Dan Dunn

Tuesday is the general election for the 4th Middlesex Senate seat. I concur with the common wisdom – Jim Marzilli is going to run away with it. Heck, even I’m voting for him, and I ran against him three years ago. Both of his opponents are trying to roll back the progress on gay rights. […]

But his Chuck Norris endorsement ad cracks me up, so I’ll put it up on my blog for free.

Regular readers of this blog know that I want to support Governor Deval Patrick, but I’ve frequently doubted whether he could meet the expectations of his supporters. When he came out in support of casinos, I agreed. There is demand for gambling in Massachusetts. It’s not appropriate for the state to prevent its citizens from […]

It’s crunch time in the election to replace Senator Havern. The primary is a week away. Yesterday was the deadline for the pre-primary campaign finance filing. It’s the first chance to see how the candidates are doing in the pocketbook. All of this information is from the Office of Campaign Finance. Unfortunately they don’t permit […]

We’re nearing the end of Governor Deval Patrick’s first legislative year. The General Court’s long vacation begins on November 21, and most of the decisions have already been made. Let’s check the score. During the election last fall, I doubted that Patrick could corral the legislature. The early returns certainly seemed to confirm my fears. […]

My state senator, Robert Havern, resigned this summer. When people ask me why he resigned, I answer “because he can make more money as a lobbyist.” Harsh, but accurate. Because he’s resigning midterm, current officeholders see it as a risk-free crack at a promotion. They can run for the job while keeping their current job. […]

So nervous, in fact, that they decided to pull Sunday’s Opus comic. I don’t see why they pulled it – it seems pretty tame to me. It looks to me like the Globe is getting weak in the knees. Universal Hub clued me in. I never would have known otherwise.

On Friday the State House News service noted that Senator Bob Havern had made a filing that revealed he was looking at job with a lobbyist firm. Hours later, Rep Jim Marzilli announced his candidacy for the seat. This week the rumor became real, and Havern resigned. The Globe lists a few of the likely […]

There was an article in the Globe last week about several cities and towns who were promised state funding if they adopted special zoning laws. The zoning changes were passed – but not the funding. The state isn’t living up to its end of the bargain. This isn’t a new behavior. Talk to your favorite […]

I’m not going to vote for Ron Paul. He’s wrong on too many issues. Still, I’m glad he’s running. He talks about issues that make most candidates uncomfortable. They’re issues that deserve to be debated. The problem is, he also makes the press uncomfortable. He scares the press, and then they try to pretend he […]