Peter Gay: A Trump apologist for guv? What was state GOP thinking – The Sun Chronicle
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It always surprises me when I vote in a Massachusetts primary; the Democratic ballots are red and the ones for Republicans are blue. There must be a logical reason, but I have a hard time believing a change can’t be made for the ballots to match the parties’ traditional colors.
The big winner on Tuesday was Attorney General Maura Healey. She not only captured the Democratic nomination, the decision made by Republican voters in choosing Geoff Diehl as their nominee assures Healey a runaway win eight weeks from tomorrow.
One would think that is the norm in left-leaning Massachusetts. That, of course, is not the case. Voters for decades have shown that they prefer a Republican governing at the state’s highest level.
It is why six of the last eight elected governors (Charlie Baker, Mitt Romney, Paul Cellucci, William Weld, Francis Sargent and John Volpe) were successful in defeating Democratic opponents.
My fear is the streak won’t extend to seven out of nine because of the choice of those casting ballots on blue pieces of paper on Tuesday.
Diehl, a longtime supporter of and apologist for Donald Trump, was endorsed by the former president in the race against moderate Republican Chris Doughty.
Did Trump’s endorsement swing the election in Diehl’s favor? Probably, especially among hard-core Republicans frustrated because they live in the bluest of blue states. I’m sure they felt a sense of power when casting their ballots for Diehl and were ecstatic with the results.
That’s because many considered Doughty as not a true Republican. In fact, they viewed him as more of a Democrat than a member of the GOP.
“I wouldn’t call him a Democrat,” I told a conservative friend of mine on Wednesday. “But you’ll definitely have one in the governor’s office thanks to yesterday’s result.
Even if skeletons are discovered in Healey’s closet, a notion that was hinted to me by my friend, Massachusetts is not going to elect a Trump Republican. It’s simply not going to happen.
Doughty has no one to blame but himself. The Wrentham businessman listened to bad advice when using millions of dollars for campaign literature and TV and radio ads attacking Healey.
My advice would have been to educate the people voting in Tuesday’s primary about the real Diehl — which would have been a good campaign slogan — and how the Trump loyalist has no chance of becoming governor.
A one-on-one campaign against Diehl would have been successful, especially with the backing of Baker and some of the past Republican governors. He could have then used the eight weeks between Tuesday’s election and the general election to paint Healey as too extreme, even for Massachusetts — another potential campaign slogan.
Massachusetts is a better place to live without one party rule.
Apologies
A member of the North TV board of directors likes to say “Murphy is a friend of mine” when referring to “Murphy’s Law.”
The “Law” was the case during North TV’s live cablecast and stream of Friday night’s North Attleboro at Bishop Feehan football game. The unit we use to send live audio and video back to our studio uses cell phone technology and is usually very liable.
It has only failed three times in the six years we’ve been showing live events: the first town council debate shortly after North Attleboro passed its charter years ago, a hockey game at the New England Sports Village and Friday’s football season opener.
Whether it was the location of our production van under the metal stands at McGrath Stadium or the thousands of cell phones also connected to the nearest tower, we were unable to provide live coverage, something we’ve done many times in the past from the same location.
We will make it up to those of you who tried to watch the stream on our website. Cable subscribers living in North Attleboro and Plainville will receive an extra week of free streaming and those of you who paid for a subscription will be credited the subscription charge.
I’m hoping for better success Friday night at Mansfield’s Alumni Field. Tune in to find out if we’re successful.
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