508 #134: Party harder

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and Chris Warren.

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[0:45] Worcester Planning Board wants to restrict campaign lawn signs.

[5:19] Telegram & Gazette circulation falling fast.

[11:30] There’s a new newspaper called “CMP: Central Mass. Pride.” Also, there’s an interesting InCity Times article.

[13:20] Brendan received a creative Paul Franco mailing in a brown paper bag.

[14:39] The Northborough Tea Party sponsored a debate. We missed it.

[15:56] The Tea Party Express will be in Worcester Nov 1. Some locals will be having a counter-event to “Party Hard(er) Than The Tea Party.” Chris gives us the scoop.

[19:33] Bill “PIMCO” Gross writes: “Vote NO in November – no to both parties. Vote NO to a two-party system that trades promises for dollars and hope for power, and leaves the American people high and dry.” Mike tends to agree. Brendan wonders where on the ballot you will find this “No.”

[20:52] Still, there is an election coming up, and we have opinions of varying validity. You should look into the Jim Henderson vs. Bill Galvin race for Secretary of the Commonwealth.

[22:33] Mike likes Madnick for D13. He also wants to rename District 13 District 9. Brendan thinks Mahoney has put in the shoe leather to win this one.

[24:50] Brendan mentions the negativity of the Chandler/Higgins state senate race.

[26:00] Apparently Marty Lamb supporters have ran ads criticizing Jim McGovern’s activism against genocide in Darfur. If anyone has a YouTube link handy, please send it in.

[27:17] Brendan was on the Worcester marketing bus. Lots of good things coming along in the city!

What’s Mike wearing? Moiré-inducing patterns.


Pictured: The “No” hat trick.

9 thoughts on “508 #134: Party harder”

  1. You tell us to stay home and watch TV instead of vote. This is the second time you have promoted not voting on your show, I think you are serious about it and it turns me off completely and depresses me. What is the point of whining on your show about all this stuff in our community if no action comes of it. Thanks for standing by AND ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO HANG BACK while our country goes to hell.

    Sarah Assefa

  2. Thanks for the comment. This is one of those frequent 508 situations in which I summarize my opinion but get sidetracked before getting to the nuance. Obviously I think it’s very important for people to be engaged in the political process–we’re all the time trying to bring under-reported issues to public attention, gather people to share information, and then either recommend nonpolitical action or petition our local officials to do what we think is wise. I have voted many times, and worked on a number of campaigns in the past. I think that my not voting this Nov 2 would send a more accurate message than my voting. The “don’t vote” message can sound superior, or smug, or incoherent, and I am glad Brendan was there to point this out today. Voting is a serious thing, and next time the topic comes up I’ll see that we spend more time, and are more serious, about addressing it.

  3. Also: Jay Rosen lays out a method of election coverage I’d like to follow if we’re still doing 508 in 6 months–
    http://pressthink.org/2010/08/the-citizens-agenda-in-campaign-coverage/

    As part of this, I’d love to ask people “Why are you voting?” in the weeks leading up to the election. I’d be especially interested to hear from people for whom Candidate X’s role in Issue Y was a compelling reason to go to the polls. I wonder if I could so easily decide not to vote after being part of a process like that.

  4. I’d love to see something like that for municipal elections. I’ve often found that there are certain city districts — mostly those that have an opponent in the district councilor race — where there seem to be issues-with-a-capital-I, and then there are areas where it seems like there are none.

  5. Regarding the fashion: I think Mike could have done with a round collar. Not everyone can pull it off, but I think he could.

  6. Also, the Coalition for Educated Options did this in the last local election. They solicited citizen input on what the issues were and then sent out a questionnaire to candidates. It was pretty extensive, and it did raise some things that wouldn’t otherwise (I think) have come up.

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