Posted on 04/08/2010 5:53:51 AM PDT by suspects
‘Is Tim Cahill the real deal?”
That’s the question I started getting asked last week after the Massachusetts treasurer, who is running for governor as an independent, launched his high-profile attack on our local version of Obamacare.
“If President Obama and the Democrats repeat the mistake of the health-insurance reform here in Massachusetts on a national level,” Cahill declared, “they will threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years.”
It was enough to make a tea-partier shake his pitchfork with joy. Which was the point.
By the most important measure — the $3 million sitting in his campaign account — Tim Cahill is a serious candidate. Perhaps more important, Tim Cahill is a smart candidate, a political opportunist who has no problem adjusting his message to fit current political facts.
And the most significant political fact in Massachusetts is that the incumbent governor, Democrat Deval Patrick, is very unpopular. For more than a year, his approval rating has been below 40 percent, occasionally dipping into the teens. At the same time, the Republican brand took a huge beating during the Bush years, and the thinking a year ago was that the only thing less popular than Deval Patrick would be any Republican running against him.
Enter “independent” Tim Cahill.
Republicans point out that Cahill was a lifelong Democrat who never expressed any problems with his party until Patrick’s poll numbers began to sag. And that’s true. But it’s also true that in 2008, Tim Cahill was the only statewide Democratic officeholder who was denied a slot as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. So when Cahill argues that there’s legitimate tension between himself and the far-Left-dominated state party, he has a point.
But ask Massachusetts voters and...
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
I heard Cahill on the radio. he said that he would be “Just like a Republican candidate except i get along better with Democrats because i was one”
he also said he would be socially more liberal than the Republican
No he is not. He isn’t a moonbat , but he is a Dem.
Very weak candidates for governor this year. Charlie Baker is pure RINO, Deval is well, Deval. Cahill is a Dem.
Voting for him may make sense, but he's not what Conservatives really want.
I voted for Scott Brown (glad I did) but I was distressed when people started saying Brown should run for president. Uhhhhhh, no. Brown isn't nearly that good -- and neither is Cahill.
Baker’s choice of the pro-abortion, openly homosexual gay marriage activist Tisei is what makes this race pretty uninteresting to me.
Cahill is merely an opportunist. A likable opportunist, but an opportunist, nonetheless.
Brown has endorsed Baker. It will be interesting to see who Cahill hurts more—Baker or Patrick—in terms of siphoning off votes. I would think his candidacy would hurt Baker more.
C’mon the fact that Scott Brown got elected is a pure miracle-—if someone who is not Kennedyesque gets elected in MA, even if they’re not really conservative—that a miracle for MA.
A miracle for MA, yes. I’m a lifelong resident of MA and I consider the state to be absolutely hopeless. The Scott Brown win was really remarkable. But a lot of people then made the leap to the idea that he could run for president, sweep the country, and usher in an age of healing after Obama. Nope. He’s a miracle for MA, but he’s not what this country needs in the White House.
Go Cahill !
Hey - nice to hear from ya!!!
Ditto! Baker needs to drop out - Cahill can win this thing.
I don’t think he’s the “real deal” by any means but I think he’s probably better than the RINO Baker and his Log Cabin running mate.
With the added bonus being if a Governor Cahill effs stuff up the State GOP won’t get any of the blame. They can remain the opposition and hopefully gain some seats in the leg, like enough to able to sustain a veto if there was a GOP Governor.
From the sound of it Cahill would probably be a moderate RINO himself if he was from a different state where GOP candidates win more often. He wanted to win in MA so he ran as a rat. Now a rat Gov and POTUS are unpopular so he’s running as an indie. Opportunist, obviously. The other choice is RINOs Baker and Tisei.
Obviously Cahill’s chances have been hurt and Deval’s chances helped by the state GOP’s recent escape from it’s casket.
The problem with that is, Cahill is actually a DIABLO not a RINO. This election is more FUBAR than SNAFU.
Impy, he’s not the real deal.
Deval, Murphy, Mihos, Baker and Tisei are useless. IMO, and that’s all it is, Cahill is a step above the rest, and as you and FMDJ have pointed out in the past, if Cahill screws the pooch, the GOP won’t get the blame.
Dont get me wrong i dont think Baker is any prize however in context if a GOP candidate wins the Governorship and it looks as though anti-Deval coat tails will bring in a decent amount of GOP seats to the state legislature then redistricting could bring us one or two more house seats, Heck one or two more House seats could go GOP a GOP governor and a score of legislative seats could solidy said seats. Cahill is an opportunist and did not have the stones to run as a GOPer. I heard some interview where he lamely said that when he was in Quincy they didnt have to have party affiliation so when he ran statewide he did so as a Dem to win. Sounds a lot to me like Specter’s reasoning for switching parties. At any rate this should have been an easy GOP win (RINO or not it is MA) and Cahill now makes it a Lean Dem state.
That’s true. RINO Baker would veto a rat remap. Cahill?
Of course that depends on the GOP winning 1/3 + 1 in at least 1 of the 2 chambers to be able to sustain a veto. Currently GOP has about 10% in each.
Speaking of which when are the specials for Scott Brown’s and the other vacant State Senate seat? A loss of Brown’s seat would be terrible.
I had this same conversation with DJ a month back, and he pointed out that it was highly unlikely that the GOP could pick up 1/3 + 1 in either house, so Baker vetoing the state and federal redistricting plans wouldn’t matter. But I recently thought of something: if the GOP holds 25% of seats in each house, they could uphold a veto if they get a handful of RATs to join them. That may not be as unlikely as it sounds, especially with respect to the federal redistricting plan, since a few Democrat state legislators nay prefer a different map that would give them a better chance to go to Congress.
A real key is going to be the May 11th special election for Brown’s seat. If we lose that, it is highly unlikely we’ll make any real gains in November in MA. Even if we do retain it, there are too many logistical problems that make getting to 25%, let alone 1/3rd, exceptionally difficult.
Not sure when the special elections are. I do know though that Cahill splitting the vote Could dampen anti-Deval coattails on down ticket races and slam the door shut on the possibility of getting enough GOP votes in either chamber to be of much use. This could have really been a great year for MA GOP but Cahill really screws that up royally. there is time still and maybe the GOP will surge but right now things are not looking good
it was also extremely unlikely that an R would win a Fed Senate seat in MA but look what happened
i think if Rs have a shot at all at ever winning 1/3 plus 1 then this would be the year
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