Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Marriage Collage Taking Shape

It must be part of that secret gay agenda we keep hearing about. Over in Worcester, the pro-marriage-equality candidate to replace Rep. James B. Leary ran away with the Democratic primary. Up on Beacon Street in Boston, the pro-marriage-equality Sen. Therese Murray is poised to take over from go-for-the-bucks Senate President Bobby Travaglini today.

In Worcester, the union guy from all the way out in West Boylston wasn't supposed to have a chance. Instead, it was a solid win and James O'Day almost certainly will beat unenrolled candidate Joseph Cariglia in a two-way in the April 17th special election to fill the slot.

Under the sacred cod, Murray would have the gavel in this year's Constitutional Convention. She surely won't play Stay Puft marshmallow roll that Travaglini has.

Today's lead editorial in the Boston Globe characterize the out-the-door senate president as "amiable" and wrote that he "performed solidly in his four years as president by seeking the middle ground between the liberal Legislature and the conservative Romney administration." There are many less kind ways to depict his waffling and his lack of support for both economic reform and civil rights. Murray apparently has already told the senators to lift their snouts from the trough and to expect fewer goodies in tight times.

These trends are heartening, but still leave the very real possibility of another year and one-half of screaming, spending and squabbling over the amendment to take away homosexuals' right to marry here. Murray and House speaker Sal DiMasi -- plus the public -- will have to rub a lot of shoulders and whisper in many ears to defeat the amendment.

Her recent pix in papers portray her as something between a harridan and a drug addict -- not flattering. However, images on her state senate page and her personal campaign page make her look like Terry and someone you could a cup of coffee or a cocktail with in comfort.

Much has been made of Murray's downstate cred. She is from Plymouth (or is she?) and supposedly will balance the urban boys and girls in General Court. That's the way her campaign site reads. It makes no mention of her growing up in Boston projects.

She may have fled Cape-ward, but she carries the knowledge of the city and its issues. The pork has been packaged and delivered disproportionately to the suburbs and exurbs. Still, everyone from the tiniest villages to the few real cities moans they don't get enough money.

The biggest part of that is the revenue sharing model that Lt. Gov. Tim Murray (surely no direct relation to Therese) wants to fix. The other major factor, of course, is taxes. We have relatively low taxes contrasted with other states and we'd like to keep it that way. That means fewer d0llars for the General Court to save, spend or squander.

I can't see a huge jump in taxes, but I bet that the two Murrays will make a big difference in how we allocate what we have now.

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