Boston Herald’s Outside Track: Holly & Scott Tear the Sheets

February 4, 2013

Our feisty local tabloid’s Lone Republican needs a plus one.

Herald columnist Holly Robichaud goes through a very public breakup with former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Pickup and Go) today, right on Page One:

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And Holly doesn’t mince words in her column:

scottbrowncutoutOur honeymoon with Scott Brown just ended

I hate to speak ill of fellow Republicans, but there is no good way to spin that the GOP has been left in the lurch by former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s backing out of the special election. With less than 23 days to get 10,000 certified signatures for the ballot, the timing of his decision is like leaving a bride at the altar.

Republicans already face a well-known uphill battle because of voter registration, finance and organizational deficits along with a media bias. Declining to run would have been perfectly acceptable for Brown 60 or even 30 days ago, but by waiting until now he puts our candidate at a huge disadvantage.

What about all the people who stood out in the cold and rain, made thousands of calls and gave up their weekends to knock on thousands of doors? What about the party that has given millions of dollars? What about U.S. Sen. John McCain, who helped orchestrate Anchors-Aweigh John Kerry’s appointment as secretary of state?

 

Well, at least they’re rid of Kerry.

But don’t put Robichaud next to Michael Graham at your next dinner party – not after he wrote this on today’s op-ed page:

BrownSketch 12Brown’s bowing out clears path to future

Get back to Republican roots

Finally! Some good news for the Massachusetts GOP: Scott Brown isnot running for the U.S. Senate.

Why is that good?

It’s not because I don’t like Scott Brown. He’s a great guy and did a good job truly representing Massachusetts — as opposed to Ed Markey, who will do nothing more than represent the indigenous moonbat population.

But another Scott Brown run would have been a mistake, for him and for the party.

 

Graham goes on to list all the reasons it would have been a mistake, which you can check out if you care.

Just don’t tell Holly.

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Leone’s Share of Sunday’s U.S. Senate Coverage

February 3, 2013

The Boston Herald got the jump on the latest candidate to consider jumping into the U.S. Senate race to replace clearly departed John Kerry (D-Empty Seat).

Joe Battenfeld’s column today:

DSC_0648.JPGLeone could be spoiler in race

Three’s a crowd for Lynch, Markey

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey and the Democratic establishment did not see this surprise coming.

Their plans to intimidate other Democrats from joining the special U.S. Senate election didn’t work, and now Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone’s possible entry into the race threatens to make it a three-way fight they wanted to avoid.

Leone’s disclosure, first reported on bostonherald.com, that he is seriously considering jumping into the race, could damage Markey’s campaign and leave the door open for either Leone or U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch to win the primary.

 

Later in the piece Battenfeld writes, “Leone’s surprise comments about running came on the same day Markey was officially launching his campaign across the state, and ended up overshadowing the Malden congressman’s events.”

That’s certainly true from a newspaper real estate standpoint. Leone got all of page 5 in today’s Herald.

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Lynch and Markey got the next two:

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Crosstown at the Boston Globe, Leone also scored prime real estate – Metro Page One. From the dead-tree edition:

DA may now run for seat in Senate

Leone had said he was leaving public service

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. is giving “serious consideration” to running in the special US Senate race to fill John Kerry’s seat, he said Saturday.

Leone, 50, said he has received encouragement from friends and political allies to jump into the Democratic primary campaign — a race that already has two Massachusetts congressmen, Edward J. Markey and Stephen P. Lynch, battling for the party nomination. The primary will be held April 30.

“People I have a great deal of respect for have asked me to look at the race,” Leone said. “I will give it serious consideration, but my intention, as I announced last month, has always been to leave electoral politics.”

 

Yes, well, the road to “Hello, Senator” is paved with good intentions.

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Brown Out, The Great Mentioner In

February 2, 2013

Now that former Sen. Scott Brown (R-$$$) has dropped out of the running for the upcoming special election for U.S. Senate, the local dailies are putting forth very – wait for it – different lists of potential fill-ins.

The Boston Globe wins the coveted Ya Think? award with this headline on its lead editorial:

Mass. Republicans should move to fill void left by Brown

 

In the Globe’s news section, the Great Mentioner rounds up the usual suspects:

The GOP is suddenly grasping for alternatives, hoping to press into service known figures such as former governor William F. Weld, former lieutenant governor Kerry Healey, or Richard R. Tisei, the former state Senate minority leader.

 

But then the GM tosses in a couple of unusual suspects:

State Representative Daniel Winslow, a Norfolk Republican, said he will also take the next few days to consider a potential run. Gabriel E. Gomez, a wealthy businessman and a former Navy SEAL and fighter pilot from Cohasset, said he is very likely to get into the race.

 

Crosstown at the Herald, meanwhile, they’re living in an entirely different universe, as today’s Page One attests (via The Newseum’s Today’s Front Pages):

MA_BH

 

That inset at the lower right refers to Brown’s first announcing his decision in a text message (“U r the first to know I am not running”) to Herald columnist Howie Carr. The rest of the front page? Yikes.

But the Herald goes all in with a two-page spread:

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For the feisty local tabloid, what’s the only thing better than Scott Brown running for U.S. Senate?

Scott Brown not running for U.S. Senate.

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Herald More Frank About Barney

January 5, 2013

From our Compare and Contrast in Clear Idiomatic English desk

Barney Frank (D-I Love Me) gets Page One of the local dailies today, but in very – wait for it – different ways (via the Newseum’s Today’s Front Pages).

Boston Globe:

MA_BG

 

Boston Herald:

MA_BH

 

The feisty local tabloid devotes two full pages to the Barney-burner, complete with Hall of Shame qualifications:

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Note especially this:

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Text:

A huge public policy blunder

During the beginning of the financial industry crisis, Frank defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from more government oversight, famously declaring the agencies “fundamentally sound.” We know how wrong that turned out to be.

 

Crosstown at the Globe, the coverage is more, well, restrained.

New Congress.JPEG-087bd-3155Barney Frank says he would like to be interim senator

On what should have been the first day of his retirement from Congress, former representative Barney Frank instead burst back onto the political scene, revealing that he had asked Governor Deval Patrick to appoint him to temporarily fill John Kerry’s Senate seat while a special election is held.

Frank said his 32 years in Congress made him especially qualified to help settle spending and entitlement fights that were pushed off several months by the New Year’s Eve fiscal cliff compromise between President Obama and congressional leaders.

“The first months of the new Senate will be among the most important in American history. I may be a little immodest, but I called the governor and said I think I can be a help in reaching a fair solution to some of these issues,” Frank told the Globe Friday.

 

Asked about running in the special election for the seat, Frank said “absolutely not.”

And does the Globe piece mention the Fannie/Freddie kerfuffle?

Absolutely not.

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