This changes everything

[Ian David]

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Patrick pinata is about to come down (despite the Herald's best effort to take one word out of a Washington Post story and make it a furor.)

Why? Because the long and public Travaglini job search has apparently come to a close and major changes are coming to the Senate.

<snip>

But it's time to move along because we're about to have another political milestone: a woman Senate President.

The significance of this change for Patrick is hard to minimize. Not only does it provide a new target for the Herald (Murray has a long record of accomplishment in the Senate and with that comes activities worthy of some scrutiny, particularly her most recent stint as Senate Ways and Means Committee chair), she brings a distinctly different attitude toward the new governor.

Travaglini, you may recall, firmly planted his foot in his mouth in December when he used a breakfast speech to tell Patrick to play ball with the Legislature or face a rough road (I believe that would constitute hazing?). The Senate President was forced to backpedal immediately.


<snip>

With Murray's elevation, Massachusetts will have a more progressive leadership but also one that has a better understanding of what it is like to climb that ladder of success. And Patrick will have someone to target the target off his back.

More:
http://baystateliberal.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-changes-everything.html