Gov. Mike Dukakis on Grassroots Organizing

Below Boston has some must-see video of former Governor Michael Dukakis speaking at a South Shore Democrats party for former Massachusetts Democratic party chairman Phil Johnston. Dukakis has been talking about the need for precinct-level grassroots organizing to anyone who will listen for a long time now -- years -- and he brings this message to the gathering of Democratic activists. I transcribed some of his speech:

I wish I could tell you that Democrats around the country understand precinct based organizing, but you know they don't. They don't. We've got all these consultants, some of them my dear friends, who never rang a doorbell in their life, and they have no idea what happens when a real human being who lives in the precinct, is part of the precinct, talks like the precinct and looks like the precinct goes out and knocks on doors. You've done it. Deval did it; we all did it for him. Yeah, you raised some bucks in the end, John [Walsh], but I don't know what he was outspent by, overall. It was huge, and he won by twenty-one percentage points. And it had everything to do with that grassroots precinct-based organization.

And folks, we have got to do precisely that nationally beginning now in every one of the 185,000 precincts in the United States of America. All fifty states, 185,000 precincts. No one's going to tell me we can't do it. And I'm depending, Phil, on you and John to go out there and deliver that message nationally. I wish I could tell you the state chairs get it. They don't! I've talked to them and they don't understand. They belittle it. You know "that's yesterday." That's baloney. We have the most dramatic example of the effectiveness of this right hear in the Commonwealth because of what happened last fall.

The speech is short, and it's well worth watching the whole thing.

Romney Travel Cost Mass. Extra $40 Grand

Today's Globe has the story that while Governor Mitt Romney has ramped up his out-of-state travel in the past eleven months, he's also cost taxpayers nearly $40,000 more than the previous year in State Trooper security detail costs. Here are the numbers:

Travel, lodging, and meals for state troopers accompanying Romney cost $103,365 for the last 11 months, up from $63,874 that the security details cost during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005, according to the records.

Romney's mouthpiece Eric Fehrnstrom, defended the security details, saying that every other governor in the nation had security travel with them. Of course, no one suggested that Governor Romney not have any security. The bigger issue is that Romney's constant out-of-state travel is actually costing the tax payers. I wonder if every other governor in the nation has spent nearly half of their time out of the state they govern. My guess is that Romney leads the pack on that measure.

Normally, Fehrnstrom would claim that whatever Romney is doing, former Governor Mike Dukakis did first in 1987 and 1988 while running for President. The Globe caught up with Dukakis, who had this to say for himself:

Dukakis, the last Massachusetts governor who ran for president, criticized the use of taxpayers' money to provide security details for Romney's trips. He said such a cost should be borne by a candidate's political committee. "I never traveled with a trooper," insisted Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee who spent much of 1987 and well into 1988 campaigning across America before he was given Secret Service protection. "It always seemed to me that the troopers should be out catching criminals, not holding my coat."

Duke Vs. Mitt

The Boston Herald has an amusing story today about former Governor Mike Dukakis' call for current Governor Mitt Romney to finally let the Commonwealth in on his plans to run for reelection. From the article:

Dukakis said he announced he would seek the presidency in April 1987, just a few months after he had been sworn in for a third term.

"I didn't dance around it," Dukakis said. "There wasn't a lot of mystery about the whole thing."
...
Dukakis was critical of Romney's many forays out of state.

"I wasn't running around doing events designed to enhance my national stature," Dukakis, who is now teaching at Northeastern University, said. "I don't think it helps to run around the country trashing the state you are governor of at Republican events."

Now, I'll admit that I was not living in Massachusetts in 1987, so others can verify the Duke's claims, but what I will say is that it is a disgrace that Mitt Romney has not made his intentions official -- particularly now that it's less than a year before the GOP Primary. The only commitment he's been willing to make is that he'll make his decision "in the Fall" -- which technically gives him until December 20th.

Old News Roundup

I spent most of Easter weekend in a car or otherwise out of Internet communication so this is a good an excuse as any to clear my desk of some of the things I meant to talk about previously, but never got the chance.

Michael Dukakis Interview: Basie! has an interesting interview with former governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. The focus is mostly on national politics, but he has some interesting things to say about the need for Democrats to build the grassroots.

Healey part 1: For those of you who have not yet heard about Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey's recent remark that seniors who are "overhoused" should move into smaller residences to avoid paying higher property taxes. As always, Romney is a Fraud has the best rundown of her comments and how the governor is distancing himself from them. One has to wonder if Healey would apply the same solution to other problems should she become the acting governor. If the solution to the problem of high property taxes for seniors on fixed incomes is for them to move, is the solution to the health care crisis telling people to move to Canada where medical care is free? Should a company complain to the acting governor of high corporate taxes, will she suggest they move to, say, South Carolina?

Healey part 2: Last month I idly wondered if there was more to Ian Bayne's criticism of Kerry Healey. As it turns out, Bayne's consulting group conducted a Poll of Romney campaign donors. As of mid-Feburary, 230 of them had responded to the following question:

Question: Should Lt. Governor Healey resign over a recent incident where she used a state police vehicle to get her through traffic to a social event?

6%	YES (she should resign)
81%	NO (she should not resign)
13%	No Answer/Not sure

I wonder if he got the answer he was looking for.

What if they had an election and no one came: An article in Cape Cod Today from last week speculated that if Romney ends up sitting out the 2006 election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate frontrunner Tom Reilly will end up facing much stiffer competition in the primary.

[If Romney does not run for reelection,] Tom Reilly probably won't get the Democratic nomination either since he's perceived by Democrats as strong against Mitt but an "also ran" against anyone else. We might end up with decent candidates in both parties instead.

While I do think Romney will run, it is true that the dynamic of the race would change completely if he quits. I would imagine that a number of the people who have already said they're taking a pass this year (Joe Kennedy and Mike Capuano, for instance) might change their minds should this turn into an open seat.