2nd Governor Patrick Bucking up LG Murray as He Prepares to Check Out
Remember back in late 2010, when at one of the gubernatorial debates the candidates were asked to name an "overrated virtue"? Charlie Baker took a fair measure of crap for answering "loyalty." As he explained subsequently, however, the kind of situation Baker had in mind when he gave the answer was pretty much precisely the situation in which Governor Patrick finds himself lately vis-a-vis his Lieutenant Governor: stubbornly defending conduct that most everyone else (including his usual defenders) have long since concluded is indefensible.
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| A Prediction |
Except... I don't think Governor Patrick's steadfast defense of Tim Murray stems primarily from loyalty. I think there is something much more calculated and strategic going on.
I'm pretty sure Lieutenant Governor Murray is about to become Acting Governor Murray, sooner and to a much greater extent than most observers expect.
Follow me here:
You probably saw or heard the Governor early last week proclaiming (repeatedly) that he is "moving on" from the twin Murray scandals. Late in the week, Murray himself used the same term in a series of sit-down interviews intended, apparently, to try and put the car crash / Chelsea Housing messes behind him. (Here's one of them, with CBS Boston's Joe Shortsleeve. Nothing says "moving on" like an interview in a bar.)
You probably also saw that Governor Patrick was tapped to be a "national co-chair" of President Obama's reelection campaign. In and of itself the title is pretty much meaningless (Eva Longoria and the guy who plays Kumar in the Harold and Kumar movies are also on the "co-chair" roster). But I've already lost track of how many trips Patrick has made to DC this year to appear on national news broadcasts as an Obama surrogate. And for the President, who has no primary challenger, the campaign hasn't even really started yet. It is very clear that the Obama campaign intends to make frequent use of our Governor on the campaign trail. We can expect Patrick's travel obligations to pick up radically, starting as soon as the spring.
Of course it makes perfect sense for Murray, who still apparently harbors hopes of succeeding Patrick in the big chair, to do everything he can to overcome the significant self-erected hurdles currently standing in his way. And as a legacy matter it also makes sense for Patrick to help him.
But the embarassing doggedness of Patrick's defense of Murray over the past three months and the new emphasis both are putting on Murray's supposed substantive accomplishments in office make even more sense if Patrick is planning to essentially turn over the reins to his LG much sooner than 2014. After all, you don't leave the house keys with a guy who is stumbling all over the place with puke down the front of his shirt. You have to help the guy get cleaned up before you blow town, lest the neighbors start talking. Ordinarily were a situation like this to arise in the second year of a second term, the Governor would be expected to take a harder line with his errant sidekick - or at least to create some political separation between himself and his wildly flailing understudy. But with checkout time rapidly approaching, Patrick doesn't have time to let Murray work his own way out (or not) of the messes he's made. He has to get that fella into some clean clothes, put a pot of coffee into him, and make sure he at least knows how to program the microwave.
Clumsy metaphor aside, here's what I'm getting at: with Patrick gone, Murray will have to be the public face of the Administration. After all, someone has to rush out to the MEMA bunker and stand at a podium in shirt sleeves with a furrowed brow every time it rains hard. And it won't do for the public face of the Administration to be mired in ongoing scandals. So both Patrick and Murray will be working overtime for the next month or so to "move on."
Here's a guess: by early to mid-April - let's say, oh, April 10 - the Governor's official schedule is going to get a lot less detailed. The "Lieutenant Governor" is going to roll out of bed more mornings than not as the "Acting Governor." And it's a good bet the Acting Governor isn't going to be allowed to do much of his own driving.
The nice thing about a prediction like this one is it will be pretty definitively proved correct or incorrect in short order - always assuming, of course, that the Fourth Estate is paying attention.
One other thing: I'd prefer that commenters identify themselves too, all things being equal. But people can have plenty of reasons for not wanting to do so. So long as the person in question isn't personal or obnoxious, I'm not sure why it should matter. The argument is either coherent or not. Either worth responding to or not. The source has nothing to do with it. Hence the ad hominem fallacy. Thanks all (identified and not) for taking the time to comment.
Dan Haley | 2012-02-29 16:51:41
Art, I've never really understood "why are you writing about X instead of about Y??!" as an argument, though it certainly appears often enough. I'm sure we could have a good discussion about unemployment and overall economic conditions, and whether they are improving (and if so, whether they are improving because of or despite our Governor and his policies). But that isn't what this post is about. You're certainly free to use the comment space as you wish, but you shouldn't be surprised if the responses to your attempt to change the subject are less than cooperative. If you are okay with the Governor checking out for the better part of a year to go surrogate for a national campaign, well, that's your right too. I'm not okay with it - especially given who he'll leave in charge.
Dan Haley | 2012-02-29 16:49:31
Dear Pete: Do you really think that Deval Patrick moved all the jobs overseas and decimated the manufacturing base in this country ?? compare the economy now with the near collaspe of capitalism in late 2008 and yes, it's improving and compare the unemployment rates in Holliston, Sherborn, Dover, Hopkinton with Lynn, Holyoke, New Bedford and even Milford and you'll see where the real problems are...it's been a tough road the past few years, but yes, things are getting better and will continue to improve when Obama gets re-elected in November and the Republicans lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
LD | 2012-02-29 12:17:45
And to you "Pete", What about those clowns?? Why not identify yourself??
art winters | 2012-02-29 11:13:29
Hey Art- do you run a buisness in this state? Are you an employer in this state? Are you concerned with the deficet in this country? How about our currancy being devalued as we keep printing the money we dont have?? There is so much to comment on that it makes me ill to think about it. The economy is improving?? Unemployment is down? For the real unemployment numbers at another 10% on top for those folks who have stopped looking and how about the under employed? Maybey they can get a job at the casino and raise a family and send there kids to college that way or maybe get lucky at the black jack table because the only jobs being created are at service level. Wheres the innovation? Where is the dynamic economy? Where is the future? Please enlighten me Art.
pete | 2012-02-29 09:36:45
The MA economy is improving and unemployment is down. It seems as though Mr. Haley has nothing left to comment on. The above confirms that. Here's a topic: the clowns being rolled out in the presidantial primaries.
art winters | 2012-02-29 05:50:45