News >>

Talking Politics

Will race enter the race?

Dianne Wilkerson and Sonia Chang-Díaz don’t talk about the racial split in their Senate showdown, but it’s likely to make its mark
Two years ago, when Dianne Wilkerson inexplicably failed to submit the necessary signatures to get her name on the Democratic primary ballot for re-election as state senator, a 28-year-old upstart seized the opportunity.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 30, 2008

Senate shuffle

Massachusetts hasn’t had a Senate-seat vacancy in nearly 25 years. Now we may have two. Let the speculation begin.
Don’t count Ted Kennedy out just yet, but the prognosis immediately set minds thinking about the inevitable departure of Kennedy from the US Senate, where he has served since 1962.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 27, 2008

California matters

Massachusetts may have had gay marriage first, but California changes everything. Are Obama and Clinton listening?
For four years, and 10,000 same-sex nuptials, Massachusetts has had a monopoly on gay marriage in the United States.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 21, 2008

DiMasi’s sheep

How Stepford politics rule Beacon Hill
DiMasi’s overwhelming victory in the recent casino vote — in which only 34 of 140 Democrats voted against his plan to banish the bill for further study — was actually, as meager as it was, an unusual show of dissent.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 15, 2011

No side bets

The governor’s gaming legislation crapped out, but are casinos still alive in a compromise? Plus, a school-budget crisis could start a political firestorm.
Opponents of legalized gaming in Massachusetts are celebrating the death this past week of Governor Deval Patrick’s bill to license casinos, which was crushed by a seemingly decisive margin of more than two-to-one.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 26, 2008

Whither the GOP?

With Democrats in total control of state government, the Massachusetts GOP should be a rising voice of dissent. Instead, it seems more impotent than ever.
Ask people to name the leading voice of opposition on Beacon Hill these days, and you’re likely to be told House Speaker Sal DiMasi.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 19, 2008

Obama outside the Boom

The first political leader of my generation acts nothing like the rest of us — which might be how he’s gotten where he is
A year ago, when I saw Obama speak on the Durham campus of the University of New Hampshire, he did not sound the way he does now.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 05, 2008

IG Report on State Senate Prez takes a convenient dive

Fails to deal with tourism controversy
After a full year investigating a Boston Phoenix article about State Senate President Therese Murray, the state’s Inspector General released a report today finding “no evidence of impropriety” in the legislature’s awarding of $11 million worth of contracts for international-tourism marketing.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 15, 2008

Cash carousel

Many things changed this year on Beacon Hill, but not the power of the almighty dollar
Even though the dollar has taken an international whupping of late, there remains at least one place where the love of the greenback remains strong: Beacon Hill.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 30, 2008

Can Obama lasso the Bay State?

Once considered sure Clinton country, the Massachusetts primary is now a shootout
Nobody around here forgets that Deval Patrick swiped the gubernatorial nomination from the establishment-backed Tom Reilly.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 23, 2008

EXCLUSIVE: California gleaming

Romney gains on McCain in crucial Golden State contest; Clinton's lead holds steady
According to a poll obtained exclusively by the Boston Phoenix , Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama by 11 percentage points in California.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 22, 2008

Madam Mayor Maureen?

While everyone was distracted by the New Hampshire primary, did City Council President Maureen Feeney step into the race for mayor?
This past week, with Bostonians’ attention focused on the presidential-primary drama north of the Massachusetts border, an opening salvo in the 2009 mayoral race may have been delivered.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 16, 2008

Clinton and Obama: Watch California

Golden state polls might shape the rest of the race
Round one to Barack Obama, round two to Hillary Clinton, and just like that the retail politics is over, and the national slugfest begins.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 10, 2008

Old Mitt of the Mountain

How the Romney campaign crumbled and fell in the Granite State primary
Mitt Romney had a golden opportunity a week ago to do something about his inauthenticity problem, the one that even his most ardent supporters in New Hampshire recognize.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 28, 2010

The amazing race

We break down the Presidential campaign to its six essential parts, and predict your next Commander-in-Chief.
For the past year, presidential politics has been building to the crescendo that is the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 26, 2007

The passion of the candidate

Romney’s religion speech was aimed at Christian conservatives, but his model wasn’t JFK — it was Mel Gibson
Pity Mitt Romney, the object of religious persecution, forced to make a public speech confronting the antagonistic forces that have kept his candidacy down by attacking his faith.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 12, 2007

Menino’s hit list

40 potential candidates for the 2009 election who could take on the mayor — if they have the courage.
At a recent political event, Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino asked Robert Crane, the former long-time state treasurer, how many years he had held that office.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 28, 2007

Murphy’s big tent

In his bid for re-election, city councilor Stephen Murphy has collected a combustible group of allies, from Dapper to Deval
In the past few years, Murphy has recast himself to reflect the changing city.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 17, 2007

The Left, left out?

Deval Patrick’s famed grassroots progressives are losing steam and influence
In the wake of the recent local elections, more and more observers are concluding that the energy that put Patrick in the Corner Office has come and gone.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | October 03, 2007

In tragedy’s shadow

Politics encroached on 9/11 this year in Massachusetts, even if nobody wants to admit it
Jim Ogonowski, a 28-year military veteran and small-farm owner in Dracut, brings plenty of life story, personal accomplishments, and policy positions to his campaign for US Congress.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 19, 2007

Raising Hill

Hillary Clinton’s ‘aura of inevitability’ might hide her weaknesses — at least until the Republicans get their hands on her
Hillary Clinton took only two questions from the audience at the end of her 35-minute speech at the American Association of Retired Persons conference.

By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 12, 2007

<< first ...< prev 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | next >... last >>

11 of 12 (results 234)