Ya got to hand it to him

By Liam Day
August 14th, 2008

As my colleague, Steve Poftak, just posted, it would appear the Governor threw a political elbow on the front page of the Globe. Yes, Governor Patrick has disagreed with Tim Cahill on a number of key issues the past few weeks, namely investing state pension funds in a proposed MEFA bond offering and having the state back the Turnpike Authority’s debt, but the public nature of the elbow would indicate that it wasn’t just aimed at the Treasurer. I read the narrative this way:

In the wake of the casino fiasco, the Governor spent much of the spring rehabilitating himself and his legislative agenda. Quite successfully, I might add. (I have posted before on the Governor’s recent legislative roll.)

He follows his legislative successes with a veto that puts him on the side of fiscal responsibility, burnishes his image as a Beacon Hill outsider willing to stand up to vested special interest groups and, maybe most importantly, offers evidence that he can buck the unions.

He follows that with a plan to introduce civilian flaggers at some construction sites on state (and now it appears even municipal) roads, an issue most Massachusetts politicians have avoided like the plague since Bill Weld tried tackling it some 16 years ago, but one that actually polls in the stratosphere (86% of Massachusetts residents oppose universal police details, according to one poll).

Now here stands the Governor, garnering headline after headline attesting to both his effectiveness and courage, clearly the top dog on the hill. So, what does he do, just to make sure everyone has gotten and read that particular memo? He sends them a reminder, courtesy of Tim Cahill and The Boston Globe.

Someone on his staff clearly knows what they’re doing.