This morning I saw a most peculiar sight at the Democratic Unity Breakfast.*
For those of you that don’t know, the Unity Breakfast is held the day after a Democratic primary and brings together all parties that hated each other less than 24 hours before to celebrate the winner. Candidates and staffers try not to gloat and look hungover from their victory parties and the losers try not to look like the sad and hateful bunch that they really are. There are many staged hugs and forced smiles. And there is no breakfast — and the most egregious fact — there is no coffee.
As one of four gays in the room this morning — me, newly minted Democratic nominees for Lt. Governor Steve Kerrigan and Attorney General Maura Healey and re-elected Governor’s Council member Eileen Duff — I marveled at the this historic moment in Massachusetts politics.
Healey won her Tuesday primary race handily against Warren Tolman. Healey won almost every city and town in the state – except for five. She walked away with 62.3% of the vote. Impressive. Her GOTV operation, led by campaign manager and field guru Michael Firestone, not only got the job done yesterday – but overcame a candidate who out-raised her 2 to 1 and was supported by Labor, the Governor, and the Boston Mayor. Healey took Boston by 11 points. Well played Team Healey.
Kerrigan won his Tuesday primary race handily as well against two contenders — Cambridge City Councilor Lelund Cheung and Progressive favorite Mike Lake. Kerrigan had the fundraising advantage but Cheung got the Boston Globe endorsement and Lake had a lot of progressive activists supporting him across the state. However, Kerrigan’s GOTV operation carried the day and he won handily with 50.2% of the vote to Cheung’s 29.4% and Lake’s 19.7%. Well done Team Kerrigan.
If these two win in November, Massachusetts will be the first state in the nation to have an openly gay Lt. Gov and Attorney General. So, LGBT community, its time to step up and get behind them – because the whole ticket is going to need a lot of help.
Martha Coakley also won yesterday – it was a solid victory over Steve Grossman and Don Berwick – but the numbers from yesterday didn’t reflect the polls which projected Coakley crushing her primary competitors. Coakley took 42.2% over the vote to Grossman’s 36.5% and Berwick’s 21.2%. Solid win but it could spell trouble for November.
Coakley’s general election opponent Charlie Baker has been stockpiling money and a superPAC, backed by national Republican operatives, is already engaging in anti-Coakley ads. To say Baker is ready for a fight is putting it mildly.
What, you ask, is wrong? But isn’t Charlie Baker not that bad? He’s a moderate Republican – he’s cool right? Wrong.
Four years ago, in order for Baker to get the nomination at the Republican State Convention over crazy Christy Mihos, Baker through the Transgender Civil Rights bill – and the LGBT community – under the bus and told the crowd he would veto the “Bathroom Bill.” The Massachusetts Family Institute, Focus on the Family, and a host of others locusts rejoiced and flooded his campaign and PACs supporting Charlie boy with funds to support his campaign.
Do you think this time will be any different?
If that doesn’t convince you – maybe this will.
Baker’s Lt. Governor candidate, Karen Polito used to be a State Representative. During the legislative fight for gay marriage, Polito was the literal ring leader for the anti-gay marriage folks. She railed against gays wanting to destroy traditional marriage and was a public spokesperson for the right wing of the anti-gay Republican resistance. She never switched her vote. She now says its “settled law.”
In order to ensure the whole LGBT community is truly protected, we need to elect people who are a part of our community and our straight allies that have stuck out our necks for our community. Martha Coakley brought the case against DOMA to the Supreme Court – and won. Maura Healey and Steve Kerrigan are a part of our community.
Help make history in November and support our openly gay candidates and allies and get them elected.
* For the record: While I wanted to write about it first – I have to give props to political columnist David Bernstein who described the scene in his Boston Magazine blog: “Wednesday morning’s Democratic Party Unity Breakfast can accurately be described as an opportunity for a room full of straight men to pledge fealty to their gay and/or female leaders. The straight men who went 0-for-7 in the four contested statewide primaries were there, along with the straight male current and former state party chairmen, and the mostly straight male consultants and operatives who ran the campaigns or head supportive organizations.”
