Please JoinNow, we won't even get into what they're charging to attend, let alone have dinner with the former governors. Let's look at the attendees, specifically their Republican and/or conservative credentials, shall we?
Governor Bill Weld
Governor Paul Cellucci
Governor Jane Swift
Governor Mitt Romney
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Bill Weld. What does it portend for the MA GOP that Governor Howdy Doody is the least objectionable attendee? His support of Barack Obama alone makes him persona non grata in the right-leaning political world, which is sad considering he's arguably the most popular Republican governor in MA history. Weld inherited a state that was, by all measures, completely and utterly in the crapper; driven to junk bond status by the reckless fiscal policies of 1988 Presidential candidate Dukakis.
Paul Cellucci. Other than having a five o'clock shadow at 11AM, leaving the Governor's mansion to become the Canadian ambassador, and signing the execrable 1998 Gun Control Act, what did Cellucci accomplish as MA governor other than keep the seat warm? Well, there was the little matter of that minor project called the Big Dig that sort of imploded under his watch. His selling out of the GOP in the 2000 Senate race was one of the lowest points I've ever witnessed from a fellow Republican.
Jane Swift. The first female governor of Massachusetts, Swift came under fire quickly for her questionable use of state equipment (a use that would go unnoticed a few years later by Deval Patrick). Swift never really resonated with the people of MA, and only served the remainder of Cellucci's term, declining to run for re-election. She was the first sitting governor to give birth in US history.
And, lastly...
Mitt Romney. Oh, the vitriol I could expend on Governor Romney... Raising taxes, signing the MA AWB extension, creating the MA Health Care Reform boondoggle; his résumé as MA governor reads like a litany of feel-good liberal Democrat policies. And yet the man claims to be an NRA member and "the only Conservative running" in 2008... About the only "conservative" effort he supported was the ban on Gay Marriage, which, lest we forget, was signed into law as the Defense of Marriage Act by, ironically, Bill Clinton.
I understand that Republicans in Massachusetts are about as rare as hunters in Berkeley. I understand that, for a kick-off fundraiser you want to bring your "A" listers, your big names, your superstars to bring in the donors. I understand that the struggling Massachusetts Republican party - which is outnumbered about 9 to 1 - can't be as picky for speakers as, say, the Texas Republican party.
It doesn't mean I have to like the Rogue's Gallery assembled, though.
That is all.
6 comments:
Being a naturally contrary sort who responds very badly to obvious manipulation attempts, I wonder if the Massachusetts Republican Party wouldn't do better to pick out a handful of sympathetic town administrators or just ordinary citizens -- the kind of people that the party needs to rebuild itself -- and make them the featured speakers.
But this list of has-beens ... geez, Howie Carr would be a bigger draw.
I left MA when Weld Governor. I thought he was okay - at least kept most of the bad ideas coming from Dems in the legislature from becoming law.
At the time (I was young and niave), I had high hopes for MA and thought I would be back after grad school. Those hopes are long dead.
I still think of myself as a New England man and may return to NH someday if they can keep the libs from destroying that state like they have the rest of New England.
From my dealings with him Rich Tisei is about an awesome a republican as they come.
http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/rrt0.htm
Then again I don't think Wakefield is aware that it's actually in Massachusetts.
Is that a Republican fundraiser or a "Re-Elect Deval Patrick" fundraiser? Hard to tell from that line up.
You're right in that Weld is the least objectionable. I'd only horsewhip him. The others? You don't want to know.
I keep hearing that it will be Romney in 2012, but why I can't fathom.
Still, that's a long way off, so maybe things will get better. Well, not in MA, but in the rest of the country.
Too bad Sarah Palin isn't available. Oh wait, she's too controversial.
Sar-ah, Sar-ah, Sar-ah, Sar-ah
Bring on the controversy. mWe need to wake the dead of the MA Republican party. An event headlined by 4 RINOs just don't do it.
"Multiple Choice" Mitt Romney has flip-flopped so many ties in his life that he makes John Kerry look inflexible. If I remember correctly, there was a time that ol' Mitt ran against Ted Kennedy and tried to run to the left of Teddy.
And now he is "a true conservative", because he coughed up a grand to become a life member just before he ran last year? GMAFB!
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