What landed and what didn't in the status quo vs. Trump debate

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Keller @ Large

There was good news and bad news for both Maura Healey and Mike Minogue when they met for their first debate at WBZ last week.

The good news for Minogue was a disciplined message of dissatisfaction with the status quo delivered emphatically but not offensively. He put the incumbent on the defensive at times, but also sprinkled the occasional grace note into his stream of Healey indictments: “I respect that the governor works hard. I know her intentions are good,” he said at one point. Minogue has been hammered by his party’s red meat addicts for not jumping uglier with Healey. But because he passed on opportunities to introduce himself to TV audiences during his blowout primary win, Minogue had to make sure his first impression wasn’t too harsh.

Minogue wisely did not try to market the clunky “AAOK” acronym of his early ad wave (for the record: “Accountability, Affordability, Opportunity, Keeping Communities Safe”), or his wafer-thin “Blueprint For A Better Future” (BFABF?), which failed to explain how he’d pay for his tax cuts or get any of his “reforms” through the Legislature. Instead, he zeroed in on Healey’s failures while branding himself as a “solver” of problems that have proven relatively intractable for past governors of both parties. While he should have but never did ask viewers directly if they are better off now than they were four years ago, that was the core of his pitch, as it should have been.

The good news for Healey — Donald Trump is president.

She name-checked the most reviled political figure in Massachusetts 37 times by our count, more than enough to make it into any of the TikTok-sized clips which are the way most voters consume debates these days. (By the next morning, this encounter had generated a million social-media impressions.)

And Healey didn’t just reference Trump. She tied him around Minogue tighter than those ultra-snug white jeans he insisted on wearing in his campaign videos all summer. One memorable example: “The best thing that Mike Minogue could do to lower costs in this state is to call his friend Donald Trump or J.D. Vance, who he supported, who he helped elect, who he gave a million dollars to, and say, end this war. Cut it out with the tariffs. These things are raising our prices.”

Healey’s tsunami of Trump drops triggered howls of protest from the snowflakes in the right-wing chattering classes, but only because they know it’s a disaster for Minogue, motivating the Democratic base and reminding independents of their well-documented distaste for the president.

Now, the bad news.

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Jon Keller is a MASSterList columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].

Massachusetts leaders are working to make electricity more affordable. But proposed fixed charges in S.3166 and H.5175 would undermine reforms designed to lower costs and instead raise bills for households and businesses. Lawmakers and Gov. Healey should say “NO” to fixed charges. Learn more here.

HEARD AROUND TOWN

…Bubble in another "yes" on former Gov. Deval Patrick's ballot. Patrick is endorsing the Yes on 6 campaign that aims to create a dedicated fund for nature conservation using some money from the sales tax on sporting goods. "Massachusetts is blessed with incredible natural resources, and Question 6 gives us the opportunity to protect them for future generations,” Patrick said in a statement from the campaign. Patrick this cycle has also announced support for Question 3, which would replace the state's party primaries with a top-two system…

...Republican candidate for Congress Micah Jones, running against Democrat Dan Koh for the open Sixth District seat on the North Shore, is hitting the airwaves with his first TV ad. The commercial, with shots of Jones with his family, highlights his military record and endorsement from former Gov. Charlie Baker. Koh, meanwhile, announced that the leadership PAC he recently formed to help Democrats retake the House majority, Do the Work PAC, has raised more than $140,000 and is supporting 18 Democrats in battleground races...

HAPPENING TODAY

10:30 | Massport and elected officials celebrate the groundbreaking of a new remote terminal and two multilevel parking garages at the Braintree Logan Express site | Braintree Logan Express, 262 Forbes Rd., Braintree

11:00 | Democrat Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and GOP challenger Shawn Oliver debate | GBH Boston Public Library Studio, 700 Boylston Street, Boston | GBH 89.7 FM | Livestream

11:00 | Senate meets | Senate Chamber

11:00 | House meets in an informal session | House Chamber

11:30 | Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan join Yes on 9 For a Safe Massachusetts, the campaign to keep the state's 2024 gun law on the books, for a roundtable discussion on the Nov. 3 ballot question | UTEC, 17 Warren Street, Lowell

12:00 | U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton holds a virtual lunchtime call with supporters ahead of his debate with Democrat Sen. Ed Markey later in the day. Deaton plans to discuss how his campaign's message is resonating and what to expect on the debate stage | Zoom

12:30 | Second Chance Justice, a campaign of Massachusetts Communities Action Network, holds a press conference asking Gov. Healey why recommendations to commute the sentences three men have not been acted on after two to three years | Room 222

2:00 | MassHousing Board meets remotely. The agenda includes a report from CEO Chrystal Kornegay and a vote approving an annual contribution to the Opportunity Fund as well as "other deposits." The agenda also shows that MassHousing and two of its subsidiaries — Center for Community Recovery Innovations and Property Acquisition and Disposition Corporation — will hold their annual meetings | Access and More Info

5:30 | U.S. Senate candidates Democrat Ed Markey and Republican John Deaton debate. Political analyst Jon Keller moderates | WBZ-TV, 1170 Soldiers Field Road, Boston

6:00 | Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meets to discuss proposed regulations related to the literacy law Gov. Healey signed in June, which requires districts to adopt DESE-approved evidence-based reading curricula, mandates bi-annual reading screenings for K-3 students, and creates new professional training requirements for educators | Livestream

7:00 | CommonWealth Beacon hosts a debate on Question 3 to establish all-party primaries. Representing the "Yes on 3" campaign will be Danielle Allen, chair of the Coalition for Healthy Democracy. Representing the "No on 3" campaign will be Jordan Berg Powers, chair of Voting Rights MA. Reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski moderate | Room TC 103AB in the David Hartleb Technology Center, Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill | Livestream

JOB BOARD

Director of Human Resources — NEW, SEIU Local 509

Deputy Sewer Director, Town of Nantucket

Communications & Community Engagement Manager, City of Chelsea

Chief Financial Officer, Cooperative for Human Services Inc

Justice Geraldine S. Hines Legal Fellowship, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General

Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton

Financial Investigator III, Mass Gaming Commission

Job board continues below the fold — post a job

Institutions don’t change when asked nicely. They change when failing a child costs them something. For decades, child sexual abuse survivors were told to stay silent, then told they were too late. They aren’t asking for sympathy. They’re asking for their day in court. Inaction may or may not be politically safe. Your support will save many children — Learn more.

ON BEACON HILL

TRAFFIC STANDSTILL: The state's public safety secretariat hasn't issued reports analyzing demographic data in traffic stops, required under a 2019 distracted driving law as a way to monitor for potential racial profiling, since 2024. Healey administration safety chief Gina Kwon says the cost of the outside analysis has been a challenge. | State House News Service (gift link)

CANNABIS CLASH FALLOUT: Treasurer Deb Goldberg's bid to fire Shannon O'Brien from the Cannabis Control Commission, and the long-running legal battle that followed, is one factor coloring the lively race between the incumbent Democrat and Belmont Republican Elizabeth Dionne. | Boston Globe

DIAL TONE: Eversource CEO Joe Nolan said at a recent industry conference that he expects a dialing-down in volume of utility company criticism after the election, as he and other Eversource executives donate to Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll despite the governor's recent knocks against utilities. | CommonWealth Beacon

SCREEN TEST: A new proposal from the Trial Court would require lawyers to go through the same courthouse security screenings as the public, drawing pushback from some attorneys. | WBUR

VOTING DAY DELAYS: Secretary of State Bill Galvin is advising voters they might encounter delays at the polls, thanks to this year's multi-page ballot that could take a longer time for people to fill out. Galvin's office so far has received almost a million mail-in ballot applications. | WCVB

NEWS NEXT DOOR

ASSESSING THE ASSESSMENTS: City councilors questioned Boston's home assessing practices at a recent hearing, with Councilor Miniard Culpepper flagging high-end homes in Back Bay and Beacon Hill selling for millions more than their assessments. Culpepper says in some other neighborhoods, assessments nearly match the sale prices. | Boston Herald

PRIORITY MAIL: With the Fields Corner post office set to temporarily close later this month as its lease expires, Boston City Councilor John FitzGerald launched an online petition asking the USPS to maintain a retail presence in the neighborhood. | Dorchester Reporter

FIRED UP: New Bedford lawmakers say they'll press to keep Gov. Healey's proposed funding for a city fire station in a supplemental budget now before the House Ways and Means Committee. The $1.3 million would keep Station 9 afloat through June 30, after months of local conflict over how to keep its doors open amid a budget deficit. | New Bedford Light

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