For many of us in Massachusetts who have long felt disenfranchised, out of step and out of touch with a political culture that thumbs its nose at beliefs and values we hold dear, these pre-election hours are truly moments to savor.

After 8 o'clock tomorrow night, it'll be business as usual for liberal incumbents lucky enough to survive.

But right now they're running so scared that they're actually pretending we matter to them, even to the point of feigning empathy with our concerns, as if we'll matter a fig to them after our votes are cast.

Mindful of a national inclination to "throw the bums out," they're not running on their records nearly as much as they're running from them, and yet that's fraught with danger for them, too, lest they alienate the special interests and sanctimonious yahoos from whom they normally take their marching orders.

Our entrenched left-wing pols momentarily find themselves in the precarious position Churchill once ascribed to dictators: "They ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry."

Barney Frank hopes you won't look at him and see the catastrophic damage he personally did to America's pocketbook by making incompetent decisions, which he now indignantly denies.

Niki Tsongas hopes you won't look at her and see a Pavlovian ally of Nancy Pelosi, a philosophical shadow of her much-loathed leader.

Deval Patrick hopes you won't look at him and see Marian Walsh, the shameless state senator whom he brazenly tried to ensconce in a phantom job for $175,000 a year.

That aborted heist remains the personification of gluttonous government.

And they want us all to see them as public servants deserving of yet another bite at the apple.

So for this brief but wonderful moment, the ball is in our court.

As much as they and their ilk long to control our lives, they cannot control the verdict we'll render when we step inside the voting booth.

A decade ago, when George W. Bush narrowly defeated Al Gore, a Massachusetts expatriate named Kevin Cassidy, living in New Hampshire, followed the returns with exhilaration.

"I kept looking at those maps the networks use, coloring the states to show who won them," he said.

"The entire northeast had gone for Gore, from Maine down to Maryland, all across New York and Pennsylvania, with one exception, and that was New Hampshire.

"For once in my life, I knew right then and there that my vote mattered."

Tomorrow ours will matter, too.

John Kerry: Democrats’ woes stem from uninformed voters

It’s the electorate, stupid!

By Hillary Chabot
Saturday, September 25, 2010 - Updated 20 hours ago
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Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I.

Isabel - Kerry's luxe, 76-foot New Zealand-built Friendship sloop with an Edwardian-style, glossy varnished teak interior, two VIP main cabins and a pilothouse fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage - was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine.

But instead of berthing the vessel in Nantucket, where the senator summers with the missus, Teresa Heinz, Isabel's hailing port is listed as "Newport" on her stern.

Could the reason be that the Ocean State repealed its Boat Sales and Use Tax back in 1993, making the tiny state to the south a haven - like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Nassau - for tax-skirting luxury yacht owners?

Cash-strapped Massachusetts still collects a 6.25 percent sales tax and an annual excise tax on yachts. Sources say Isabel sold for something in the neighborhood of $7 million, meaning Kerry saved approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $70,000.

The senior senator's chief of staff David Wade denied the old salt was berthing his boat out of state to avoid ponying up to the commonwealth.

"The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it's based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons," Wade told the Track.

And state Department of Revenue spokesguy Bob Bliss confirmed the senator "is under no obligation to pay the commonwealth sales tax."

But back in 2006, then-gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos took some flack for avoiding some $23,000 in Bay State sales tax and $1,320 in local excise taxes by berthing his motor yacht in Rhode Island. But Mihos paid just $475,000 for his 36-foot vessel Ashley and readily admitted that he used the boat at his West Yarmouth summer home.

However, according to Bliss, if Kerry berths the Isabel in Massachusetts waters within six months of purchasing the boat, there's a "presumption of use" and the Heinz-Kerrys would have to walk the plank and pony up to the Bay State. After six months, should the boat change its berth to, say, Nantucket, then it's up to the state to go after them for the taxes, Bliss added.

Yesterday, the Isabel, which lists Great Point LLC of Pittsburgh, Penn., as its owner, was getting a spruce-up at the Hinckley shipyard in Portsmouth, R.I. Sources say the senior senator is demanding that some warranty work be done.

Fontaine, a protege of legendary sailboat designer Ted Hood, was tight-lipped about the owners of Isabel but he did confirm the boat was built in New Zealand. According to Internet reports, Kerry was seen in Whangarei last December inspecting his new high-seas plaything.

File Under: Shipping Up To Boston (Not).

The amount of taxpayer money being funneled to a Dorchester shrine to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has ballooned to $38 million and could rise to at least $68 million this year, infuriating watchdog groups who insist the project should be privately funded.

With $38.3 million in federal earmarks already secured for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Sen. John F. Kerry and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Malden) have in recent days tapped the government for $30 million more in the next budget.

The new taxpayer-funded total would cover the full $60 million estimated cost of building the project, adjacent to John F. Kennedy Presidential Library at Columbia Point. And it would put the public on the hook for nearly half the project's $150 million target.

"If the Kennedy family wants to honor the family they should find a way to fund it themselves," said David E. Williams of Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington nonprofit group.

"They should be looking for private funding," he said. "They're using federal taxpayers as the funder of first resort. We need to be the funder of last resort."

Williams and other critics called it "ridiculous" and an "egregious waste" that supporters want to siphon $28.9 million of the funding from the Defense Department budget alone. Nearly $19 million of that is already signed into law.

"It's hard to fathom the defense-related portion of this project," said Steve Ellis, a vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a fiscal watchdog group.

Tax subsidy defended

Peter Meade, president of the planned institute, defended the use of tax dollars and the defense money, saying the project would include programs geared for children of active military personnel.

"That's where Congress chose to do it, and we're grateful to them for it," Meade said.

Markey and Kerry also defended the project's growing cost, saying it could draw tourists to Boston. Both declined to respond to criticism of earmarks for the center.

The institute "will serve as a national resource, helping Americans learn more about the Senate's vital place in our democratic system and the historic leading role that the late Senator Kennedy played during his decades of outstanding service to Massachusetts and to the nation," Markey spokesman Daniel Reilly said in a statement.

It will be "an invaluable resource for citizens from the commonwealth to California," he said.

A Kerry spokeswoman said in a statement that the institute will bring "knowledge and good citizenship to thousands of young people" and that Kerry is "proud that he worked with his colleagues last year to help make it a reality." Williams said their support for the project equated with support for pork-type spending.

"Markey and Kerry understand that Kennedy is a beloved figure in Massachusetts and that it is sacrilege to speak ill of this," he said. "But it's still pork-barrel spending and not something federal taxpayers should be paying for."

The institute, to be built adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum near the University of Massachusetts at Boston campus, "will be dedicated to educating the public, students, teachers, new senators and Senate staff about the role and importance of the Senate," according to its Web site, emkinstitute.org.

Taxpayer watchdog Ellis compared the institute to presidential libraries, which generally are privately funded.

"Considering the interest and affection for Sen. Kennedy, this could be independently funded and doesn't need to be getting taxpayer dollars," he said.

Meade said the center will not be a library but an "educational institute that's a part of UMass-Boston." He added: "Those kinds of organizations receive public money regularly." He said he is "mindful of budget problems" at the federal level, and agreed it is "somewhat unusual" for a project affiliated with a state university to seek private money at all.

He said in an e-mail that the institute has secured $45 million in private donations and pledges. He did not respond to an e-mail asking how much of that was in hand. He said most of the funding would come from private donors, but declined to say what the public-private split would be.

Construction in October

The institute will house Kennedy's papers and memorabilia from more than four decades in the Senate. It will include a museum, reception area, library and classrooms, according to its Web site. It will host mock Senate sessions and programs for high school and college students and incoming senators and their staffs.

Meade said plans are being finalized and renderings are not being made available to the public. Construction is to begin in October and take two and a half years, he said.

The project has gotten $38.3 million in federal earmarks in less than two years, according to data compiled by LegiStorm, a nonpartisan group that tracks congressional spending information.

That figure includes $5.81 million that Kerry and five other senators backed in the fiscal 2009 education budget. Two federal spending bills passed in December, one for defense and the other for education, included another $32.5 million for the institute. Kerry and Markey were among the members of Congress who requested those funds.

Kerry seeks even more

Kerry requested an additional $10 million late last week, his spokeswoman, Brigid O'Rourke, said in an e-mail Friday afternoon.

Markey made his most recent requests on March 20, according to two letters he wrote to the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations. The first $10 million would come from the defense appropriations bill, the second $10 million from the spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, a Markey spokesman confirmed in an e-mail.

Markey's letters say the money "would be used for program development" and in support of "the primary goal" of the institute - "to improve civics education and engagement in this country."

Williams criticized the vague description of how the millions would be spent. "The lack of information is typical," he said. "There is no detail about project phases or what the money goes toward. The point is to get the ball rolling and to move the project down the road one more step."

In many cases, initial funding pays for architectural planning or research, Williams said. "They get it started and hope it gets far enough down the road that they can't stop the funding," he said.

Added Ellis: "Will this be a long-term commitment? Every year, will we be giving $10 million?"

Ellis blasted the slipping of earmarks for the project into two bills where they can be easily hidden.

"It's a really big bill," he said of the Department of Defense budget. "$10 million does not stick out in Defense."

"This earmark has nothing to do with defending the country," said Williams. Lt. Cmdr. Kathleen Kesler, a Defense Department spokeswoman, refused to comment.

Submitting a request as large as those sought for the Kennedy Institute doesn't mean a member of Congress will get the full amount. However, Ellis suggested it is more likely to be filled than other requests, because it "pulls at the heartstrings because it's for the late senator."

Gov. David Paterson makes it official: He's not running

Poll says race is between Cahill & Baker

Gov's sinking feeling

You're Deval Patrick, and it could be worse.

You could be Gov. David Paterson.

You know a poll is only a snapshot, but in this one your campaign looks like a train wreck.

You're Deval Patrick, and if you were a bread, you'd be toast.

You're Deval Patrick, and your political career is like the Big Dance - one and done.

You're still working on that property-tax relief thing too - just give you a little more time, OK?

You know they're lining up to stick a fork in you when Tito Jackson seems more interested in getting Steve Murphy elected treasurer than in getting you another term, because Murphy's victory puts him on the City Council.

You're Deval Patrick, and the word's beginning to get out: Barack Obama is coming to your rescue - he's your in-case-of-fire-break-glass rescue option, but who knew your campaign would be going down in flames in February?

But once Air Force One touches down, everything will be just dandy. Just ask Marsha Coakley what a Barack appearance is worth.

How little respect do you get when Sal DiMasi is negotiating his plea-bargain on the front page, trying to be the third Speaker in a row to go down on felony counts and still avoid prison?

You're Deval Patrick, and you know damn well what Sal expects you to do now that he's threatening to put you on the witness stand in his corruption trial just before the election.

You're supposed to call Barack, who's supposed to call Eric Holder, who's supposed to call the new U.S. attorney, Carmen Ortiz, who will then be ordered . . . to turn over the Get-Out-of-Jail free card to Sal.

And then Sal can begin his next career as the midday talk-show host on some bust-out felon-friendly talk-radio station.

You're Deval Patrick, and what exactly do you tell your campaign contributors when they ask what they can expect in return for maxing out to you one more time?

You could tell them they can expect the same return on investment as the publisher of your so-called book - no, you probably don't want to tell them that.

You're Deval Patrick, and where is the gratitude of these moonbats? You try to give ‘em hope and change, and they give you . . . Dr. Jill Stein, and Grace Ross.

Marian Walsh on the line? Tell her, no, she cannot have the new job of deputy associate assistant senior commissioner of tolling.

You're Deval Patrick, and the state police detail can't stop talking about Joe Lawless, Bill Weld's state cop driver, and how he's still getting taken care of all these years later at Massport, to the tune of $171,456.45 a year, and who are you going to take care of - like you're not going to be around for the next four years.

You're Deval Patrick, and you could have sworn you saw a repo man last night loitering around under the Dome, sizing up the Caddy.

Cook County a "Dark Pool of Political Corruption"

New study provides insight into 141+ years of political hijinks

Updated 8:28 AM CST, Fri, Feb 19, 2010

Cook County has been a "dark pool of political corruption" for more than a century, a new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago says.

Nearly 150 employees, politicians and contractors in the nation's second-largest county have been convicted on corruption charges since 1957, according to a report released Thursday by the university and the Better Government Association (.pdf)

The 33-page study gives a history of corruption, starting from 1869 when county commissioners were jailed for rigging a bid to paint City Hall. It also details hiring scandals, including some under Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Stroger hasn't been charged with any crime.

In the last 36 years, 31 sitting or former Chicago alderman have been convicted of corruption or other crimes.  The last was Ike Carothers (29th), who earlier this month plead guilty to charges he accepted gifts in exchange for his votes on zoning issues.

The study says reforms could turn things around, including stricter campaign finance laws and amending a county ethics ordinance.

The state's loneliest Republicans - those who languish in the navy blue regions from Northampton to Nantucket - are shaking off their years-long malaise and rebuilding a political machine in the land of Birkenstocks and Priuses.

"People are coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘We've been Republicans in hiding and now we want to be out and help,' " said Jeffrey Hopkins, chairman of the City Republican Committee in the old Democratic union stronghold of Fall River.

In the wake of Scott Brown's victory in his Senate campaign versus Martha Coakley, a surge in interest in the GOP has come from longtime Republicans, independents, Tea Party activists and even Democrats, dazzling many organizers.

"It was not a team that anybody wanted to join," said Larry Giunta, 41, chairman of Newburyport Republican City Committee, which grew from zero members to 60 in one year, thanks to organization and Brown's win. "The days of meeting in the basement of your local library and having two or three people show up are over."

The GOP is organizing across Boston, the heart of the Democratic Party's network in the state. This past year, Republican ward committees reorganized in traditionally Democratic Southie, Charlestown and Dorchester.

"Since Scott Brown, the interest has exploded," said Karen MacNutt of Dorchester, who took over Boston's Republican City Committee, which, until November, had not met in five years.

In lefty enclave Jamaica Plain - where Republicans make up only 4 percent of voters and Che Guevara T-shirts are more common than pickup trucks - a new GOP ward committee formed after an eight-year hiatus.

"I got a lot of interest," said Edward Wagner, 50, who formed the Ward 11 committee in 2008, but only recently started monthly meetings at Doyle's Cafe, the traditional Democratic pols' hangout.

Statewide, the GOP has 400 local committees, up from 300 a year ago, said Jennifer A. Nassour, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, who set out in January 2009 to reorganize.

Another 200 of 600 possible committees are still unorganized, but Brown's victory is revitalizing long-demoralized Republicans.

"Since the Brown victory we've seen other committees sprout up," Nassour said. "We've seen more and more people come out."

On Nantucket, where U.S. Sen. John Kerry windsurfs and lefty celebrities rub elbows every summer, the Republican Town Committee gained 20 members during Brown's campaign.

"We are, at a grassroots level, feeling empowered for the first time in a long time," said Chairwoman Donna Hamel. "It's lifted the rock and let everybody crawl out."

In the far left of the state, bucolic Berkshire County, "the big change is at the grassroots level," said Matt Kinnaman, a Republican state committee member. "Scott Brown's victory has ignited new energy among those who have not been involved and may have been discouraged that it wasn't going to make a difference."

Dr. Jay Fleitman, who is running for Congress against Springfield Democrat Richard Neal, said Republicans in his ultra-liberal hometown of Northampton are finally speaking up.

In the past, he said, "You tend not to talk about your political beliefs very much. You won't find anyone who agrees with you and you end up getting into fights." But now, "That's changing."

The Northampton Republican Town Committee is meeting in March for the first time since 2008.

In Pittsfield, where Coakley received 70 percent of the vote, Republicans are organizing ward committees for the first time in years.

Despite the momentum, Republican leaders are realistic about success in a state where Democrats outnumber them 3 to 1.

In Boston, despite reorganization, no GOP ward committees have the maximum 35 members, said David Trumbull, secretary of the city Republican committee.

In the People's Republic of Cambridge, the Republican committee membership is more active, but numbers are steady.

"We're trying to reach out and create ways for people to come out of the closet," said Chairman Henry Irving, 59. "We do face rather insurmountable odds; we're keenly aware of that."

And in Newton, Republican City Committee Treasurer Bob Whitten warned that Brown's victory in the short, unusual race may have given some of his comrades false hope.

"Republicans sense there are winds of change coming and that may provide openings for Republican candidates," said Whitten, 69. "That is wishful thinking."

Indeed, in some diehard Democratic towns - for example Provincetown, where Coakley cruised to victory - it's still taboo to be a Republican.

One Provincetown businesswoman and closet Republican said she'd like someone to organize a town GOP group, but she's not sure it will happen.

She didn't want her name used out of fear she'd lose customers. "Everybody has to have the courage of their convictions," she said, "but I'm worried about my business."

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's abrupt announcement that he's not seeking re-election to Congress has gleeful Republicans eyeing incumbent New England Democrats and asking, "Who's next?"

"Long-term incumbents who don't have a fire in their belly are in trouble," said GOP consultant Ron Kaufman, in response to news the Rhode Island congressman is stepping aside. "There's an anti-incumbent fever, and that helps Republicans."

In Massachusetts, the National Republican Congressional Committee - tasting victory after the come-from-behind Senate win of Scott Brown last month - has targeted U.S. Rep. William Delahunt and U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas - both from districts where Brown won the majority of communities.

Those two Democrats have also shown sluggish fund-raising, and Delahunt has refused to even commit to seeking re-election.

"Delahunt and other New England Democrats who have voted in lockstep with (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi will pay a price on Election Day," said National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Tory Mazzola.

Tsongas (D-Lowell) vowed to fight for re-election and said Brown's surprise win gave Democrats an early wake-up call.

"As a candidate you have to earn every vote," said Tsongas, who faces two GOP challengers. "I do think in this election we heard voters' anger and frustration. I hear it when I'm in my district, but I'm working for them on bread-and-butter issues on a daily basis."

Former state Treasurer Joseph Malone, who is considering running against Delahunt (D-Quincy), said Kennedy's resignation has fed rumors that Delahunt will also bow out.

"My feeling is whether he runs or not, this is a very winnable seat, and the reason why it's winnable is because Bill Delahunt has gone far in the liberal direction," Malone said.

Democrats are also facing stiff competition in the Granite State, where U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-Rochester) was bested by GOP challenger Frank Guinta in a recent independent poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire and WMUR-TV (Ch. 9).

"I think you're seeing the voters are angry, they're frustrated and they're taking that out on incumbents and in particular Democrats," said Guinta, who is the former mayor of Manchester, N.H. "We're really starting to feel the tide is changing, and many Democrats in New England are becoming vulnerable."

Shirpal Shah, spokesman for the National Democratic Campaign Committee, said Kennedy's resignation isn't expected to trigger a rash of Democratic incumbent departures. He added that the national party is better funded and able to take on challengers.

"I think everyone takes the Brown victory seriously, and they're taking precautions to ensure victories in November," said former Democratic state committee chair Phil Johnston. "Everyone is aware of the anger among the electorate and that it's legitimate and needs to be addressed."

What Cost The Democrats Massachusetts?

Though it was considered a foregone conclusion that the seat would remain in Democratic hands, Republican Scott Brown surprised everyone by winning the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy. Here are some of the reasons pundits are giving for the defeat:

• Thrill-seeking Massachusetts residents had never seen a Republican in real life, let alone voted for one
• Brown created 25 local jobs by keeping his pickup truck in tip-top shape
• 95% of voters recalled a friendly classmate from some point in elementary school named Scott Brown
• In an embarrassing incident, Coakley accidentally called Curt Schilling a "Yankee fan," Larry Bird a "Lakers fan," Tom Brady a "Colts fan," and the late Ted Kennedy a "brain cancer fan"
• Press photos of Brown in a hard hat outnumbered those of Coakley in a hard hat by a staggering five-to-one margin
• Most Democrats stayed home during the election to sew hemp necklaces and fix their solar-powered roofs
• Voters finally getting around to condemning Kennedy for Chappaquiddick
• Coakley's cranial circumference fell far short of what Massachusetts voters have come to expect from a senator
• Massive cultural and political shift to the left did not actually happen

Unemployment rate rises to 12% in area

BOSTON — The Leominster-Fitchburg region's unemployment rate zoomed up to 12 percent in December, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The rate is nearly three percentage points higher than the state jobless rate of 9.1 percent. The area saw 2,200 fewer people employed and more than 2,500 unemployed. In a separate report from the same organization, the region lost 2,100 jobs in the past year, as total employment went from 49,000 in December 2008 to 46,900 last month. The 4.3 percent decline in total employment was more than double the rate of the state's decline of 67,200 jobs (from 3.254 million in December 2008 to 3.202 million last month).