It is NOT over yet: Hate Groups Claim Credit for Conservative Wins in November 2007 Elections

[Ian David]

Conservative coalition takes credit for wins at the polls
by Laura Kiritsy
associate editor
Wednesday Nov 14, 2007

Give the Coalition for Marriage and Family credit for good political strategy. The coalition is an incarnation of www.VoteOnMarriage.org, the group that sponsored the anti-gay marriage amendment that was defeated in June. Apparently recognizing that another amendment would be DOA on Beacon Hill given the legislature’s solid pro-equality super-majority, the Coalition for Marriage and Family apparently decided to lay some groundwork for the future by getting involved in municipal elections across the state this year. And they’re claiming credit for some victories at the ballot box on Nov. 6.

In a recent email to its membership, the coalition touted the victories of "pro-family" candidates like Tom Koch, a marriage amendment petition signer who defeated incumbent Mayor William Phelan in Quincy, and Brockton’s incumbent Mayor Jim Harrington, who defeated Jass Stewart, an openly gay man described as a "same-sex marriage activist ... who is ’married’ to another man." Other victories included Catholic Citizenship Executive Director Victor Pap’s election to the Weymouth Town Council, Greater Marlborough Marriage and Family Chapter Co-Chair Paul Ferro’s re-election to the Marlborough City Council, and anti-equality state Rep. Robert Correia’s defeat of pro-equality state Rep. David Sullivan for mayor of Fall River.

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Or, as a poster at the anti-gay blog www.KnowThyFacts.org recently opined of the elections, "The marriage issue is NOT over yet my friends. We’re just seasoning people who will run pro-same-sex ’marriage’ supporting politicians out of the State House."

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But the degree to which the coalition is or isn’t exaggerating its involvement is perhaps irrelevant. More pressing is the fact that anti-equality activists like Pap and Ferro get elected at all. At the risk of sounding like a broken record we’ll point out again that municipal office, as the coalition rightly seems to recognize (hey, maybe someone’s listening to us), is a great launching pad for election to the legislature.

More:
http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=pressing_the_flesh&id=52451



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A funny thing happened at the polls
by Laura Kiritsy
associate editor
Wednesday Nov 14, 2007

This past election cycle saw the campaigns of four of five viable, qualified openly gay candidates for municipal office go down to defeat: In Salem’s City Council race, it was Mickey Northcutt, who ran for an open seat with the endorsement of the popular retiring incumbent. In Worcester, after strongly finishing ahead of two incumbent city councilors in the preliminary election, and raking in a host of union endorsements, Grace Ross finished two spots out of the running for one of six at-large council seats. In Boston’s City Council District 9, Tim Schofield failed to make it past the preliminary despite name recognition, money and organization. And in Brockton, Jass Stewart , an organized, charismatic campaigner who put incumbent Mayor James Harrington on the ropes in the September preliminary when he finished just 107 votes behind him, fell short by more than 600 votes in the general. (Two other openly gay candidates, Somerville mayoral challenger Suzanne Bremer and Boston District 3 City Council challenger Michael Cote, both ran small, long-shot campaigns against popular incumbents; their crushing defeats were not unexpected.) The only bright spot in this pack was Tim Purington, a political newcomer who won a seat on the Holyoke City Council by ousting Ward 4 incumbent John Lecca.

Aside from Purington, is the failure of these otherwise qualified candidates to break through a gay thing, even in progressive minded Massachusetts?

It’s easy to point to Purington and openly gay incumbents like New Bedford City Councilor Joe DeMedeiros, Cambridge City Councilors Ken Reeves and Denise Simmons and Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas, all of whom were easily re-elected this year, and say no. And of course, every campaign has unique dynamics that have nothing to do with a candidate’s sexual orientation. For instance, Ross, a member of the Green-Rainbow Party, got sidetracked by questions about the positions she and the party took on denying the genocide in Darfur and for criticizing Israel’s bombing of Lebanon as behavior similar to that of Columbine High School killers.

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Having won his race, Purington has an easier time making that call than say, Stewart, who also had to contend with some anti-gay antics during the general election campaign, when it was reported that a Harrington aide was campaigning for his boss with a wedding photo of Stewart and spouse, asking voters if that’s who they wanted representing their city. After all, even "a couple votes" still means the difference between winning and losing. Stewart said he’s "optimistic" that anti-gay sentiment didn’t swing his election. But he can’t help but wonder. "I don’t think they would have done that unless they felt they could build some momentum ," he said of the Harrington camp’s anti-gay campaigning. "Clearly they believed it was a factor and looking at the results, maybe it was." Stewart observes that perhaps the fact that he is black and openly gay -- Brockton has never had a mayor who’s been either of those things, never mind both of them -- "may be in some cases too much for people to get beyond the personal and focus on the issues. But he adds, "I’m optimistic that that’s a small number of individuals."

More:
http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=features&sc3=&id=52450


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Harrington plans to Stay The Course. Mayorin' is hard work. Expect the same crappy job to continue.
Topic started by IanDB1 on Nov-12-07 06:17 AM (0 replies)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=158&topic_id=13465

Fuck you, Brockton. You deserve your high-school drop-out, fireman-slapping thug mayor.
Topic started by IanDB1 on Nov-07-07 05:58 AM (0 replies)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=158&topic_id=13432

Brockton's racist, lying, fireman-slapping High School Drop-Out Mayor Harrington screwed-up AGAIN!
Topic started by IanDB1 on Oct-30-07 05:26 PM (0 replies)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=158&topic_id=13401

After photo flap, race focuses on issues (Jim "Powerplant" Harrington vs. Jass Stewart)
Topic started by IanDB1 on Oct-15-07 10:31 AM (0 replies)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=158&topic_id=13260