Your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts
1/15/20--Tuesday's Democratic debate left Steve and Stephanie with little to discuss save a symbolic handshake snub that points to a breakdown of the Warren/Sanders alliance. The pact between the two Senators had previously established a no-attack zone. But news broke Monday that the Sanders campaign allegedly dispensed a canvassing script to staffers containing talking points that were negative toward Warren. She made a statement later that day claiming Sanders had said in a private meeting in 2018 he didn't think a woman could win the presidency. Two days later, tension was palpable between the two, not just during the debate, but afterward, as seen by an attempted handshake from Sanders to Warren, which she ignored. The gloves are off, and these ungloved hands are not shaking.
This week's Horse Race guests tackle the thing all of us (who are eligible) will be doing come November: voting! With just weeks until the New Hampshire primary, one Massachusetts-based group is focused on getting Independent voters in the Granite state to vote blue. The group, known as the Welcome Party, it partners with a local Democratic political incubator called the Blue Lab. Scott Ferson, founder of The Blue Lab, drops by The Horse Race. He says the purpose of the group is to engage Independent New Hampshire voters to vote in the primary, which he says, will make them more likely to vote in the general.
Next, Evan Falchuk of Voter Choice Massachusetts gives us his take on why Ranked-Choice Voting is the right choice for the Commonwealth. Come November, voters in the state will vote on a ballot question to determine whether to implement RCV. Falchuk argues that people winning elections without a majority, as is happening in our current system, isn't fair. He points to 2018's 3rd Congressional District election as an example, when the winner received 22 percent of the vote.
And finally, it's trivia time! Now that the new crop of city councilors and select board members are sworn in and active across the state, we have to ask. Who was the youngest person ever elected to the Boston City Council?
This week on The Horse Race, a routine audit uncovers an accounting error that could cost the state billions. And we’ll take a closer look at the …
This week on The Horse Race, the push to bring back happy hour gets another shot on Beacon Hill and plans for the machine gun range on Cape Cod draw fire from residents and the …
This week on The Horse Race, we've got two new MPG polls to discuss and two new MPG polling experts to introduce to our listening audience! Research …
This week on The Horse Race, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins calls it quits amid federal investigations into her conduct. We’re …
This week on The Horse Race, we’ve got chaos in the council chambers and a new 56 billion dollar spending plan at the State House. All that, plus …
This week on The Horse Race, we’re looking at elections. They weren’t races so much, but they were elections as strictly defined. We'll also sift through a new survey of Boston Public …
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