Romney was "... disdainful toward people who didn’t understand how right he was about everything."

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Which Politicians Do I Like, and Which Don’t I Like Very Much?

The answer to today’s (dicey!) fourth ‘Ask Me Anything‘ question.

By David S. Bernstein, May 16, 2014

“JK” tries to put me on the spot:

Rank your top 5 most heartfelt/likable MA politicians and then rank your top 5 most sleazy/slimy

OK, first off, let’s be clear that there are lots of politicians who I find very likable and genuine, but that doesn’t make me hesitate even slightly in criticizing them. Tom Menino, for instance, might be on that list, and I’ve criticized him pretty much non-stop for many years (including a pot-shot just yesterday, in a post that wasn’t even about him at all).

So that said, I think state senator Linda Dorcena Forry has to be on that list. Marty Walsh. Katherine Clark. Mike Moran. Matt O’Malley. That’s five—can I quit now?

Actually, I could list lots and lots—I don’t know, maybe I’m weird this way, but I like most of the politicians I deal with. I don’t trust any of them, but I enjoy and appreciate most of them. I like Dianne Wilkerson a lot. I like Carlos Henriquez. I liked almost all of the Boston mayoral candidates: How can you not like Rob Consalvo, or Mike Ross? I like Charlotte Golar Richie a lot, but was brutal to her as a candidate. I like almost all of Boston’s state house delegation, even though I think they’re mostly worthless impediments to good policy-making and should be tossed off of Beacon Hill en masse.

I didn’t put any Republicans in that top five, mostly because I was thinking of current officeholders and there just aren’t that many. But I like Charlie Baker, Geoff Diehl, Bruce Tarr, Brad Jones, Gabriel Gomez, Bob Hedlund, Lew Evangelidis, and plenty of others.

As for a bottom five… I’m going to defer on the terms sleazy and slimy, and just say that there are some pols who I can’t quite personally warm up to. Again, that doesn’t mean I don’t give them a fair shake in my analysis. Dan Conley is one—even though he went out of his way to be pleasant with me during the mayoral campaign. Therese Murray is another. Marc Pacheco has never been anything but nice to me, and I’ve had plenty good to say about him, but I can’t say I’m looking to hang with the guy. I can’t say I’ve ever been warm and fuzzy with former US Attorney Michael Sullivan. And since I’ve veered off of current officeholders, I’ll thrown in Mitt Romney, who I always just found disdainful toward people who didn’t understand how right he was about everything. Which I disdained, because obviously I am right about everything.
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