Stein Sticks Fork in O'Brien
at Last Night's Debate

October 25, 2002

The following report on last night's gubernatorial debate is from the editor of NewtonGOP.com.

Jill Stein again brought five candidates' worth of class to a Massachusetts Gubernatorial debate last night.

More importantly, she was the only recognizable Democrat within five miles of the NECN studios. Her support for reinstituting rent control, her distaste for MCAS as a graduation requirement, and her (albeit unconstitutional) proposal to enact a graduated income tax is great news to Mitt Romney. The only Democrat on that stage was Jill Stein. If the 20%-25% liberal Democratic core are looking for representation, there's no way in Hell they can vote for Shannon O'Brien.

A lot had changed in the fifteen days since the last debate. Before the first question was asked by Jon Keller on October 9th, Shannon O'Brien found herself cruising with a 12 point lead over a milquetoast Mitt Romney. Enter Jill Stein. While yesterday's Suffolk University/Channel 7 poll gives Stein just 2.5% of the vote, conventional wisdom says that Romney's 12 point recovery has more to do with Stein than with Romney.

Prediction: Look for new polls taken after tonight to show Romney edging 3-to-5 points in front of O'Brien with Stein heading towards double digits.

For the first time in four debates, O'Brien looked downright uncomfortable. It's as if her handlers read Suffolk University pollster David Paleologos' debate warning three seconds before cameras rolled. [Paleologos warned that the race was so close between Romney and O'Brien that "one mistake, one slip-up, one untimely glare caught by a debate camera.could make the difference."]

Indeed O'Brien's forte in previous debates, her passion, was nowhere to be found. Twice she nervously corrected panelists who she felt took initial replies to mean she was pro-rent control and anti-casino, respectively. Afraid to take chances, she even fumbled a question to name one controversial way she would balance the budget next year. Rather than cite a reduction, she offered a recycled proposal for a single line-item for the Judiciary.

Romney was nervous as well. His first reply of the evening on rent control saw him veer off in another direction, talking about subsidized housing. Throughout the evening, however, he repeatedly contrasted himself with O'Brien on issues like taxes and Question 2 (English immersion). He twice missed golden opportunities to rebut O'Brien's claim of an "efficient" State Lottery. (Can someone give Mitt the DeNucci audit report, please?)

Carla Howell forced herself to smile on occasion and was less robotic. She relied less on her cue cards. [I wonder if someone told her what panelist Emily Rooney said about her robotic performance in the first debate. On that Friday's Greater Boston's Beat the Press, Rooney seemed genuinely disgusted that Howell was so moribund that she even read her own name from a cue card.] Howell's draconian Question 1 was dismissed by the four other candidates (see Johnson quote, below) but on gun rights, she was the only friend of Heston. "Violent criminals laugh at anti-gun laws. They don't work. They disarm peaceful, honest citizens."

Jill Stein must have read "Debate for Dummies" because she was the only candidate who consistently answered the question being asked. She repeatedly articulated longtime Democratic values. She often stood alone. She was the sole supporter of Boston's proposed rent control. She picked up steam as the night wore on. She chastised Romney for his support of capital punishment, calling the death penalty "ineffective, immoral and often mistaken." On waste, Stein cited the Raytheon and Fidelity tax breaks which she called "payoffs for layoffs." On education, Stein supports neither English immersion nor the MCAS. She also reminded viewers, "I am an educator. I am not an armchair politician."

Her hardest question was her final one. Moderator Chet Curtis asked Stein the "Nader" question. "Do you think that your candidacy might be pulling away votes from Shannon O'Brien-with whom you're perhaps more closely allied-thus ensuring the election of Mitt Romney?"

Stein argued that third party candidates encourage a full accounting of all the issues.

"If the discussion is narrowly focused on the two candidates funded by 'big money]-that is, funded by those who are succeeding under the status quo, which is where most of the money comes from-then we're going to have a very narrow discussion that protects the interests of the status quo. If you think the status quo is a good one, let's limit the discussion; but if you have a problem with healthcare or housing or the environment or education or the economy.it's important to have diverse voices."

Barbara Johnson, answering WBZ 4's Lisa Hughes' question as to what she contributed to the election and to the dialogue in Massachusetts:

"There's been a lot of copycats. Shannon got two fire engines. (Looking toward Romney and O'Brien.) Both of them now talk about advanced technology, alternative research and development. They now talk about waste. He's talking patronage. Patronage isn't where it's at. Lots and lots of waste in the judiciary. (Pointing to Howell) She's totally ready for 30-day mental observation. She wants to take out $19 billion. The budget is twenty-three and a half [billion] and she wants to add a forty percent deficit. I mean, she hasn't named one place that she'd cut. Not one place. She wants to lower the income tax but doesn't say where she's going to get the money. I do agree with her that the $17 billion obligatory figure is cuckoo. It's a smokescreen. It's not accurate."

Folks, that was probably her most coherent response of the evening. Her lungs constantly produced phlegm off-camera. Her Tourette-like habit of loudly interjecting gibberish off-camera was truly discomforting. Unlike Jon Keller at the WB, moderator Chet Curtis let things get out of hand, especially with Johnson. It wasn't pretty. Additionally, the NECN studio itself became a distraction to viewers. [I suggest they hold a telethon a la PBS to upgrade their physical plant.] One couldn't help hearing whooshing wind sounds as well as the sounds of a furnace kicking in.

I watched the debate with my longtime friend Paul, who's a Democrat from Brookline. Because I operate a website called NewtonGOP.com, I thought I'd provide you with some balanced reporting. While I thought Stein won, Paul thought Romney won. Stein, however, has his vote in the general election. Here's his take on tonight's debate:

"Shannon O'Brien did not do well. I think Mitt Romney answered all of her shrill accusations with a Reaganesque: "There you go again, Shannon" type ease that worked well. He was firm with his responses instead of merely implying that Shannon was being silly. O'Brien seemed angry and slicker than she should have been. I feel like I didn't really hear any specifics from any of them. Jill Stein was again the most poised and articulate of the minority candidates."

There is one more debate next Tuesday the 29th. While the removal of Howell and Johnson will be approved by viewers, Stein's exclusion just won't seem fair.

Tuesday January 13, 2004 News Links World Net Daily **Agape Press * TownHall.com * FreeCongress.org FoxNews.com *Media Research * CNSnews.com * Human Events **