9 Comments

1. 

   Michael on February 27, 2020 at 12:42 am

   Anybody but Auchincloss. The last thing we need in this day and age is another bought-and-paid-for corporate toady.

   Gotta admire his chutzpah standing up for nuclear power and Big Pharma. Does that play well down in Wrentham and Plainville?

   Auchincloss, a 32-year-old Newton city councilor who emphasized his service in Afghanistan as a Marine, promoted a more moderate policy agenda than his rivals. He argued Democrats need to examine expanding nuclear power to combat climate change, and questioned some of the left’s priorities, including tuition-free college and eliminating private health insurance to institute Medicare for All.

   On health care, Auchincloss warned of the possibility Massachusetts could jeopardize its first-in-the-nation universal system as well as its life sciences industry.

   “We have to be very careful as a state not to introduce federal legislation that will undermine a really important driver of our economy and potentially take us backwards,” he said.

   • 

     Sean Roche on February 27, 2020 at 1:35 am

     I haven’t watched the video, yet. And, I haven’t picked a favorite, yet. There are a bunch of great candidates.

     But, seriously, Jake a corporate toady? Please. The guy has tons of personal integrity.

2. 

   Pat Irwin on February 27, 2020 at 7:13 am

   What Michael said.

3. 

   Jack on February 27, 2020 at 12:18 pm

   I went into this thinking it was going to be a race between the two Newton Councilors and based on experience it would go to Jake Auchincloss. But the more I dig into this the more I am leaning towards Jesse Mermell and think she has a shot to win this.

   Full disclosure I would like to see a female in the seat and think Jesse is the most progressive and has the experience of Councilor Grossman. And Becky’s “mom” pitch is not resonating with me at all.

   Still early but take a gander @ https://jessemermell.com/

4. 

   Pat Irwin on February 27, 2020 at 2:17 pm

   What Jack said.

5. 

   Paul Levy on February 27, 2020 at 6:08 pm

   Jesse Mermell is a seriously strong contender. Integrity, experience, and a builder. Plus, she knows the (whole) district and will serve it well.

6. 

   Michael on February 27, 2020 at 7:21 pm

   I respect Jesse Mermell’s ideology and she performed very well in the debate but I’m troubled by her past complicity in the Town of Brookline’s institutional racism.

   As many people in these parts have been long aware, there’s a non-negligible redneck population in Brookline, and the town’s police, fire, and public works departments have been bastions of racism and retaliation.

   Among the reported incidents (of which there are several), in 2010 a white fire lieutenant called a black firefighter colleague to leave a brief voice message, but he accidentally failed to hang up before engaging in a rant that included the N-word.

   The lieutenant should have been fired, but the Select Board (on which Mermell served) opted for a two-shift suspension and he was ultimately promoted.

   Mermell has since said that she deeply regrets her vote and wants to make amends. She was young at the time and I’m sure she was pressured by her kunckleheaded Select Board colleagues, as well as the incompetent town counsel. Also, to her credit she was extremely vocal in her support for an official apology from the town nine years later, and she condemned the Select Board’s disgusting disgusting decision to appeal a Civil Service Commission ruling that had been issued in the black firefighter’s favor.

   But I’d prefer to vote for a congressperson who demonstrates moral courage when it counts. Mermell didn’t do that, which is a stain on her character.

   One night in 2010, while driving in traffic, a white Brookline fire lieutenant named Paul Pender left a voice mail checking up on a black colleague named Gerald Alston and hung up. Or so he thought.

   Pender hadn’t disconnected. Which is why Alston was on the receiving end of the vile words Pender uttered right after. None of the phrase is printable, but it included the n-word.

   Alston immediately complained to his bosses, and his complaint made its way to what was then the Brookline Board of Selectmen (now the Select Board). Not only did town officials vote to give Pender less than a slap on the wrist — a two-shift suspension — he was even later promoted, and promoted again.

   Former Select Board member Jesse Mermell — now a candidate for the congressional seat being vacated by Joe Kennedy III — was among the board members who voted in favor of Pender’s slap on the wrist after the incident first occurred. She posted an impassioned mea culpa on social media in May, two weeks before Town Meeting voted on issuing an apology to Alston.

   She’s still apologizing.

   She said Friday that she had qualms about the decision when it was being made but went along with the legal advice she was given at the time.

   “I didn’t speak up and that was a massive personal failure,” Mermell said. “I knew what was right in my gut and I didn’t follow it. There’s no one to blame but me for that.”

   https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/10/06/progressive-brookline-can-walk-from-ugly-racist-battle-won/r5VPpV2D3YZeuZ0dQu21gI/story.html

7. 

   Jack on February 27, 2020 at 8:51 pm

   @michael Moral Courage? You can cross Jake Auchincloss off your list. He advocated for free speech rather than seeing this as Hate Speech.

   https://village14.com/2016/10/03/auchincloss-dont-punish-north-students-who-flew-confederate-flag/#axzz6FBp9F3JL

   Curious as to who you are leaning towards.

8. 

   Emily Norton on March 1, 2020 at 10:19 pm

   There are so many excellent candidates to choose from. I am impressed with Ihssane Leckey. She is a true progressive. And it takes guts to run against an incumbent – she is the only one who had stepped up to run against the sitting Congressman. It will take guts to go up against the corporate interests with a stranglehold on our government, and I think her background gives her a unique combination of empathy for the powerless, and knowledge of how to restore the appropriate level of regulation on corporate interests.