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People’s Pledges

City Life

That Pro-Steve Grossman Ad Is Unlikely to Shake Up the Race

The big concern of some Massachusetts Democrats lately has been that “Mass Forward,” the pro-Steve Grossman Super PAC, would unleash a torrent of brutal attack […]

City Life

The Second Quarter Was Tough for Massachusetts Democrats

Thanks to the frequency of Massachusetts reporting requirements for statewide candidates—legislators, of course, give themselves very different rules—observers like me tend to look at short-term […]

City Life

Salem Mayor: ‘Apparently, Glenn Beck Is Not Happy With Us’

When Mayor Kim Driscoll ended a contract with Gordon College to manage a historic building in Salem because of the school’s violation of the city’s Non-Discrimination […]

City Life

Democratic Governor Candidates Hate Evil, Tainted Super PAC Money

First, let me say for the benefit of Charlie Baker’s minions that I got all three Democratic candidates for governor to commit to raising taxes, […]

City Life

People’s Pledge Bickering Moves Down the Ballot

As you might have picked up in previous posts, the world of Massachusetts politics has been beset by bickering over so-called “People’s Pledges,” aka, the agreements […]

City Life

How the Insiders See Outside Events Shaping the Race for Governor

Steve Grossman has run the best campaign so far—but the race for governor will be shaped by forces largely beyond any candidate’s control. That’s the […]

City Life

A Labor Super-PAC Is Running an Anti-Charlie Baker Ad

The recently formed National Association of Government Employees Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee has scheduled an ad attacking Charlie Baker, to run during the sixth […]

City Life

It’s Time to Play: Who Sank the People’s Pledge?

It is apparently necessary for every major Massachusetts political campaign to periodically engage in a pissing contest about which candidate most abhors the filthy finances […]

City Life

Is The Mayoral Election For Sale?

There are few issues that elicit more hand-wringing among progressives than campaign financing, especially in the past few years since the Supreme Court widened the […]

City Life

The Call For Disclosure To John Connolly and Marty Walsh [Update]

UPDATE 3: Both John Connolly and Marty Walsh call on all outside independent expenditure committees spending in support of their campaigns to disclose identities of […]

City Life

The Outside Ads Start For John Connolly

Democrats For Education Reform (DFER), which has been supportive of John Connolly throughout the mayoral campaign, has mostly laid back in deference to Connolly’s call […]

City Life

Connolly or Walsh: Who Is The Bigger People’s Pledge Hypocrite?

The people of Boston surely have many weighty things to consider in choosing their next mayor, but none more consequential than independent campaign expenditures. No, […]

City Life

In July, Marty Walsh Said He Would Sign Pledge If Others Did

This past Wednesday, as the battle over the so-called “People’s Pledge” or “Boston Pledge” against independent expenditures came to a boil in the mayoral campaign, […]

City Life

A Timeline of the John Connolly/Stand for Children Debacle

There are few things more predictable in contemporary political campaigns, at least in Massachusetts, than the holier-than-thou slapfest over outside expenditures. It was obviously coming […]

City Life

The Congressional Race Starts With A Money Fight

First, let’s establish for the record that Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian was a declared candidate in the 5th District congressional special election for a […]