A young Hudak supporter holds a sign in front of the auditorium in Beverly where the debate with Tierney was held.
Bill Hudak shakes hands with supporters before Thursday’s debate.
Perretti’s tobacco shop in downtown Boston.
I’m staying here until tomorrow evening, and then Pete Da Tech Guy is driving me back home to Maryland. We’re going to take a couple of days to make the trip; and make stops to cover a couple of congressional campaigns along the way. Pete needs $300 more in tip jar hits to pay for the car rental and gasoline, so get over there and hit Da Tip Jar!
Tina Hood of Worcester said “it blew my mind” when she heard her congressman say, “I think the Constitution is wrong.”
Rep. Jim McGovern later called his statement a “slip of the tongue,” but to Ms. Hood — a citizen who questioned the Democrat during a debate Wednesday night at Shrewsbury High School — it seemed more like a contradiction of his oath of office.
McGovern’s words were one of those campaign moments that no one could predict, and which might conceivably change the outcome in Massachusetts’ 3rd District. The seven-term incumbent was expressing his disagreement with Supreme Court decisions that have voided key elements of federal campaign-finance laws when he uttered the blunt six-word sentence. This seemed to fit Michael Kinsley’s definition of a “gaffe” as what happens when a politician accidently speaks the truth. McGovern’s notions of unbounded federal authority — not merely in campaign finance regulation, but in nearly everything — cause conservatives to doubt the Democrat’s fealty to the Constitution.
Whatever McGovern meant to say Wednesday, what he actually said was said in front of video cameras and quickly spread via YouTube. It got McGovern’s Republican opponent Marty Lamb mentioned on Mark Levin’s nationally syndicated radio program and resulted in Lamb being interviewed Thursday on Howie Carr’s popular Boston talk-radio show. . . .
Doing reporting that discomfits liberals? You must be evil!
At any rate, there’s a Memeorandum thread, and I’ve got more work to do today. The main point of my column is that Marty Lamb needs more money if he is to hold Jim McGovern accountable. We’re 18 days away from Nov. 2. Time’s a-wastin’.
The race between U.S. Rep. John Tierney and GOP challenger Bill Hudak veered into gutter politics yesterday as online attack ads surfaced that brand the Republican a “racist” and a “nut.” . . .
BOSTON — I called a source tonight to see if there had been any developments with Marty Lamb‘s campaign in the 3rd District. Well, yes, Mark Levin had mentioned the campaign and Howie Carr had interviewed Marty and — the latest news — there was this mention from a certain nationally known conservative columnist:
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, where even Barney Frank is feeling an unwelcome hot breath on the back of his neck, rails against the way that the media has been opened up to peasants, peons, coolies, rednecks, tea sippers and other rustics no longer willing to stay in their place. “We have a lousy Supreme Court decision that has opened the floodgates,” he said in remarks about the Citizens United decision that the First Amendment applies to everybody. “I think the Constitution is wrong.”
Heh. Like the Old Man always said: “Get it first, get it right.”
Last night, I had a slip of the tongue.
While answering a question about the awful Supreme Court campaign finance decision, I used the word “Constitution” rather than “Court Decision.”
Everyone in the room recognized it as a slip of the tongue, but it’s silly season, and my opponent is now cheaply capitalizing on the error in a bid to try to change the subject from his blatant flip-flopping on major issues. . . .
Right. Jim McGovern, who is trying to run away from his own record, accuses Marty Lamb of flip-flopping. Are you going to let McGovern get away with this? Marty Lamb tells you who he is and what he believes:
I live in Holliston with Peri, my wife of 20 years, and my two beautiful daughters, Elissa and Simma. I graduated from the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York in 1985 and received my B.A. from Hampshire College in Amherst in 1982. After working for ten years with a downtown Boston firm, I started my own successful firm in 1996. My practice is primarily in residential real estate law, representing buyers, sellers and lenders. In contrast to many of those who claim to represent you in Washington, my clients live on “Main Street,” not Wall Street. On a daily basis I serve real people experiencing real life issues, people who are trying to do the best for their families. . . .
Your government’s primary role is to preserve, protect and defend your God-given gift of freedom, not to micromanage your life.
The current administration has lost sight of this role. I’m Marty Lamb. I have a family. I run a business. My issues are your issues. I think it’s time we “clean the House” of incumbents who are out of step with working people and replace them with people like me who will work for you.
Marty Lamb doesn’t just talk about the American Dream, he lives the American Dream. He’s a small-town lawyer, a citizen who felt the call to serve, with no ambition to become a career politician. And unlike Jim McGovern, Marty believes in the Constitution.
What about the 3rd District? It’s a gerrymandered mess that runs all the way from central Massachusetts around Worcester (which locals pronounce “Wuster”) down to Somerset and Narragansett Bay. McGovern was first elected in 1996 and has subsequently won re-election by margins of 3-to-1 or even 4-to-1 margins. Yet Scott Brown won 58% of the 3rd District vote in January, and if Sean Bielat can challenge Barney Frank in the 4th District — where Brown’s margin was much narrower — there’s no reason Marty Lamb can’t win the 3rd District.
UPDATE: Here’s a second video clip from last night’s debate to show you what a weasel McGovern is. After audience member Tina Hood said his comment about the Constitution being wrong “blew my mind” and asked him to clarify, McGovern denied having said what he said:
Alas for McGovern, somebody was paying attention to his comments; double alas, he got asked about them. Triple alas, McGovern forgot the First Law of the Age of Scrutiny (“Somebody has a camera”) and reportedly denied saying that he called the Constitution wrong.
The minute I heard McGovern’s Infamous Six Words — “I think the Constitution is wrong” — my reaction was pretty much the same as Tina Hood”s. It blew my mind, because “slip of the tongue” or not, the congressman had just spoken aloud what a lot of Americans suspect is the secret opinion of many people in Washington. And he said it on TV.
The sound-bite is already being played on Boston talk radio stations, but just try to imagine what will happen when national TV audiences see that video.
That’s not motor oil you smell, it’s Eau de Moran, the perfect cologne for the high-RPM party tool:
Just so the rest of the country knows, I’ll be phone banking again tonight, as well as whatever is going on this weekend, to support Patrick Murray against this guy.
Why? Because I love the country too much not to do everything I can to upgrade our Congressional representation.
My only regret is that I didn’t do more than vote to retire this guy earlier.
And. . .the first bit of polling info smells like bacon:
An internal poll (R) taken in Virginia’s 8th District (Alexandria, etc.) shows ten-term US Rep. Jim Moran (D) with 45 percent to 32 percent for his Republican opponent, retired Army Col. Patrick Murray. Less than 50 percent is a weak sign for an incumbent, especially this one, deemed a shoo-in by most observers. However, it was a Republican poll.
BOSTON — Tonight in a debate at Shrewsbury High School, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern shocked the audience when he declared, “I think the Constitution is wrong” (0:32):
Discussing campaign-finance regulation, and apparently referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s January Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission ruling, McGovern said:
“We have a lousy Supreme Court decision that has opened the floodgates, and so we have to deal within the realm of constitutionality. And a lot of the campaign finance bills that we have passed have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. I think the Constitution is wrong. I don’t think that money is the same thing as human beings. I don’t think money equals free speech. I don’t think corporations should have the same equality as a regular voter in this district.”
In a subsequent question from the audience, Tina Hood of Worcester said “it blew my mind” when she heard McGovern say the Constitution is wrong. The Democratic congressman denied having said that and instead talked about the Constitution’s “general welfare” clause justifies social programs criticized by his Republican opponent, Marty Lamb.
Holliston, MA …Tonight, Marty Lamb, Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts Third District, was shocked at Congressman James McGovern’s words and his attitude toward the U.S. Constitution.
During the debate Congressman McGovern stated, “the Constitution is wrong,” when questioned about campaign finance. Congressman McGovern does not seem to believe in the First Amendment—the freedom of speech.
“I am deeply troubled by the Congressman’s statement. I don’t think that Jim McGovern is smarter than our forefathers. I support the first amendment. In fact, I support all the amendments,” said Lamb. “The first action a Congressman takes is an oath is to uphold the Constitution. This oath should not be taken lightly.”
Lamb also criticized Congressman McGovern’s desire for campaign finance reform which includes public financing. “He wants to take your tax dollars during a recession to buy lawn signs for politicians. That’s crazy” said Lamb. “This is coming from an incumbent who took over $300,000 from lawyers, lobbyists, and health and insurance pacs and officials. Hypocrisy at its finest.”
UPDATE IV: A friend on Twitter scoffed at the possibility of Marty Lamb winning the 3rd District. Scott Brown won it with 58%, so please tell me again why McGovern can’t be beat. Martha Coakley ran a lousy campaign, but even she was never so abysmally stupid as to say the Constitution is wrong. This is Grijalva-level stupid.
