U.S. Democratic Party

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You call this winning?

President Barack Obama scored.
Afghanistan complications multiply. Plus, Congress is heading for a weak wrap-up.
By EDITORIAL | July 02, 2010

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

Spookin' the horses

Move over, Freddy Krueger. Here come the real scary monsters: Libby Mitchell and Paul LePage.
Scary trumps stupid every time
By AL DIAMON | June 18, 2010

Setting the stage for November

It's been more than a week since the June 8 primary election, which saw Republican PAUL LEPAGE (Waterville mayor and Marden's exec) beat a large field of better-financed competitors, and LIBBY MITCHELL (state senate president) pull out ahead of the D
Post-primary musings
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 18, 2010

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism

Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by
Governor Patrick's problematic Mosque visit. Plus, Bush — and the GOP — vote yes for torture
By EDITORIAL | June 11, 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

Secret desires

Everywhere I go, people keep asking me, “Who’s going to win the election?” Often, my answer depends on my mood (which ranges from bad to horrendous).
Who's going to win the election?
By AL DIAMON | June 04, 2010

Open service

By KEGAN ZEMA | May 29, 2010

Rock the vote

Musicians with national interests
Musicians with national interests
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | May 28, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 28, 2010

Foolish dreams

There’s nothing in the Maine Democratic Party’s platform about free beer.
Maine Democratic Party offers a lot of freebies, beer is not one of them
By AL DIAMON | May 28, 2010

The high cost of free markets

Free markets are not free. They always carry a cost.
A lack of regulation invites oil spills and financial collapse
By EDITORIAL | May 21, 2010

Can the Netroots triumph in Rhode island?

Stories of State Representative David Segal’s nascent, underdog run for Congress invariably make a nod to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. And rightly so.
On the Hustings
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 21, 2010

How Rhode Island can eliminate homelessness

Making it a reality is a matter of political will.
The concept is as simple as it is radical: give the homeless a place to live, with no strings attached
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 14, 2010

Saving America from itself

The nation’s inability to regulate the corporate class is bringing death, destruction, and economic ruin.
The federal government must rein in corporate criminals
By EDITORIAL | May 07, 2010

Cape Wind: It’s Complicated

Thousands of years ago, the terrain beneath what is now Nantucket Sound was dry, and populated by the ancestors of the Wampanoag people, who continue to revere it.
Obama gave the project a green light, but now the real fight begins.
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | May 07, 2010

Library woes

In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
Plus, Arizona declares war on immigrants
By EDITORIAL | April 30, 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

Not your cup of tea?

David S. Bernstein asserts that Glenn Beck fans his audience’s fears, yet the headline for his piece on the Tea Party is “ ‘Tea’ Is For Terrorism.”
Letters to the Boston editor, April 30, 2010
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | April 30, 2010

Elena Kagan’s shaky record

As a potential Obama nominee for Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan has liberal bona fides and the likely support of the right. But if her record is any indication, she’s more likely to side with the conservative bloc on matters of executive power and wa
What a Kagan appointment to the Supreme Court could mean for civil liberties
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | April 23, 2010

Brown-nosing and flip-flopping

Two months ago, when Senator Scott Brown crossed party lines to help pass a jobs bill, the Phoenix noted the political convenience of that supposed show of independence — since other Republican senators were also voting with Democrats, Brown’s vote was
Scott Brown heeds his boss’s orders; Charlie Baker sides with homophobic party base
By EDITORIAL | April 23, 2010

GOP’s state convention delivers the bland brand

Massachusetts Republican candidates for office this November might be well-advised to legally change their names and appear on the ballot as “Someone Else,” “Another Option,” or “Available Alternative.”
Dull and Duller Dept.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 23, 2010

Fed up and low down

Just kidding. Of course they’ll lose.
For once, the beleaguered taxpayers of Maine can’t lose
By AL DIAMON | April 23, 2010

Joe Paolino weighs a different kind of mayoral run

It had been rumored for some time.
The Independent
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 16, 2010

'Tea' is for terrorism

A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) produced a memo outlining the growing threat posed to this country from right-wing extremists. It compared the situation to that of the early 1990s — which culminated in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred
When even the most ‘legitimate’ voices of the right validate dangerously unhinged anti-government rhetoric — DUCK!
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 09, 2010

The question of Iran

Once again, Washington’s gunslingers are agitating for a war with Iran. Cheered on by Fox News and enabled by uncritical talking heads such as NBC’s David Gregory and PBS’s Charlie Rose, the let’s-bomb-or-invade-or-maybe-do-both-to-Iran brigade is busy s
Plus, Tim Flaherty for State Senator
By EDITORIAL | April 09, 2010

Tree party

It was, quite obviously, big news when President Barack Obama came to town last week.
Press Releases
By JEFF INGLIS | April 09, 2010

Lynch’s left flank

US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
The Southie Congressman may have pushed progressives too far this time.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | April 02, 2010

Corporate love

Here’s a modest proposal for resolving the problems associated with marriage: Abolish it.
Think how much simpler life would be
By AL DIAMON | April 02, 2010

What the health-care bill really means

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed the new health-care bill into law.
Reforming the System
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 26, 2010

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