So, I'm not quite sure what happened, but at the beginning of the Medford candidate forum, the moderator announced that "Secretary Galvin is stuck in New Bedford and will not be joining us". Bonifaz answered a bunch of questions, Galvin was not there.
I hope it was something unforeseen and unavoidable, and not a sign that Galvin didn't place a high priority on being there. I hope Galvin will be at the forum in Worcester tomorrow night, though I'm not sure if he accepted the invitation yet. And really, whatever the reason for Galvin's absence, it would look a lot better for him if he hadn't rejected plenty of other invitations to debate Bonifaz or appear at forum events with him throughout the year.
So, I'll give Secretary Galvin the benefit of the doubt - this time. His car got a flat tire or something; maybe a red light never went green. If not for the fact that I've actually lived in New Bedford before, I'd be less inclined to believe that something could have held him up. He has a chance to make up for it by going to Massachusetts's second largest city, Worcester, and debating Bonifaz there, lest I have to eat my words. If Galvin turns out to be just another politico who doesn't respect the institution of Democracy, I'll be sorely disappointed.
Update: Maybe Bill Galvin was too busy to debate his opponent because he had to tell the Globe that no one's going to turn out to vote on the 19th. If telling people that no one is going to vote isn't a sure-fire way to surpress voter turnout, I don't know what is. Good job Secretary Galvin!
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"I don't see people forming conga lines in the street to vote," he said, adding he hoped interest would grow as the race nears its climax. "There's three weeks left, and exciting things can happen."
Oh? He hopes exciting things will happen that will get more voters interested? He could actually do something about it, by engaging John Bonifaz in a debate, and creating more interest in the election he's actually running in.
When Channel 5 interviewed both candidates, they asked both of them about voter turnout. Bonifaz talked about the things he'd like to do to make voting easier and more accessible (like election day registration). Galvin said nothing about what he will do, and instead talked about his hope that candidates would make elections more exciting for voters.
As usual, Bonifaz acts, Galvin just sits on the sidelines while things happen. But in this case, Galvin is a candidate, himself. Oh, the irony.
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