The Ground Game and the Politics of Togetherness

Adam Reilly of the Boston Phoenix wrote a great article talking about Deval's "extreme Grassroots approach" to capturing the Dem primary. He says Deval succeeded by "methodically building a network of committed supporters in every portion of the state" and cites perfect storm attributes of the campaign, namely:

-a charismatic speaker and leader
-a great field manager (John Walsh)
-fatigue with sixteen years of ineffectual Republican governing

But there are two factors missing from this equation.

First off: Deval has been an early and unequivocal supporter of marriage rights for the GLBT community and In Newsweekly showcased his progressive views early on. We had an article about him in June of 2005. With that endorsement of same-sex marriage, Deval picked up A LOT of GLBT steadfast supporters. This significant point was absent in Adam Reilly's article.

The next thing factor is Deval's politics of togetherness which was adopted from his former boss' President Clinton's playbook ... a style that includes embracing everyone including GLBTers.

Tom Reilly tried to have it all ways with the gay community, running from cold to lukewarm to wannabe-warm on same-sex marriage. He basically voted against it before he voted for it. Gabrieli, poor guy, got into the game a little late and didn't have the innate charisma or the wide and authentic appeal (even though he was great on gay issues).

The Rovian, divisive style of politics is on its way out. Wedge issues are so 2004 and Massachusetts will soon prove it.