cry baby Sal rants

Former Somerville State Senator Sal Albano responds to Dukakis Endorsement of Capuanorenaissance-man | Mon, Dec 7, 2009 7:43 AM EST All politics is local, as Tip pointed out. And local politics always has interesting history. Former State Senator Sal Albano has sent an e-mail to the “Dukakis Family” e-mail list responding to his surprise at Mike Dukakis’ endorsement of Congressman Capuano. The central paragraph for me was: Like all of you, when it came to Michael Dukakis, I was a true believer, from the beginning — a key Somerville Dukakis organizer and loyal supporter. I know who the Somerville people are who worked on every Dukakis campaign. I assure you, Michael Capuano was not one of them. Michael Capuano never supported Michael Dukakis. -Sal Albano The full text of the e-mail that hit yesterday is below the fold. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —–Original Message—– From: gas7474 [mailto:gas7474@comcast.net] Sent: Sun 12/6/2009 2:39 PM To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Subject: Will the Real Mike Capuano Please Stand Up Dear Dukakis “Family”, Like all of you, I have always been among Michael Dukakis’ biggest supporters. Accordingly, I was also among the recipients of his recent e-mail message in which he endorsed Michael Capuano’s candidacy for United States Senator. I can’t tell you how surprised and disappointed I am by Michael’s decision to do this. I realize this race has unavoidably divided liberal Democrats. On the face of it, the differences between the four candidates appear to be few. As you may have read in the Boston Globe, I am supporting Martha Coakley. Undoubtedly many of you are supporting her as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if others are supporting Alan Khazei, who, though few give him any chance of winning, seems to have solid progressive values. But Mike Capuano? I cannot fathom how any loyal Dukakis supporter (let alone, the former governor himself) who remembers who Michael Capuano really is could possibly mistake him for a liberal democrat. I’ll admit that more recently, as a Congressman, he appears to be liberal and has the voting record to prove it. But, as someone who served on the Somerville Board of Alderman with Mike, was State Senator during his tenure as Mayor of Somerville, with all due respect to our former Governor, I have to disagree with his characterization of Michael Capuano’s political career BEFORE he became Congressman Capuano. The fact is, despite his more recent transformation, Somerville Alderman or Mayor Mike Capuano wouldn’t have been caught dead in a room full of Dukakis supporters. Like all of you, when it came to Michael Dukakis, I was a true believer, from the beginning — a key Somerville Dukakis organizer and loyal supporter. I know who the Somerville people are who worked on every Dukakis campaign. I assure you, Michael Capuano was not one of them. Michael Capuano never supported Michael Dukakis. On the contrary, not only did he often rail against Dukakis and liberals, he used my well known association with Michael Dukakis to attack me in a Democratic State Committee race saying, “Albano is too liberal to represent this district. He’s a Dukakis liberal”. It’s worth mentioning that in that same race he also circulated an endorsement letter from “Mass Citizens for Life”, though he now claims to be pro-choice. Dukakis characterized Capuano as having been “one of the best Mayor’s in the Commonwealth”. Again, Governor, with all due respect, there are legions of progressive Somervillians (who were in the minority at that time) who worked tirelessly to defeat him each time he ran, who would strongly disagree with that assessment. Dukakis said he first met Mike Capuano, when Capuano was a young staffer at the State House. What he failed to mention was Capuano worked in the office of the corrupt, though powerful House Majority Whip, Vincent Piro, who was caught on tape taking a bribe from an FBI agent and later indicted. Many of you courageously supported me in successful campaigns for State Senator against Mr. Piro in 1984 and 1986, and again, when I faced a stiff republican challenger in 1990. Michael Capuano was not so courageous. He did not support me in either of my campaigns against Piro, and in 1990, as Mayor of Somerville, he put the muscle of his entire organization behind my republican opponent. Michael’s blatant support of a Republican nominee in a state senate race is all the more egregious a betrayal of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, since as you may recall, the 1990 campaign season ended up being a watershed election in which many Democrats were defeated and the Republican Party captured many legislative seats and the Governor’s office. The first time Michael Capuano ran for Congress he was not the progressive candidate of choice in the race. In fact, he benefitted from the fact that two of his opponents had to share that honor and divided the liberal vote. That, and a crowded field enabled Capuano to win a congressional seat in a predominantly liberal district without getting many liberal votes, and by consolidating the moderate and conservative votes. Since that time he has behaved as required given the district he represents, effectively broadening his base by moving to the left. His votes against the Patriot Act and against the Iraq War, for example, were not so much courageous as expedient for anyone representing the 8th District. It’s just smart politics. But is it real? While I applaud and agree with those votes, given everything I know about the man’s entire political career, I can’t help but doubt Michael Capuano’s new found liberalism. I’m concerned that as US Senator he will no longer be accountable only to the liberal voters of the 8th district, but instead to a much broader, more moderate constituency. Can he be counted upon to vote the way he has as US Representative if he becomes a United States Senator? What if he’s not really a liberal, but just plays one in the Eighth District? Can we afford to take that chance in a race for a seat this important and this potentially permanent? Can someone who quite possibly transformed himself into a liberal for the sake of political expediency really be, as he so emphatically claims, the rightful heir to Senator Kennedy’s legacy of unshakable liberalism. I don’t think so. Sincerely yours, Sal Albano “