Media coverage of Massachusetts political races in The Boston Herald


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OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Ed Markey: Litmus test for Supreme Court nominees on abortion.     Gabriel Gomez: 24-hour waiting period for a woman to get an abortion.     Mitt Romney: For safe, legal abortion since relative's death from illegal.

Budget & Economy     Bob Schaffer: $700 billion bailout is necessary but essentially a tax.     Ed Markey: Home mortgage deduction should not be on the table.     Kevin O`Connor: $2000 monthly payments during pandemic grossly irresponsible.     Mark Udall: $700 billion bailout is not good for my constituents.     Mitt Romney: Balance state budget by removing waste and folderol.

Civil Rights     Kevin O`Connor: I don't know what systemic racism means, but racism exists.     Michele Bachmann: Counselor/husband: "pray away the gay".

Corporations     Steve Grossman: OpEd: Combines progressive values with business experience.

Drugs     Gabriel Gomez: Federal medical marijuana OK; leave the rest to states.

Education     Jay Gonzalez: Take on big challenge of making college affordable.     Mitt Romney: Schools can teach family values, but not religion or prayer.

Energy & Oil     Ed Markey: Simply unneeded to subsidize oil industry.     Gabriel Gomez: Keystone XL project brings jobs.     Ted Kennedy: Opposes Cape Wind project.     Tom Reilly: Cape Wind project is "a huge ripoff".

Government Reform     Gabriel Gomez: No anti-ad pledge; my only pledge is to Constitution.     Stephen Pagliuca: Limit on personal money allowed in an election.

Gun Control     Bill Bradley: Ban gun sales in residential neighborhoods.     Elizabeth Dole: Ban AK-47s.     Gabriel Gomez: In favor of closing the gun-show loophole.     Gabriel Gomez: A lot of people in the GOP are wrong on gun control.     Mitt Romney: Will support assault weapons bill and Brady Bill.     Stephen Pagliuca: Gun control works in Europe and England.

Health Care     Danielle Allen: Pandemic was last straw; commonwealth ready for change.     Gabriel Gomez: ObamaCare hurts the middle class & small business.     Gabriel Gomez: Repeal medical device tax in ObamaCare.     Kevin O`Connor: Against mask mandate; "all contact is not equal".

Homeland Security     Ed Markey: Don't compromise innocent haystack looking for guilty needle.     Elizabeth Warren: #1 responsibility: protect Americans from terrorism.     Gabriel Gomez: Only traitors reveal harmful surveillance information.     Marty Walsh: Sad and disrespectful to vandalize veterans memorial.     Paul Kirk: Assigned to Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.

Immigration     Deval Patrick: Supports in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants.     Kerry Healey: Opposes in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants.     Kerry Healey: Illegal immigrants should not be here.     Setti Warren: Make City Hall an immigrant sanctuary to lead sanctuary city.     Tom Reilly: Supports in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants.     Tom Reilly: Children of immigrants just want a chance.

Jobs     Ed Markey: $10 an hour minimum wage is just a first step.

Principles & Values     Barack Obama: Convention keynote speech highlights party�s black targeting.     Barack Obama: First black president of the Harvard Law Review.     Ben Downing: Beacon Hill postpones & relies on Mass. exceptionalism.     Christy Mihos: The job has not been done by Romney/Healey administration.     Geoff Diehl: Would rather leave national politics out of governor's race.     Kevin O`Connor: MA voters do not want Markey's socialism.     Max Kennedy: Meets with Democratic fundraisers to prepare for race.     Tom Reilly: Accused of covering up investigation for campaign donor.     Tom Reilly: Accused of covering up investigation for campaign donor.

Tax Reform     Chris Gabrieli: Supports tax rollback, but fought it in the past.     Deval Patrick: Opposes tax rollback because it would raise property taxes.     Jeff Beatty: Abolishing state income tax would act as economic stimulus.     John Kerry: Abolishing state income tax would be calamitous.     Mitt Romney: My pledge: no freeze on tax rollback.     Stephen Pagliuca: Raise federal capital gains tax should from 15% to 20%.     Tom Reilly: Rollback taxes to 5.0% to keep promise to voters.

Technology     John Deaton: Support Bitcoin; Warren introduced bill to ban it.

War & Peace     Elizabeth Warren: Military action possible to stop Iranian nukes.     Elizabeth Warren: Get out of Afghanistan as fast as possible.     Gabriel Gomez: Align with right rebel group and impose no-fly zone in Syria.     Jeff Beatty: Kerry failed to read vital intelligence reports pre-Iraq war.     John Kerry: Based vote for Iraq war on CIA's intelligence reports.     John McCain: Important to win, important for US to be superpower.

Welfare & Poverty     George W. Bush: Supports low-income heating oil assistance program.     John Deaton: Oppose decades-old right-to-shelter law.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Barack Obama Illinois Democratic President Ben Downing Massachusetts Democratic candidate for governor Bill Bradley Democratic Senator (Former) New Jersey Bob Schaffer Former GOP Senate Challenger (2008) Colorado Chris Gabrieli Democratic 2006 Challenger Christy Mihos Former Independent Challenger 2006 Danielle Allen Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger Deval Patrick Massachusetts Democratic Governor Ed Markey Democratic Jr Senator Massachusetts Elizabeth Dole North Carolina Former Cabinet Member (Labor Sec'y) and Senator Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts Senator Gabriel Gomez Republican Challenger Massachusetts Geoff Diehl Massachusetts Republican Challenger George W. Bush Republican Jay Gonzalez Massachusetts Democratic candidate for Governor Jeff Beatty Republican Senate challenger (2008) Massachusetts John Deaton Republican Challenger Massachusetts John Kerry Cabinet Climate Envoy John McCain Republican Kerry Healey Former GOP 2006 Challenger Kevin O`Connor Republican Challenger Massachusetts Mark Udall Democratic Sr Senator; previously Representative Colorado Marty Walsh Massachusetts Secretary of Labor Max Kennedy Michele Bachmann Republican Mitt Romney Massachusetts Former GOP Governor (2003-2006); Pres. candidate (2008) Paul Kirk Former Democratic Senate Appointee (2009) Massachusetts Setti Warren Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial Challenger Stephen Pagliuca Former Democratic Primary Senate Challenger (2009) Massachusetts Steve Grossman Massachusetts Democratic Challenger Ted Kennedy Democratic Senator (until 2009) Massachusetts Tom Reilly Former Dem. 2006 Challenger