Beacon Hill’s budgetary problems are the main issue in this election. Though the progressive ideas of Robert Reich and Warren Tolman show some promise, because of her experience and track record on budgetary matters, Shannon O’Brien is the best choice for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Though she may not have had the most feasible solutions in all of the issue areas — housing, the environment, health care, education, budgetary issues and general experience — O’Brien offers Democratic voters the most complete package.
Many of O’Brien’s stances on the campaign’s main issues rely on her budgetary prowess. She proposes to use federal funds for many purposes to take some of programs’ financial burden off the state’s rolls.
On housing, O’Brien proposes to use federal money to fix existing public and other affordable housing units and create new ones. She also proposes to both control urban sprawl, an environmental issue, and make more housing affordable in already built-up urban areas near public transportation by using state money to subsidize low-interest mortgages. Her proposal to lower the costs of prescription drugs, based on a federal program, could provide the state’s residents with good benefits at little cost to the state’s budget.
However, many of her solutions do rely on federal programs and funding, neither of which are guaranteed to be reliable during hard economic times across the nation and with an already ballooning federal deficit. Because of their reliance on out-of-state dollars, her policies will need scrutiny. But, her experience allows a measure of confidence in her knowledge of federal programs and the state’s budget.
Despite messages to the contrary from the race’s other candidates in recent days, O’Brien’s tenure at the state treasury was marked by rooting out corruption and cleaning the department’s books. That’s exactly what the Statehouse needs now, and it is clear that O’Brien is the Democratic candidate most able to fix the state’s budget problems.
O’Brien has stepped up her campaign as the race has come down to the wire. She looked sharpest in the debates, even as all four candidates exchanged barbs, and seems most prepared to step into the corner office and make change quickly on Beacon Hill.
Warren Tolman was promising as a young, progressive candidate, but has faded in recent weeks. As a Clean Elections Candidate who is willing to take on House Speaker Tom Finneran, he deserves our respect. But he simply doesn’t have the experience or ideas to take over and make the needed change at the state level.
Tolman has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, which speaks volumes about his record and stances on environmental issues. His prescription drug proposal is generous, allowing discounted prescription drugs without questioning income.
Robert Reich, also running as a progressive candidate, lacks the experience with the Massachusetts state budget and government to solve the system’s major problems, though he has some promising ideas. His drug proposals are also generous and housing proposals comprehensive. However, he, too, has faded down the campaign stretch.
The strongest campaign ideas of both Reich and Tolman apply to affordable housing, where both propose programs to encourage colleges and universities to build more on-campus housing and free up affordable housing units usually occupied by students. While Reich goes as far as to propose fees for universities who rely on neighborhood housing, both have their hearts in the right place. In a state with a large number of college and graduate students, any plan that encourages universities to take care of their own students will free up housing and lower housing costs.
Thomas Birmingham is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate with the least initiative and promise. Birmingham has courted the traditional Democratic power base, labor unions, without which he would be entirely inconsequential. His campaign has been lackluster and his ideas are not impressive. Though he has extensive experience at the State House, he is not the man to fix the state’s problems.
This year’s gubernatorial campaign has focused little on college students, as each candidate besides Tolman failed to meet with the Boston University College Democrats. Unfortunately, issues like the environment and shrinking funds for higher education were not top-billed this time around.
But in the end, this year’s gubernatorial campaign is all about the state’s beleaguered budget. Shannon O’Brien, with four years as treasurer under her belt, is the candidate most prepared to make smart change at the State House.