# The Monday morning briefing



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

By *Kimberly Atkins*
Boston Herald Reporter
Monday, November 6, 2006

*The Week Ahead:* 
The long, strange, and expensive trip that has been the Bay State governor's race finally ends tomorrow when voters elect either the first female or black chief executive, and the only thing most people will miss about the campaign is *Christy Mihos*' ads. 
Meanwhile, Democrats hoping to make 2007 the year of the Donkey are praying the polls predicting a Democratic majority in congress and the nation's governors' seats are right. But that 800-pound elephant in the room called the GOP hopes Saddam Hussein's conviction and Sen. John Kerry's "joke" gaffe have voters seeing red.

*Today's Talking Point:

*
_Will Sen. John Kerry's comments last week kill his presidential chances?_

* Democrats*

* Ben Alper:*

No one is looking forward to "Political Death Wish 2008" starring John Kerry. Let's hope his latest media meltdown finally sends him windsurfing off into the sunset. As bad comedians go, he has less chance getting elected president than Carrot Top. Noble intentions aside, he's starting to make Don Quixote look like a pragmatist.

_Ben Alper is a liberal comedy writer and commentator. _

*Dwight Robson: *

No, but the odds that Kerry will be elected president in 2008 are longer after his gaffe. The GOP distortion of his skipping the word "us" was damaging, but the timing made it worse - sidelining him before mid-term elections. Nevertheless, war hero John Kerry won't be intimidated. It would be foolish to declare him politically dead.

_Dwight Robson managed Shannon O'Brien's gubernatorial campaign. _

*Republicans *

*Holly Robichaud: *

John Kerry's presidential ambitions were on life support before he once again inserted his foot into his mouth. I guess he was for the troops, before he was against them. Kerry's comments were not a botch, but a revelation about his true feelings regarding the United States military. This is why Democrats are never to be trusted with the security of our country.

_Holly Robichaud is a Republican strategist._

*Jim Rappaport: *

The question presumes that Kerry had any chance in the first place! The campaign will come down to the Hillary and the Anti-Hillary (NOT John Kerry). With the recent insertion of Barack Obama of Illinois into the probable race, he looks like the Anti-Hillary front-runner right now, and, again, NOT Kerry.

_Jim Rappaport was a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2002._

*This week's guest blogger pundit, gmanigault: *

Yes, I think this will hurt his chances. Not just because of the comment, but because of how he handled it afterward. If it was a "botched joke" as he contends he should have simply explained what he meant to say and apologize for what he did say. The fact the he is trying to spin this into something else shows that he lacks the forth rightness and honesty to be president of this great country.

*Politics by the Numbers: 
* *0. *That's the number of turnout predictions Secretary of State Bill Galvin is making for tomorrow's election, after past predictions - including a low-turnout forecast for September's primary - turned out wrong. In 2002, more than 2 million Bay State voters cast ballots in the race for governor. 
* The Blog Buzz:* 
Last week the unabashedly Democratic politiblog BlueMassGroup.com endorsed (gasp) a Republican! But in giving its no-confidence vote to embattled Democratic Sen. *Dianne Wilkerson*, the editors reasoned: "a (Samiyah) Diaz victory would still leave the state Senate with an overwhelming Democratic majority, so no harm, no foul.(Plus, maybe she'll switch!)" 
* The Mitt Watch:* 
As Romney prepares to make the transition from governor to presidential candidate, a new Concord Monitor poll still has him in a distant third place among GOP hopefuls in New Hampshire, an early primary state where Romney owns a vacation home. Though Romney's 12 percent showing trails Sen. John McCain's 26 percent and Rudy Giuliani's 18 percent, at least he comes ahead of *Condoleezza Rice*, Bill Frist, and Newt Gingrich.


----------

