They get Letters
From the
Berkshire Eagle Letters Page:
Knowing quite well that she wasn't going to receive an endorsement from WHEN in her race to succeed Peter Larkin, Pam Malumphy played the role of agent provocateur this past Wednesday when she stuffed the special meeting with partisans and sabotaged a golden opportunity for WHEN to evolve. Pam should be ashamed of herself.
[...]Instead of encouraging the growth of WHEN, she torpedoed it when she had friends grandstand and whine over the possibility of the organization giving an endorsement. By now it is safe to conclude that Pam is, if nothing else, a brutish opportunist.
Pam should be seeking to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the office she was elected to just last year, not striking out onto the campaign field to seek an office she isn't qualified for and hardly has a chance of winning.
Unfortunately for this letter writer (and me), it's good organization if you can get your support out to the polls. This is a key skill in the special election. He may be right that she's unqualifed for the position, but she's quickly showing that she's more than qualified in campaigning for it.
Pittsfield Democratic Platform Committee Meeting
I went to the Pittsfield Democratic Platform Committee Meeting on Tuesday. There were 20-30 people there. Major topics of discussion:
IRV (led by Governor's Councilor Peter Vickery), Fair (formerly Clean) Elections, Healthcare (Rhonda Serre, running for State Rep in a special election proposed a plank on Provider/Patient ratio). State Rep. Denis Guyer and State Committeewoman Mary O'Brien were co-chairs. Rep. Guyer was especially engaging.
There is a push in the party to shorten the format of the Platform. Many at this meeting were against it (including me), though we understood and supported the creation of a summary or better pre-amble. Clearly, language and framing is starting to get the attention all over the Democratic party -- but having better language does not mean that we don't have detail behind it. We still need ideas, policies, positions, etc. -- the language is derived from and in service of that -- a means, not an end.
Peter Vickery endorses Rhonda Serre
From Peter Vickery's latest email update:
Because of the resignation of State Representative Peter Larkin (D-3rd Berkshire) there is a special election coming up in Pittsfield.
The three-way Democratic primary is scheduled for March 15.
I am supporting Rhonda Serre.
That's enough for me.
