Deval Patrick

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Why Deval Patrick deserves your vote

A more-solid-than-recognized record, plus a realistically humane view of the future
When Massachusetts voters go to the polls on Tuesday, November 2, we urge them to cast their votes for the re-election of Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray.
By EDITORIAL | October 20, 2010

Purple Mass Group

Massachusetts has more Independent voters — and candidates — than ever. Will they ever make a difference?
There's a message in how Governor Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker laugh off Tim Cahill's venom in the gubernatorial debates: neither Republicans nor Democrats are sweating their Independent rival in the 2010 election.
By CHRIS FARAONE | October 06, 2010

Transcript: The Phoenix interviews Charlie Baker

The Phoenix 's David S. Bernstein interviewed the Republican nominee for governor, Charlie Baker, on Saturday, October 2, outside Needham High School after a campaign rally.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 07, 2010

American jitters

Between paralysis and nervous breakdown
You would have to be delusional not to be anxious, perhaps even fearful.
By EDITORIAL | October 06, 2010

Charles in charge?

Republican Charlie Baker has been ready to be governor for years. But was he ready to be a candidate?
Voters should already have a good idea what they think about the candidates — which is why an increasing number of observers, across the political spectrum, are expressing surprise at how few Bay Staters like Charlie Baker.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 07, 2010

Can Patrick Hang On?

What Deval needs to do now
Massachusetts has a mixed record of re-electing governors.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 29, 2010

Reinventing Boston's schools

Throw the teachers' contract out the window
For everyone who wants to make Boston's public schools better, Tuesday, September 28, was a banner day.
By EDITORIAL | September 29, 2010

A Race Well Run

Beacon Hill and the education establishment overcame narrow self-interest by putting students and schools first
Five months ago, when Massachusetts failed to win a Race to the Top education grant from the federal government, the Phoenix took the legislature and teachers' unions to task for being too timid and politically motivated to do the right thing.
By EDITORIAL | August 26, 2010

Baker's Learning Curve

A debate shows that the candidate is improving — but has a long way still to go
In the first Massachusetts gubernatorial debate, this past June on WRKO radio, Republican Charlie Baker fared poorly, sounding defensive and petulant during testy exchanges with Governor Deval Patrick and Treasurer Tim Cahill.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 18, 2010

DeLeo's the one

Don't blame Patrick or the legislature for the failure of casino gambling
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo won. So what? Or perhaps more to the point, now what?
By EDITORIAL | August 04, 2010

DeLeo's the one

Don't blame Patrick or the legislature for the failure of casino gambling
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo won. So what? Or perhaps more to the point, now what?
By EDITORIAL | August 04, 2010

Rookies Go Bust

DeLeo and Baker were bested in Beacon Hill's gaming showdown, not so Cahill
The end of the two-year Massachusetts legislative session frequently turns into a high-stakes poker game, with the governor, Senate president, and House speaker bluffing and bargaining down to the wire — along with lobbyists, interest groups, and, in election years, candidates for state office kibitzing from the sidelines.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 04, 2010

Fenway Park goes classical

A new landmark for the Landmarks Orchestra
"Free, friends, and Fenway Franks — all F's!" the young woman answered when I asked why she was at the very first symphonic concert at Fenway Park. "I've got one more F for you," she told me during the intermission.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | July 09, 2010

The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England
A year and a half into the Age of Obama, we are learning a lesson we should have figured out long ago — that repression, once in place, is rarely rolled back all the way, and that liberals no less than conservatives are reluctant to give up power.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 05, 2010

Deval Patrick and the mosque

Letters to the Boston editor, July 2, 2010
I was extremely disappointed to read your close-minded, ignorant, and bigoted position on Governor Deval Patrick’s meeting with Muslims at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | June 30, 2010

Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Mr. Patrick Goes to Franklin Park

'Deval in the 'Hood' Dept.
As Deval Patrick engaged constituents at the third annual 10,000 Strong Boston barbecue in Franklin Park on Father's Day, it was clear that his support from black voters doesn't derive solely from the luster of his climb from Chicago's hardscrabble streets to the top spot on the Beacon Hill food chain.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 24, 2010

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism

Governor Patrick's problematic Mosque visit. Plus, Bush — and the GOP — vote yes for torture
Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by the Islamic Society of Boston.
By EDITORIAL | June 14, 2010

Weenie Roast!

The Phoenix 's second annual Memorial Day political roast
A year ago, with scandals and embarrassments swirling around Massachusetts state politics, the Phoenix tossed some well-deserving pols on the flames in our first annual Memorial Day political roast. I'm pleased that I've been invited back.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 05, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 26, 2010

Boston tucks away a $125 million windfall

More for Moneybags?
As debate continues over the city’s finances — and whether the city of Boston can afford firefighters’ raises, branch libraries, community-center staffing, and other costs in tight times — the city is planning to quietly tuck away a one-time windfall of more than $125 million.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 24, 2010

Cape Wind: It’s Complicated

Obama gave the green-energy project a green light. Now, a slew of messy coalitions are going to battle over the future of clean energy.
Thousands of years ago, the terrain beneath what is now Nantucket Sound was dry, and populated by the ancestors of the Wampanoag people, who continue to revere it.
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | May 07, 2010

Saving America from itself

The federal government must rein in corporate criminals
The nation’s inability to regulate the corporate class is bringing death, destruction, and economic ruin.
By EDITORIAL | May 05, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

GOP’s state convention delivers the bland brand

Dull and Duller Dept.
Massachusetts Republican candidates for office this November might be well-advised to legally change their names and appear on the ballot as “Someone Else,” “Another Option,” or “Available Alternative.”
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 23, 2010

Let's get serious

Gambling is front and center on Beacon Hill
The odds are that casino gambling is coming to Massachusetts. The state’s big three — Governor Deval Patrick, State Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo — are all in favor.
By EDITORIAL | April 16, 2010

Will Beacon Hill be bullied into enacting a politically correct law?

Freedom watch
A case of high-school bullying in South Hadley ended in tragedy this past January when the alleged victim, a freshman girl, committed suicide. Now, ramped up by the outrage over the case, Massachusetts legislators are in danger of enacting a politically correct law that could have devastating effects on our free speech.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | April 12, 2010

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

Taxi turmoil

Plus, controlling local health costs
Taxis are an under-appreciated and often little-considered component in urban mass-transit systems. They fill the gaps left by the MBTA and offer a sort of curb-to-curb, citywide Zipcar service.
By EDITORIAL | March 17, 2010

The Curse of the Big Dig

Tthe mere mention of the Central Artery Project can derail one's hopes for higher office. Charlie Baker is finding that out now.
Call it the Curse of the Big Dig: virtually every politician with statewide significance who has over the years become intertwined with the Central Artery Project (as it is officially known) has seen his or her dreams of higher office dashed.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 17, 2010

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