I'm not so sure if

calling the Speaker a hack is a good idea. Don't get me wrong - I see the point. But there was a lot the progressive community gained from its relationship with DiMasi on BlueMassGroup. Even the MSM saw it. Of course, plenty of commenters called DiMasi a hack and other slurs, but not Bob and Charley. That's a horse of a different color.

If the new Speakah doesn't see BMG as a place he can go to on certain areas to gain support, he won't bother. Does that really help us in the long run?

None of this is to say that the Speaker shouldn't be roundly criticized for not standing up for stronger ethics (and probably pension) reform. Criticize away!

• It's a bad idea
• It's sending the wrong message
• It's a bad idea
• It's sending the wrong message
• We clearly need some policy fixes here
• It's sending the wrong message
• It's sending the wrong message
• It's sending the wrong message
  

These are things the Speaker needs to hear over and over again. Over at BMG, the editors and others have managed to roundly criticize the Governor without resorting to petty namecalling. The result? Pretty positive -- he's largely moved on the issues we've criticized him over. DeLeo? If we delcare him Hack Enemy Numero Uno - even if he sort of deserves it right now - he's not going to bother with the progressive/BMG crowd at all. We can get him to move on ethics and pensions and a host of other issues we hold dear to our hearts, but taking feel-good hacks at him won't get him to play ball. Far from it.

You Don't Want a New Speaker

I'm with Charley. Speaker DiMasi has proven crucial in marriage equality, health care and in defeating casinos. In recent months, he's shown a great willingness to work with the administration - closing loopholes, securing money for roads and bridges and passing a fantastic renewable energy bill. Is he perfect? No. But he's proven to be the most progressive Speaker of the House in my memory - by a wide margin.

As Charley says, the three guys trying to line up to get next in line aren't going to be as good on the issues. Most of them are pro-casino and none of them have done as much on the critical issues Massachusetts is advancing. More worrisome is the lengths to which they're going to secure next-in-line status: the favors they're doling out doesn't exactly inspire confidence in these tough economic times.

The Good News? The Globe loves pushing the angle that DiMasi will be gone. It sells newspapers. However, like many media-driven stories, often times if the media says it enough, it can become true. There's blood in the water and none of it helps Speaker DiMasi get passed the sharks. If DiMasi does get ousted, expect Massachusetts to take one step back before we can go three steps forward.

Charley Baker's Game is Getting Old

BMG's Charley Blandy ponders whether Charley Baker, CEO of Harvard Pilgram, is planning a run for Governor. Of course, rumors of Baker's desired ascendancy to the top of Massachusetts's Republicanville have existed for quite some time - at least since I was a Junior in High School, when DOE administration officials told me all about it. When I was serving on the State Student Advisory Council to the Board of Education, Charley Baker sat on the very board I advised. Baker's also from my home town of Swampscott, serving a brief and very dull stint as a town selectman (the administration failed to mention any of the town's fiscal woes to its populace in good time, forcing an unexpected school closing: some of that blame must lie on the expert CEO/Selectman).

History has taught me not to worry about Charley Baker's plans (luckily, I don't have Harvard Pilgram). Up until this point, he's been too afraid to challenge the likes of Kerry Healey, Mitt Romney and Jane Swift in his own party - never mind a strong and popular Democratic incumbent. If Baker and his new found mud slinging thinks he's found the courage to take on a popular progressive, I look forward to defeating the CEO of the HMO. As quoted in Blandy's blog, Baker may not know why Deval Patrick won the election - but I can promise Baker the reasons will remain the same when he meets defeat come 2010, if he ever manages the cajones to run.