Democrats face two major structural headwinds on the path to regaining a majority coalition. First is governance in blue states, which have not exactly created a progressive utopia in recent decades. The second problem is interest groups that dominate the party coalition by practicing a politics of subtraction, whereby policy purity tests seek to narrow the big tent required for progressives to wield power nationally.
Liam Kerr
Posted inOpinion
If Dems lose the House, Sen. Warren may be to blame
DEMOCRATS HAVE an Elizabeth Warren problem. With control of Congress too close to call – and potentially coming down to 1 or 3 seats – national Democrats are Monday morning quarterbacking messaging and money allocation decisions in the final weeks. Rather than pointing fingers, many Democrats should be looking in the mirror. The Democrats’ chance […]
Posted inOpinion
Our democratic institutions are failing voters
MORE MASSACHUSETTS voters will participate in the Democratic primaries for constitutional office than any year since 2006. There’s just one big problem: most of them have no opinion of the candidates. As shown in a recent MassINC poll sponsored by Priorities For Progress, fewer than half of primary voters believe they have sufficient information to choose […]
Posted inOpinion
An eyewitness view of school segregation — in Needham
FOR 60 SECONDS in the early evening, the best view in Greater Boston transportation is aboard an outbound MBTA commuter rail train as it passes Millennium Park in West Roxbury, goes over the Charles River, and into Cutler Park Reservation in Needham. For Needham-bound commuters, it is a peaceful and at times majestic end to […]
Posted inEducation
Mass. teachers union has become a reckless voice
GORE VIDAL SAID “the four best words in the English language are ‘I told you so.’” Forecasting reckless leadership during a recession does not qualify for that distinction. But as our civic conversation consumes opinions in a time of crisis, it is important to reflect on who to trust. And who not to trust. Last […]
Posted inOpinion
‘Bernie Bros’ not helping Democratic cause
LIVE FROM MANCHESTER, on Saturday night, supporters of Elizabeth Warren cheered loudly for Joe Biden as he spoke at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s marquee fundraising event. Deval Patrick’s section roared for Pete Buttigieg. And the Bernie Sanders supporters directed derisive chants towards Pete Buttigieg. They then interrupted Amy Klobuchar, who gave a casual look […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. Teachers’ short-sighted talk of raiding rainy day fund
FOR THE PAST generation, the rest of the country has been borrowing Massachusetts’s approach to education policy. This was a win not only for our kids, but for showing all Americans that the result of our Democratic policies are clearly superior to those in red states. Now, the state’s largest teachers union wants to imperil […]
Posted inEducation
Boston teachers union attack fires blanks
LAST NOVEMBER, Democrats for Education Reform held our election night party at the same Boston hotel as the state Democratic Party and the anti-charter ballot campaign. I was one of the last to exit, and happened to leave at the same time as Jessica Tang, the incoming president of the Boston Teachers Union. With the […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Real Democrats support charter schools
WITH JUST DAYS until America selects a successor to President Obama, a longstanding kerfuffle has broken into the open on his longstanding, crystal clear opposition to artificial caps on public charter schools. An aggressive form of this denial came to the forefront of Massachusetts politics this summer when, after the Democratic State Committee rushed a vote […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Deval Patrick’s education legacy
WHEN THINKING OF a governor’s last act before leaving office, pardons for long-time prisoners usually come to mind. For Deval Patrick, the last big move came five months after his “lone walk” out of the State House — but it was far from a pardon. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s vote to place […]