At first, Mitt Romney’s recent campaign stop in Philadelphia was a head-scratcher. A group of residents gave him a rousing Philly “welcome,” while Mayor Michael Nutter could only wonder at the spectacle of Romney gushing over African American charter school students and irritating teachers by declaring that class size doesn’t matter.
His stealth visit to a charter school (the local city councilor and the Philadelphia School District officials didn’t merit a heads up on the visit) seemed like the type of clumsy outreach that might drum up one or perhaps two votes in hardcore Democratic West Philly where then-candidate Barack Obama was treated like royalty on campaign swings four years ago.
Ken Knelly, writing for the Columbia Journalism Review’s Campaign Desk, Swing State Project, deconstructs what the local and national news media learned from the event. The furor over Romney’s education views captured the headlines and led to some solid reporting, but Knelly notes that one public radio reporter speculated on the “deeper context” of Romney’s foray out of his comfort zone.
“It was a signal to white liberal and moderate voters that he cares about urban issues and is not indifferent to the poor. The idea was to give permission to white moderates to vote for him if they’re dissatisfied with the president,” the reporter concluded.
After his Republican nomination clinching Texas primary victory last night, we’ll see if Romney’s cynical but tactically brilliant gambit of seeking out white votes through photo-ops in struggling majority-minority neighborhoods is a permanent feature of his campaign or an experimental one-off.
Unless Romney changes his own optics, African American voters aren’t likely to conclude that he’s had an epiphany on race relations. Though the campaign brought on Tara Wall, a former Detroit television reporter and Washington Times columnist and editor, to handle outreach to blacks, Romney is surrounded by core campaign staffers and close advisors who are white.
The Huffington Post’s, Earl Ofari Hutchinson points out black Republicans aren’t exactly jumping on the bandwagon, either. If white Republicans were slow to warm up to our former governor, then black Republicans such as Colin Powell and former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts are even less enthusiastic.
Then there’s the no small matter of real estate mogul Donald Trump and his quest for birther immortality. Rather than leave Trump to his thoughts about how Obama’s birth announcement ended up in Honolulu newspapers, Romney went right ahead with his Las Vegas fundraiser with the Donald.
As Slate writer John Dickson argues, embracing Trump doesn’t exactly signal a commitment racial inclusiveness. Republican political consultant Todd Domke speculates on why Romney is playing the Trump card. Not surprisingly, none of those reasons has anything to do with improving race relations. Birtherism is red meat to the conservatives of the stripe that Romney wants to turn out on Election Day. This kind of strategizing should make for some interesting chats between Romney’s new communications director for African American outreach and the rest of the Romney campaign team.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua files a budget that averts layoffs and avoids significant program cuts for the second year in a row, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
A Fall River Herald News editorial lambasts Mayor Will Flanagan for installing a new security door with frosted glass in his office as the latest example of the mayor’s broken promises of transparency.
Quincy plans to slap the Boston Fire Department with a code violation on Moon Island.
The Mattapan Community Development Corporation’s bankruptcy filing leaves the city of Boston on the hook for about $700,000 in unpaid loans and back taxes.
CASINOS
Freetown voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed casino plan from the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe, who will now shift their attention to Lakeville, which holds a referendum Saturday.
Plainville slots opponents want the results of a cost-benefit study published before a town referendum on gambling.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
A local group called Free Speech for People is leading the fight to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling on campaign finance.
ELECTION 2012
Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren have dueling diner ads. The Weekly Standard says Brown’s in line for pulling off yet another Massachusetts Miracle, attributing his success as much to luck as his charm and work ethic. He’s also going after the veterans’ vote.
Brian McGrory explains why the controversy over Warren’s heritage isn’t going away, despite Tom Menino’s protestations — and why it shouldn’t. Meanwhile, The Berkshire Eagle lends support to Marisa DeFranco in her primary challenge to Warren
Tom Keyes, the Sandwich Republican who gave Senate President Therese Murray a heck of a scare in the last election, tells Emily Rooney his chances are even better this time around.
Donald Trump upstages Mitt Romney’s clinching of the GOP nomination, and his new line of attacks on President Obama.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Foreclosure filings in the state were up nearly 50 percent last month compared with April 2011.
The state’s pension fund, which holds $60 million in Wal-Mart stock, has joined California and Connecticut’s public pensions by voting against nearly half of Wal-Mart’s board members as a protest against the retailing behemoth’s handling of bribery charges.
Greater Boston tries to discern what lessons Massachusetts can learn from the collapse of Curt Schilling’s video game company in Rhode Island. Other than the good manners to resist saying “I told you so.” The Globe reports on the war of words that has erupted between Schilling and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced yesterday that it had overstated recent findings concerning a promising new drug to treat cystic fibrosis. A number of company executives and directors exercised stock options following the rosier May 7 announcement, which sent the company’s shares up 55 percent. Vertex stock fell 10 percent following yesterday’s disclosure.
With a boost from MIT, Big Data could become a big deal for Massachusetts.
EDUCATION
State officials will unveil their turnaround plan this morning for the Lawrence public school system, which was put into state receivership last year after years of dismal performance. The plan includes a mix of district-based reforms and partnerships with successful local charter schools. The Eagle-Tribune reports the plan calls for closing all student achievement gaps in five to seven years.
HEALTH CARE
Paul Levy continues his jihad against Partners HealthCare, wondering how a supposed nonprofit can afford a $110 million write-off accompanied by a $600 million investment.
TRANSPORTATION
The MBTA is soliciting bids to manage the commuter rail system, which could lead to a new management company when the current contract expires next summer.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A new survey says beaches in South Boston and Hull are the cleanest in the Greater Boston area, while King’s Beach in Lynn has the worst water quality, the Item reports.
The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial, slams the Sierra Club for turning against natural gas.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A prosecutor says a Haverhill teen sent and received 193 texts on the day of a fatal crash, some of them close to the time of the accident, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
WBUR reports that Whitey Bulger started snitching on fellow criminals back in the 1950s.
Investigators say a gas explosion in New Bedford that destroyed a house was caused by thieves stealing copper.piping in the basement.
MEDIA
Dan Kennedy offers his thoughts on the growing chorus of media observers who say Facebook may indicate the beginning of the end for the Internet as the choice for advertisers’ dollars, offering a glimpse of hope for news executives.
The Globe is shutting down its suburban bureau offices, the Herald reports. The belt-tightening is raising eyebrows in light of a New York magazine story that depicts the Ochs-Sulzberger clan going the way of the Bancrofts.
Lowell boxer Micky Ward reveals he was sexually abused as a child, the Sun reports.