Political Winners & Losers for 2012

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Adam Joseph Drici, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

As the clock winds down on 2012, GoLocalWorcester breaks down the political winners and losers from the past year.

Winners

Elizabeth Warren: The Harvard Law School professor was the big winner in Massachusetts politics this year. Not only did she become the first woman Senator-elect from the Commonwealth this November, she also succeeded in making sure that the Bay State's first Republican senator in nearly 30 years only had a short stay in Washington. And much to the chagrin of the financial sector, Warren landed a freshman appointment to the Senate Banking Committee, so all her tough talk on regulation and accountability while out on the campaign trail might yet turn into reality.

John Kerry: The senior senator from Massachusetts just landed the appointment of a lifetime this month. Barack Obama's reelection opened the door for the president to nominate Kerry to his second-term cabinet, replacing outgoing Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has spent the better part of his political career preparing for this role, which will suit him much better than a stint in the Oval Office would have back in 2004.

Worcester City Council: The City Council had some major obstacles and question marks to wrestle with this year, but they faced them all head on. From tackling the massive unfunded liability for retiree health benefits to setting a tax rate that both residents and business owners can agree on to taking a proactive approach to economic development throughout the City, Mayor Joseph Petty and his fellow Councilors have had a very good year indeed.

Marijuana Advocates: After voting to decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana four years ago, Bay State voters took the next step by approving Question 3 on this year's ballot by a wide margin thereby legalizing the medical use of marijuana. With voters in both Colorado and Washington approving laws to legalize the recreational use of marijuana this November and President Obama making it clear that the federal government will not go after recreational users, Massachusetts pot advocates are hopeful for similar legislation passing in the ballot box in 2016.

Losers

Scott Brown: All the talk of bipartisanship, independence and "people over party" was not enough to keep the Republican Senator in office. As much as Brown tried to distance himself from the national Republican Party, there was just no overcoming the Massachusetts Democratic machine in a presidential election year. Brown still enjoys high favorability numbers among voters, but he'll have to be strategic if and when he chooses to run for office again. He might have better luck on Beacon Hill than on Capitol Hill.

Deval Patrick: While the governor may have boosted his political stock on the national stage helping his friend President Obama campaign for reelection and scoring a primetime speaking slot during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, Patrick has had plenty of headaches to come home to in the Commonwealth. Between the state drug lab scandal, the meningitis outbreak from a Bay State compounding pharmacy and the highway safety director's abysmal driving record, not to mention the state's lagging revenues and the resulting budget cuts, Patrick has had his hands full doing damange control.

MassGOP: The Massachusetts Republican Party was unable to make any headway when it came to federal offices this year, even though it fielded two candidates in Scott Brown and Richard Tisei who would likely be Democrats in any other state. On the state level, the MassGOP left a number of Senate and House seats uncontested, a state of affairs some of the party's more conservative members were none too happy about. With Bob Maginn stepping down as party chairman next month, Bay State Republicans will have an opportunity for a change of direction, but which direction they'll head in is still to be determined.