Are you a diehard Massachusetts Republican looking to cast your lot with a Senate candidate who shared your support for 2008 presidential nominee John McCain? Gabriel Gomez could be your man.
Maybe you’re an independent voter who would be willing to pull a Republican primary ballot if there was someone who supported President Obama in the same election? Well, that, too, would be Gomez.
Or you’re a far-right conservative, thoroughly convinced that Obama is undermining the military. You’d vote for somebody who speaks for that, right? Gabriel Gomez, come on down.
Looking for a GOP senator who would work in a bipartisan manner to help pass the White House’s priorities of immigration reform and gun control while at the same time opposing, well, the administration’s policy for immigration reform and gun control and said he’d be proud to “Stand with Rand?” Could be Gomez.
The emerging, albeit conflicting, profile of nascent pol Gomez is not one that is being shaped by opponents. Rather, it is Gomez himself who is contributing to the confusion of just who he is and where he stands. And for an unknown trying to get his name and message out in a truncated statewide campaign, that is dangerous territory.
The latest problem for the Cohasset businessman and ex-Navy Seal came yesterday when, after being challenged in the first GOP debate the night before, his campaign released the letter Gomez sent to the State House beseeching Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint him to the interim Senate post left vacant by John Kerry’s ascension to Secretary of State.
“I fully understand that naming a moderate Republican like me would be completely unconventional,” Gomez wrote in his letter, complete with a photo of himself embossed on the first page, that he hand delivered to Patrick’s chief of staff, Mo Cowan. Who, by the way, is now Sen. Mo Cowan after Patrick tapped him for the job. “However, given the partisan and acrimonious atmosphere in the US Senate today, this is even more of a reason to consider appointing a moderate Republican with my background.”
It’s not so much his seeking the position or even the framing of the rationale, both of which actually make for a good argument. It is his fawning over Patrick and Obama and his promises to stay true to the Democratic agenda that could work against him in the primary that is sure to be dominated by the hard-core right and party stalwarts.
“I supported President Obama in 2008,” Gomez wrote to Patrick. That, though, is not what he told Fox 25 in an interview after being questioned over his $250 donation to Obama’s campaign, where he said, “I voted for the Navy guy” and only made the donation at the request of a friend. And his campaign is saying when he wrote “support” in his letter, he meant check. But there’s also been no explanation of why he gave $1,000 to uber-liberal Alan Khazei when the City Year founder was running in the last special election to fill a Senate seat in Massachusetts in 2009.
“Two main issues that will dominate the political discussion during this appointment will be immigration reform and gun control,” Gomez wrote in his letter. “I support the positions that President Obama has taken on these issues and you can be assured I will keep my word and work on these issues as I have promised.”
But Gomez in the debate and in the few encounters with the press so far has said he opposes a federal ban on assault weapons and will not vote for amnesty for illegal immigrants, both positions contrary to Obama’s.
Needless to say, both of Gomez’ primary opponents, former US Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Daniel Winslow, pounced on the ever-changing positions, especially his attempts to curry favor with Democrats. Though that may work well in a general election in this bluest of blue states (though, ask Scott Brown how it worked out for him), it will take a Herculean effort on Gomez’ part to get through the partisan primary where fealty to cause trumps bipartisanship.
“Appointing a moderate Republican would set a national example of sorely needed bipartisanship and would reinforce your growing national reputation for bold and thoughtful leadership,” Gomez wrote to Patrick.
Yeah, that’ll leave a mark.
–JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
Globe columnist Joan Vennochi says Gov. Deval Patrick’s arrogant dismissal of questions about patronage hires and other appointments gone bad — most recently, his now-departed early education commissioner, Sherri Killins — undermines his call for $2 billion in new taxes to support the vital work of state government.
Attorney General Martha Coakley says towns can enact moratoriums while trying to figure out how to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries but they cannot pass outright bans.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo unveils his panel to research gun control legislation.
The Patriot Ledger has an at-home profile of new state GOP chairman and Quincy City Councilor Kirsten Hughes and how she grew up Republican in a Democratic household, starting with her childhood “strange affinity” for Ronald Reagan.
Rep. Christopher Markey is allegedly assaulted by a lobbyist and former congressional staffer after informing the man he didn’t land a state job.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
New Bedford has lost a federal grant that paid for 70 firefighters but officials are hoping to get the money back.
The Freetown building inspector says he’s been “defamed” by allegations of unethical business dealings, saying the charges are from disgruntled businessmen whose permit applications were rejected.
The Fall River Herald News is calling for volunteers to collect signatures to place a question on the ballot asking voters to approve a full revision of the city’s charter.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Gail Collins imagines a world where Congress locks itself in the Capitol, only emerging amid clouds of white smoke after hammering out a budget for Fiscal 2014. But, no such luck. Slate wonders why Senate Democrats’ budget is so boring compared to Rep. Paul Ryan’s fantastic work of imagination.
RELIGION
Habemus Papam. The reaction of Jesuits at Boston College to Francis I. And of a Framingham priest who worked for five years with the then-Cardinal Bergoglio in Buenos Aires.
ELECTIONS
Republican Senate candidate Michael Sullivan proposes that returning veterans should get priority for TSA jobs.
Lawrence City Councilor Marc LaPlante decides to run for reelection instead of challenging Mayor William Lantigua. His decision not to run leaves fellow City Council Daniel Rivera as Lantigua’s primary challenger, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
One of the companies vying for a slot parlor license has selected Worcester as its location, the Telegram & Gazette reports.
Palmer officials are getting impatient with the lack of new details about Mohegan Sun’s casino proposal.
EDUCATION
The Boston School Committee approves a new student assignment plan hailed by some as an important breakthrough and derided by others as a weak step after years of promises of major reform of a system that is a vestige of the busing wars of 40 years ago.
Brockton students will attend school for a half-day on Good Friday to make up for one of the missed snow days.
TRANSPORTATION
Gov. Deval Patrick filed his $19 billion transportation bond bill yesterday which includes $4.4 billion for South Coast rail and other rail projects.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Lowell strikes a deal to benefit financially from ratepayer subsidies awarded to solar farms in western Massachusetts, the Sun reports.
William Galston suggests on The New Republic site that President Obama, in a bid to strike a compromise of sorts, might approve the Keystone XL pipeline and impose tougher new environmental regulations.
The Fairhaven Wind developer says his company’s financial woes will not adversely affect the town’s turbine project.
At 1 p.m. yesterday, a Plymouth District Court judge dismissed trespassing charges against the Pilgrim 14, a group of protesters trying to shut down Pilgrim nuclear power plant. An hour later, they were arrested again at the plant protesting.
A report issued this week projects revenue from the clean energy industry to nearly double in the next 10 years.
Cape officials check out new shark information signs for the region’s beaches.