"Clearing a lane for Republicans to reach moderate Democratic voters dissatisfied with their options"
The far-left lurch made by the Democratic field for governor risks alienating moderate voters key to general-election victory, reports Jim O'Sullivan in The Boston Globe today."From Martha Coakley flipping to support drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants to Steve Grossman's quest for billions in new spending and higher taxes, these Democrats are selling out to the small, far-left crowd that controls their campaigns," said Kirsten Hughes. "Massachusetts is in dire need of real leadership now that years of one-party rule has left many families behind, and these ultra-liberal campaigns offer nothing but platitudes for limousine liberals."
Governor’s race has all Democrats leaning left
BOSTON GLOBE
By Jim O’Sullivan
4/9/14
The Democratic field for governor contains several familiar types of candidate. The state’s attorney general is running, as is its treasurer. Two former high-ranking federal government officials are in the mix, along with a businessman.
Missing from this year’s crop, though, is a candidate who fills a long-running role in previous Massachusetts Democratic primaries: a prominent centrist alternative.
Traditionally, the Democratic contenders offer a range of ideological options. At least one viable campaign usually tries to pick off moderate voters and make the appeal that such positioning would be advantageous in a general election against a Republican.
Former attorney general Thomas F. Reilly positioned himself as a moderate in 2006, but was overrun by Deval Patrick’s wave of support from the grass roots.
In 2002, there was Shannon P. O’Brien, the former treasurer, who pulled the unusual maneuver of running to the middle during the primary, then tacking to the liberal side for the general election, falling to Mitt Romney.
In 1990, the last time Democrats ran to succeed one of their own as governor, the party nominated Boston University president John Silber, who ran to the middle before losing to Republican William Weld.
This year, the Democratic race is an almost unabashed race for the hearts and minds of the left-of-center. The five Democrats have formed the party’s most liberal open primary field in generations, political analysts say, potentially clearing a lane for Republicans to reach moderate Democratic voters dissatisfied with their options.
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