Attorney General Martha Coakley has been accused of operating her US Senate campaign like a front-runner, trying to run out the clock.
Last week she seemed to slyly test out a new tack: trying to convince voters that this week’s primary election is a day later than it actually is.
“I have results,’’ Coakley told reporters Monday after a candidates forum at Suffolk University. “And that’s what I’m asking voters to look at on Dec. 9.’’
Um, the primary is actually Tuesday, Dec. 8.
To be fair, Coakley had mentioned the real date twice before, and only minutes before she made the slip. Was it fatigue from the compressed campaign? A subtle attempt at voter suppression? Was she, in her mind, already in general-election mode?
We’ll never know. But at least she has company. In a Suffolk University poll taken recently, 93 percent of Democratic voters could not name the exact date of the primary.
MATT VISER
There were 22 representatives who missed last week’s deadline to submit their personal austerity plan - which is voluntary - to the state treasurer. (In their own effort last year, all 40 state senators took the five days.)
For whatever reason, most of the scofflaws were supporters of state Representative John Rogers in his failed bid last year for House speaker, including Rogers himself. Are they engaging in some sort of civil disobedience, or are they dissing the current speaker, Robert DeLeo?
“Not at all,’’ says one of them, state Representative Paul Kujawski, who was one of Rogers’s most ardent backers. “I’ve taken furloughs before. Basically, it’s a simplistic gesture that really isn’t going to do anything to solve our financial crisis. I come to work. I do my job. It was an individual decision - there’s no conspiracy.’’
ANDREA ESTES
Meanwhile, Baker, who is outpacing everyone in gubernatorial fund-raising - including the Democratic incumbent, Governor Deval Patrick - dipped into his cash to pay a Washington-area firm, Public Opinion Strategies, $45,000 to take a statewide poll. Baker, after several months of fund-raising, has $1.1 million in his account. (Independent candidate Timothy P. Cahill, the state treasurer, has more than $3 million.)
Despite Tisei’s fund-raising success, some in the conservative ranks of the GOP are trying to stir up opposition to him as Baker’s choice. Tisei, who is openly gay, is a supporter of gay marriage and abortion rights, issues that Baker also supports.
An anonymous website has appeared, dumptisei.com, which seeks to get GOP activists to voice their opposition and find another challenger for lieutenant governor. “Charlie Baker made a personal decision that could affect not only his political future, but the future of the Republican Party in Massachusetts,’’ the site says.
“While we respect the friendship and personal relationship that Mr. Baker and Mr. Tisei have, we believe that Mr. Tisei is the wrong choice for lieutenant governor and the wrong choice for the Republican Party.’’
FRANK PHILLIPS
This week’s entry comes from Jesse Mermell, a Brookline selectwoman and political activist who has been active in Coakley’s campaign: “Just got a robocall from myself for @MarthaCoakley. That was a little weird! Don’t forget to vote Tues. 12/8. Polls open 7am-8pm.’’
