Salvatore DiMasi

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Same Old Faces

If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time
It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 25, 2010

Trail of jeers

As summer officially kicks off this weekend, thousands upon thousands of people will be descending on our fair metropolis to get a glimpse of America's most history-drenched city.
Forget Paul Revere. This summer, treat yourself to a tour of Boston's worst in political corruption.
By LAWRENCE ''HUGGY'' BERGMAN | June 18, 2010

Weenie Roast!

A year ago, with scandals and embarrassments swirling around Massachusetts state politics, the Phoenix tossed some well-deserving pols on the flames in our first annual Memorial Day political roast. I'm pleased that I've been invited back.
The Phoenix 's second annual Memorial Day political roast
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 04, 2010

Mayor-Select Marie?

Tom Menino, just a few months into an unprecedented fifth term as Boston’s mayor, has raised eyebrows by hiring State Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester to the newly created, $120,000-a-year position of chief of advocacy and strategic investmen
Some think that Tom Menino is anointing Marie St. Fleur as his successor, but he might just be serving himself
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 07, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 30, 2010

Murph’s Last Grasp?

The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 26, 2010

The crying game

If you are wondering why Democrats in Washington can't get anything done, even though they control both houses of Congress, take a look at the glacial pace we often see closer to home on Beacon Hill.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo tolerates dissent. Then why do some call him a bully?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 26, 2010

Brave new Globe?

Sizing up the Boston Globe 's recent past is easy: simply put, in the past 12 months, the paper has seen enough gut-wrenching drama to change the name of Morrissey Boulevard to Melrose Place. But forecasting the paper's future is another matter.
With a new publisher and a bevy of edit changes, is the Boston Globe poised for a new chapter?
By ADAM REILLY | January 29, 2010

Elephant in the Room

Platoons of state Republicans, energized by Scott Brown's stunning victory over Democrat Martha Coakley last week, are setting their sights on November.
Massachusetts Republicans suddenly think this is their year — but if they shoot too high, they might fall hard
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 29, 2010

How Brown won

As the Massachusetts US Senate election unfolded yesterday, all that the pols and pundits wanted to talk about was how Martha Coakley managed to lose the race. And there is plenty there to dissect. But there is another part of the story, and that is how
While Massachusetts Democrats assess blame for who lost the Senate seat, the truth is that Scott Brown won it
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 22, 2010

State of flux

A few weeks ago, the state legislature headed into its winter break with what might be called a flurry of inactivity.
Inside the Massachusetts State House, a forecast of political chaos for 2010 promises extreme gridlock
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 11, 2009

Can Beacon Hill do better?

With DiMasi gone, the idea of casino gambling is again alive.
Gambling and education take center stage
By EDITORIAL | September 25, 2009

Stonewalled: what a riot!

I was excited to read the “Trail of Tunes” feature about outdoor music festivals in the Phoenix Summer Guide.
Letters to the Boston editor, June 26, 2009
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | June 26, 2009

Weakened watchdogs

If the Globe shrinks, will Beacon Hill run amok?
If the Globe shrinks, will Beacon Hill run amok?
By ADAM REILLY | June 19, 2009

Massholes

Scandal and accusations of corruption are nothing new to Massachusetts state government. Hutchinson was accused of enforcing the much-despised Stamp Act and Tea Act in part because his brother-in-law was stamp master, and two of his sons were designate
A timeline of modern-day state house corruption
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 19, 2009

Mass betrayal

Is the Massachusetts House of Representatives beyond all hope? Under Democratic leadership, the song has pretty much remained the same for the last decade and a half: an insular and out-of-touch legislature is lost in its own constricted and often petty
How House progressives have let you down — and why they'll do it again
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 19, 2009

Roast pork

Back in January, Governor Deval Patrick declared a "season of significant government reform" on Beacon Hill.
As our state's bumbling, craven, and inept elected officials stumble toward summer, we get a few good laughs out of their promises for reform
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 29, 2009

Despot for attention

Former vice-president Dick Cheney has taken his torture tour all over the place in the past few weeks, waging an ongoing campaign to defend what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation."
Plus, vote for Passoni
By EDITORIAL | May 15, 2009

All quiet on the Times Co. front

When I heard this past Friday that the New York Times Company had delivered a radical ultimatum to the Boston Globe 's 13 unions I called Globe spokesman Bob Powers to check it out. He wasn't talking.
The Globe crisis leaves New York speechless. Plus, Morrissey Boulevard's problematic political fan club
By ADAM REILLY | April 10, 2009

Tone deaf

March has not been kind to Deval Patrick.
Can Deval hear the thunder of jeers?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 25, 2009

Black power

Brooding about whether Barack Obama would have become president if he had been a more “traditionally black candidate,” i.e., a descendant of slaves, is a self-indulgence that trivializes the enormity of what has occurred.
Letters to the Boston editor, March 20, 2009
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | March 19, 2009

Youth infusion

In DeLeo's restructuring, white, non-Hispanic men older than 45 fell from power in droves.
The surprisingly diverse leaders of team DeLeo. Plus, do environmentalists have reason to worry?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 19, 2009

Money talks

To hear our state legislators talk lately, Beacon Hill is all about reforming the sketchy, poorly governed relationships between lawmakers and lobbyists.
Can Beacon Hill reform itself when the State Senate President and the new House Speaker rake in so much lobbyist cash?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 04, 2009

Rescuing the Globe

If you work at the Boston Globe , and have any bright ideas on how to stop that paper's downward spiral, management is all ears. At least, that's the party line.
10 ways to bail out Boston's sinking paper of record. Plus, spinning Bill Kristol's brief time at the Times .
By ADAM REILLY | January 28, 2009

The pain hits home

With unsuccessful wars running in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the worst economic crisis in almost 80 years likely to get worse long before it gets better, Barack Obama will face challenges of historic proportions when he becomes the nation's 44th presiden
Boston faces a sobering year
By EDITORIAL | January 14, 2009

All in the family

The December 1 New Yorker featured a five-page story by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on his efforts to use DNA testing to clarify his ancestry.
Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s New Yorker advertorial. Plus, Chuck turner goes all Chuck Norris.
By ADAM REILLY | December 03, 2008

The Chuck Turner conspiracy?

Sure, some news outlets have competently covered City Councilor Chuck Turner's recent arrest for allegedly accepting a cash bribe in exchange for a liquor license — and then lying about it.
Unheard Voices
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 25, 2008

A moral dilemma

We need serious action and strong leadership — and a public trust that is unlikely to be given.
State and local politics is paralyzed by fear
By EDITORIAL | November 25, 2008

The enthusiasm gap

The selection of gun-shooting, anti-abortion, creationist, doctrinaire conservative Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice-presidential nominee has finally got the GOP’s conservative base excited.
This election, with Obama having stoked pennant fever in Denver, it is the Dems who have cornered the excitement market
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 03, 2008

Voting right

The Massachusetts Legislature is expected to vote in the next several days on two proposals that would make democracy, well, more democratic.
Why Beacon Hill should adopt same-day voting and join the national popular-vote movement. Plus, that Obama cover.
By EDITORIAL | July 16, 2008

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