Genesis of a Talking Point

Yesterday, I noted how Mass GOP executive director Tim O'Brien was sniping at Tom Reilly's investigative record. Well, it now looks like Boston Herald Columnist and right-wing radio nut-job Howie Carr is joining the party. Here's an excerpt from his most recent column (sub req):

Attorney General Tom Reilly has a nickname in political circles - "Unfortunately." It's because the would-be governor's investigations always begin with great fanfare. But months later the probes invariably peter out, not with a bang, but a whimper, as T.S. Eliot would say. And the end is always the same: a press release that begins with the words to the effect of "Unfortunately ..."

He then launches into a series of fake questions and answers along the lines of this nugget:

Q: Didn't he threaten once to go after Major League Baseball for collusion or some such thing?
A: Yes, but unfortunately ...

Well, maybe Howie Carr thinks that getting getting an extra $30 million for charity is unfortunate, but I think most reasonable people would disagree. He then goes on to distort Reilly's record and insult him personally, although Carr insulting a Democrat is not exactly a "man bites dog" story.

Normally, I don't pay Carr much attention, but when two Republicans shoot their mouths off about the same subject at the same time, that signals the birth of a new talking point. Look for more GOP operatives trying to push the idea that Reilly is ineffective. As I've said before, they are going to drive up his negatives and they're starting now while his public image is still fairly malleable.

The best way for Reilly to deal with this is, of course, to achieve a high profile victory in his efforts to recover costs from Big Dig contractors. Not only would this be a political victory for him personally, but more importantly, it would be a victory for every Massachusetts taxpayer.