I just got an email
from former governor Bill Weld, endorsing Gabriel Gomez for U.S.
Senate.
“As a son of
immigrants, a Navy SEAL and a successful businessman, Gabriel has a
unique set of experiences and skills that will bring an outsider’s
perspective to Washington D.C. ...
“We need a fiscal
conservative who is talking about solutions for getting our economy
back on track and moving the country forward. This primary has three
excellent candidates, but Gabriel’s common-sense ideas and
remarkable leadership make him the obvious choice for those that
believe deeply in the need for a big-tent Republican Party ...”
Hi, Bill, how are ya ?
Nice endorsement, now if only I could get the image out of my head
of you standing under a “Republicans for Obama” banner in New
Hampshire, endorsing Barack in 2008. Although you were a fine
governor, forgive me for not trusting your judgment about national
race candidates.
I’ve endorsed Dan
Winslow for some of the same reasons: fiscal conservative, believes
deeply in the need for a big-tent Republican Party. I admire Mr.
Gomez’s résumé and will support him if he wins the primary, but I
wish I’d had a chance to get to know him before being asked to vote
for him for the vital position of United States senator in this
critical election. When you mention his “solutions for getting the
economy back on track,” I don’t know what they are. I’ve only heard
his campaign mantra: “Term limits, balanced budget amendment,
line-item veto.” I support these, too, but since they require
constitutional amendments, they aren’t going to get the economy back
on track until long after I’m dead, so I need more timely solutions.
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State
Rep, former-judge,
GOP candidate for U.S. Senate
Dan Winslow |
He calls himself “an
outsider,” perhaps to the point of having little idea of how the
“inside” works?
Gomez attacks both
Winslow and Michael Sullivan for being “professional politicians.”
Maybe at some point in voter history, I’d have seen that as a
negative, but right now, in this time of crisis, it sounds better
than “amateur politician.” Do we want a professional or amateur
fiscal conservative addressing the nation’s great problems?
Both Dan and Michael
are poster boys for the way term limits is intended to work: They
both served in one government position, then moved on to another,
then another, accumulating valuable experience while not getting
complacent in a permanent job.
Dan Winslow did have a
permanent job as a district court judge, yet left it to become Gov.
Romney’s chief legal counsel, where he worked on actual balanced
budgets. Then he ran for office himself: not starting at the top,
but becoming a state representative when his state rep moved up to
fill Scott Brown’s Massachusetts state Senate position. His
priorities, according to the Massachusetts Political Almanac, have
been “jobs and the state economy, cutting taxes and wasteful
spending while preserving core local services,” as well as
“integrity and ethics in state government.”
He calls me with
original ideas, like allowing taxpayers to apply their sales taxes
to a reduction in their property taxes — an improvement over Deval
Patrick’s 2006 campaign “property tax reduction” for which we are
still awaiting details.
I even liked Winslow’s
proposal for one new tax — on the $20 million left over in state
politicians’ campaign funds after an election, which isn’t
considered taxable income as they carry it forward to their next
campaign. An added benefit is that it would remove some of the
advantage incumbents have over challengers from their own or the
other party.
Granted, these ideas
aren’t becoming law either, because they’re being made within an
overwhelmingly one-party legislature. In Washington, an idea person
could have a real impact as the situation becomes more desperate.
Michael Sullivan was
also a state legislator, before moving on to district attorney, U.S.
attorney, and head of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau. Both
he and Dan Winslow had 100 percent ratings with Citizens for Limited
Taxation; both can be counted on to support fiscal responsibility in
the U.S. Senate. I endorsed Dan as soon as he jumped into the race
for the Senate seat when John Kerry was appointed secretary of
state. I was hoping he’d be the only Republican candidate so he
could focus on raising money and campaigning for a tough race
against Congressman Ed Markey, who’s a poster boy for why term
limits are needed, having stayed in that same safe spot for 36
years.
But alas, Republicans
didn’t pull together even in a short time-frame election against a
Democrat with a huge war chest, so two more candidates jumped in:
Gabriel Gomez, from out of nowhere, supported by party regulars whom
I’d have expected to support Dan because there was no reason not to,
and Mike Sullivan, who was urged by social conservatives to run so
they wouldn’t have to support a social moderate who might actually
win. Given a choice among fiscal conservatives, I’ll go with the
most knowledgeable one with whom I agree on choice and gay marriage.
I hope other independents, who can vote in the Republican primary
next Tuesday, will also vote for Dan Winslow for U.S. Senate.
