surprising.

If the Democratic voters of the Massachusetts 10^th Congressional District aren’t careful there is a very real chance that Martha Coakley’s debacle of nine months ago will be repeated this September, giving the GOP a chance to tell the nation its policies and tactics have gestated and are now being consistently recognized and approved by the people of the bluest of the blue states. The propaganda value is limitless.

The national GOP is still crowing about how a relatively obscure Massachusetts state senator, Scott Brown, solidly defeated well known Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy until his death, and before that by JFK, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner and John Quincy Adams. It isn’t hard to imagine the blaring sound of the Republican sound machine should either Republican Joe Malone or Jeff Perry ultimately take possession of the seat in the November election.

That is why this primary election on September 14^th is so vital for Democrats.

Just like the primary that resulted in AG Martha Coakley defeating U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano, this primary pits Sen. Rob O’Leary against DA William Keating.

The similarities are more than striking; Rob O’Leary, like Martha Coakley, is a very decent, liberal minded professional who speaks softly and wishes to win voters by gently appealing to simple common sense. William Keating, like Mike Capuano, is a very decent, liberal minded professional who speaks bluntly and wishes to win voters by driving home the hard realities of politics in the 21^st Century.

It doesn’t take much of a crystal ball to perceive what the GOP intends regardless of whether former state treasurer Joe Malone or current state rep Jeff Perry win the Sept. 14^th primary. Both tow the GOP line; that is, support the policy of “no,” except when it comes to cutting taxes, especially for the wealthy, because as everyone is supposed to realize, that means the rich will invest more and it will trickle down into jobs, etc., etc.

Anyone who thinks that somehow Joe Malone isn’t quite as much in line with the most reactionary national GOP policies should remember that Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu and former NYC mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani have come to the 10th District to support him. And as everyone who hasn’t been asleep knows, Jeff Perry, despite his ugly political baggage, is the Tea Party candidate who also has very solid, powerful support from the national GOP, including former governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

All of this makes the bottom line for Democratic voters in the 10^th Congressional District a straightforward case of memory retention. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s Joe Malone or Jeff Perry who goes forward after the primary, either one of them will play hardball politics in the toughest and most relentless manner possible, not the least because their national party will demand it!

Therefore to the Democratic voters it’s a simple question; which candidate will be most able to combat the GOP assault going into the November election: the soft spoken Mr. O’Leary, who likes to speak in broad, general and philosophical terms regarding specific issues, or Mr. Keating, whose core values are the same but who, with a smile and a firm voice makes his points clear as a bell. He is used to bare knuckle political fighting, having once taken on former Mass. Sen. Pres. Bill Bulger before going on to become a respected but tough DA.

The choice of William Keating is obvious for anyone who wishes to avoid a repeat of the Coakley/Brown election debacle and deny the GOP a national victory.