Monday, November 12, 2012
If appointed, a special election would be held to fill Kerry's seat.
President Obama is considering appointing Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as the Secretary of Defense, according to the Washington Post. Cabinet changeups are standard fare at the start of a second presidential term. Kerry, who is believed to want the Secretary of State job, would replace current Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, according to the Post. If appointed, Kerry would have to resign from the Senate and a special statewide election would have to be held to fill his seat. However, appointing Kerry to either seat could have political implications — it could mean the risk of losing Kerry's Senate seat in Massachusetts to Republicans, according to the New York Times. Obama not only would have to decide whether to risk Kerry's …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voters made decisions on car repairs, assisted suicide and medical marijuana in the statewide election.
Question 1: Right to Repair Voters approved the “Right to Repair” ballot question, which would give consumers more choices when fixing a car in today's election. According to numbers on boston.com, 85 percent of voters approved the question, with 51 percent of the state reporting at 10:15 p.m. The initiative requires automakers to make computer software codes for repairs more accessible to independent repair shops and car owners by 2015. But in July, state legislators devised a compromise that would give carmakers until 2018 to comply with the new law, according to a Boston Globe report. By approving Question 1, voters trumped that compromise and enacted the “Right to Repair” act as written on the ballot. “Voters sent a clear message to …
Democrat Will Brownsberger wins the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat.
Belmont Democrat Will Brownsberger won the Second Suffolk and Middlesex state senate race over Watertown Republican Steven Aylward Tuesday night, according to unofficial election results. Brownsberger, who was elected to the state senate in January 2012, netted 15,966 votes to Aylward's 4,079, or 20 percent of the vote, according to results on the City of Boston website. In Watertown, Brownsberger picked up 11,021 votes, with Aylward getting 4,199. The district includes all of Belmont, Watertown and part of Boston, including the Back Bay, the Fenway, Kenmore Square, Allston and Brighton. "I'm very grateful for the overwhelming support that voters gave me," he said. "I'm looking forward to diligently serving the community." Aylward is …
Democrat Elizabeth Warren beat incumbent candidate Scott Brown in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.
Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has beaten incumbent Republican candidate Scott Brown for a seat on the U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press. Warren is won by a margin of eight percentage points, 54 percent to 46 percent, making her the first female senator elected in Massachusetts. An estatic Warren addressed a crowd of hundreds of excited supporters at the Copley Fairmont Plaza hotel in Boston on Tuesday night. "We did what everyone thought was impossible," she said. "We taught a scrappy, first-time candidate how to win." "You took on the powerful Wall Street banks and let them know that you want a Senator out there fighting for the middle class all of the time," she said. "And despite the odds, you elected the first …
Monday, November 5, 2012
This is Belmont Patch's last day of keeping daily track of where Mitt Romney is scheduled to be, when. He is expected to be in Belmont Tuesday to vote.
What: Hosting rally at Orlando Sanford Airport When: 6:25 p.m. Romney's final pre-election day activity is scheduled for 10 p.m. Monday in New Hampshire, hosting a rally with Kid Rock in Manchester, N.H. Some of the Romney calendar information above from Politico.com
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Vote in our poll by sharing your thoughts in the comments field below.
A Washington Post/ABC poll released this week showed that 80 percent of voters feel President Obama has done a good job dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – a staunch supporter of Mitt Romney – praised Obama's response to the storm, which devastated parts of New Jersey and New York and caused serious damage in many other states, including Massachusetts. Obama also received the endorsement of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday, with Bloomberg citing Obama's handling of Hurricane Sandy as one of the main reasons he decided to support the president. Meanwhile, Romney's previous pledge to abolish FEMA hasn't helped him in the wake of the storm. What do you think? Will Hurricane …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Who do you think has the momentum coming into these final days of the election campaign?
Democrat Elizabeth Warren is up by five points over incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown in the latest WBUR/MassINC poll of the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts. That's a near-total reversal of the last WBUR poll, which on Oct. 9 (right after the first presidential debate) had Brown up by four points. In fact, Warren has been trending upward in most recent polling. The New York Times' FiveThirtyEight blog has Warren up by four in an average of recent polls. The blog, which uses advanced statistical modeling akin to baseball sabermetrics (think Moneyball) gives Warren an 89 percent chance of winning the election. But Brown's got some significant energy on his side as well. He's been barnstorming the state with political luminaries like …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney squared off last night in the final presidential debate. Here's how Massachusetts Republicans and Democrats reacted.
Massachusetts Republicans and Democrats both expressed confidence in their candidates after the final presidential debate, with Republicans citing Gov. Mitt Romney projecting an image of a "capable Commander-in-Chief" and Democrats citing President Barack Obama's line about the military having "fewer horses and bayonets" as standout moments: that's the major finding of the Red and Blue Commonwealth flash polls sent out to local politicos immediately after the debate ended on Monday night. Obama and Romney faced off Monday night at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., with CBS's Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer moderating a debate that focused on foreign policy, but regularly delved back into domestic policy differences between the …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Foreign policy was the topic at this last debate between Obama and Romney. Which candidate's views resonated with you?
The US economy managed to be a dominant presence in the final presidential debate Monday night, even in a debate focused on foreign policy. The tone of the debate between Pres. Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney was calmer than the last meeting, as topics included the impact of a soaring US budget deficit on American strength and security as well as Syria, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and more. Both men were articulate about their stands. But whose views spoke the most to you? Who do you trust with 'getting the 3 a.m. phone call'? Who won this final debate? Tell us in the comments below.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Are the debates old hat by now, or will the last one offer valuable insight?
The third presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is scheduled for Monday night. Will you tune in, or have you already tuned out? Obama and Romney squared off in two debates earlier this month — on Oct. 3 and Oct. 16 — while the vice presidential debate was held on Oct. 11. For some, a third presidential debate on Oct. 22 may be overkill, if they've made their decision on who to vote for already, or just aren't that into politics. On the other hand, debates can offer further insight into the candidates, and, you never know what gems or gaffes could come out. So tell us: do you plan to tune into Monday night's final presidential debate? Let us know in the comments.
M C Stringfellow
7:16 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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