Negative media in Boston.

[Mass]

I am not exactly sure what is going on, but when briefly turning on Fox 25, I saw a total asshole from Boston Magazine (Joe Keohane)touting that he had written a hit piece reviving how Kerry was out of touch, ill at ease with other people, out of touch. The idiot from Fox was laughing and telling the the other guy (Keohane) that he would never get another interview with Kerry.

Not sure what is going on, but couple with the increasing yard signs for EOR around Springfield and the total absence of signs for Kerry, plus the increasing numbers of positive articles on EOR, I am really in a hurry that Sept 16 is passed.

[TayTay]

1. The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling

Oh my God! Sen Kerry is only crushing his opposition by 30 or so points. Kerry only has approval ratings at about 59%. This is just terrible. The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

Chill. Things are going well. There are JK haters on Fox 25. Boston Magazine has always been a Kerry-hate zone. And yet, the good Senator from MA is absolutely demolishing his opponents and will sweep to re-election.

Seriously, the sky is not falling.

[karynnj]

2. I am astonished that he is doing so well in spite

of the extremely negative media. It is impressive that the majority of people in Massachusetts can see that he is a good (or great) Senator in spite of the so-called liberal Globe doing such a poor job covering his accomplishments. It is amazing that he has more than just survived at least 4 years of intense smearing. It is painful to think of how he and his family feel hearing and seeing the negative comments.

It is frustrating and I know I've reacted as Mass did in her post. The scariest thing is that this is MA, the bluest state in the country. Yet, there the media is so negative.

[TayTay]

3. The media has always been negative

It was ever so. This is no different than what the good Senator has put up with his whole political career in this state.

Have you ever been to the site RedMassGroup? They put up an ad that states that one of "our" Senators killed a woman. They merely consider the other a sort of "traitor" for past actions. They spew hatred as a given because that is all they have. The media in this state has always been tough and it is unlikely to get any better any time soon. Yet, despite that, Sen. Kerry's numbers this year are great and getting better.

This is they way it has always been. There is no fawning media in Boston, no easy assent to anything. The Springfield area is a special case. That town is not known for having the most scrupulous of public officials. Perhaps that is why that town is in receivership and in stark danger of fiscal meltdown. If the price of popularity is rampant good-ole-boyitis that demands that people ignore sleeze, then to hell with that. I don't think that honest and true folks should court those public officials who think it's okay to have a whole municipality in public default and who think that fixing that is not a very high priority. No, it's not alright. They need to clean up their act and not pretend that everything is okay. It's not okay. And it doesn't stop being sleeze and low just because this is an election year.

[MH1]

4. I stayed in Springfield a few times when I was consulting in Hartford.

Springfield did not leave a good impression of Massachusetts, I am sorry to say. (Except even then I knew it wasn't representative. And it's not like Hartford leaves a great impression of CT, either.) It doesn't surprise me at all to learn that it has corruption and fiscal problems.

[Mass]

5. No more or less than many industrial towns in MA. I have no clue why Springfield became the target

of this thread, and frankly I do not care.

For the record, I did not see these signs in Springfield, but in the suburbs around Springfield, so this has nothing with the corrupted former mayor of Springfield.

[YvonneCa]

7. GREAT post...

...TayTay. I agree completely.:patriot:

[whometense]

6. I have no idea what it's like in other states,

So I have no basis for comparison. I believe the real disconnect in MA politics is between the press and the people.

If you believed what you read about JK, you'd think he could never be elected dogcatcher. And yet...

The way you see people treating him at events - that's the way the majority of MA voters see him. I forget who wrote the description last week of his arrival at the Agawam barbecue, and how giddy the crowd got. He has (though you'd never know it to read the newspapers) enormous charisma, and as you also know, great warmth.

I felt all through the 2004 campaign that it was a total shame he didn't have time to personally appear in every town in the US - if he had, I'm convinced he'd have won in a landslide. He projects much better in person than on tv or radio.

And most of the press people are just a$$holes, anyway...

[beachmom]

8. Everyone can now enjoy the Boston mag hit piece, but no linky for them.

bostonmagazine.com/articles/how_to_make_a_senator_sweat/page1

(add http://www.)


God the Boston press sucks. So lazy. I would have tried to dig deep, and find more of a story. And of course, Mass Dems for Kerry has video that contradicts this stale lame article.