Polls are showing she can …
In 2008, the good ole boy circled the wagons around now-President Obama and asked Hillary Clinton to step aside. She didn’t go down without first putting up a fierce fight.
Fast-forward to a week before the 2014 Massachusetts primary, and the wagons are circling again – this time for Warren Tolman in his bid for Attorney General against Democratic primary candidate Maura Healey. With endorsements from Governor Patrick and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh this week and most of Labor – the testosterone is definitely pumping for Tolman.
Does Healey have the fight in her to overcome the good ole boy nod for Tolman?
I’m saying she does.
Healey, as you might know, is the openly gay former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General that helped argue the case Attorney General Martha Coakley put forward, along with GLAD, to help bring down DOMA last year. On top of that amazing triumph, Healey led the Consumer Protection and Civil Rights bureaus in Coakley’s AG office and took on bad corporations and helped stop discrimination in the Commonwealth – and at 5’4 inches tall, went to Europe and was a professional basketball player for awhile after college. A general badass — if you will.
Tolman is a former State Senator and corporate lawyer at the Boston law firm of Holland & Knight. He is known best for his push for campaigns to run under Clean Elections law during his run Governor in 2002. Tolman also voted for the state’s first Buffer Zone law for abortion clinics, supported gay marriage from its early days before Goodridge, and is a long-time crusader for gun control. Tolman also is a badass – an old-school progressive before it was cool.
So, will Maura Healey be able to overcome this tidal wave of machismo and prevail on Election Day next week?
Well, the proof is going to be in the (Get Out the Vote) GOTV pudding.
For those neophytes to politics, GOTV is the time where campaigns do everything possible to ensure they get their supporters to the polls to vote on election day. This involves phonebanking, door knocking, holding signs on street corners, sending robocalls, launching TV Commercials and shaking as many hands as possible.
Tolman campaign looks tough with a strong campaign manager, Chris Joyce, and reknowned strategist, Doug Rubin at the helm. Rubin is one of the most well-known Democratic strategists in the state best known for leading Governor Patrick in 2010 and Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2012 to victory. He has had a robust fundraising operation through the duration of his campaign and currently has a little over $200,000 going into Tuesday’s primary. Additionally, robust help from labor also bolsters Tolman’s campaign — Tolman’s brother, Steven Tolman, is the President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Beyond familial relations, labor has a vested interested in having a key supporter in the Attorney General’s position for numerous reasons including enforcing labor and wage laws.
Here is Tolman’s TV commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV7kxQNiLs4
Healey also has a robust campaign operation as well led by a strong campaign manager, Michael Firestone, and seasoned strategist David Guarino. Firestone seems to specialize in newbie candidates – he most recently led Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu to victory in her first political race. Guarino is a veteran reporter and State House spin guru that is also advising openly-gay Lt. Gov. candidate Stephen Kerrigan on his run. Healey’s fundraising, once weak, is now robust and she is pulling in the dough both from in and out-of-state donors and currently has almost $70,000 in the bank going into next week. The HRC and LPAC (Lesbian Political Action Committee), both endorsers of Healey, are likely going to make a large push on Healey’s behalf.
Here is Healey’s TV commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovcTjDnL0Ro
Yesterday’s brand new Boston Globe poll says that Healey is up 15 points over Tolman among likely primary voters. Last week they were in a statistical dead heat.
Will this surge hold on and be enough to overcome Tolman and his wagons? We will see – but Healey definitely has the campaign and momentum in place to pull it off and it’s showing.
