By Lawrence Henry on 4.16.04 @ 12:05AM
And its 100 percent Democratic congressional delegation may not remain intact.
"Gay Marriage Foe Eyes Run for House," blared the Boston
Globe's front-page headline on April 10. Local radio stations
picked up on it the same day. The "Foe" is Ron Crews, president of
Massachusetts Family Institute, the leading advocacy organization
for family issues in Massachusetts, and, thanks to Crews, one of
the most prominently quoted and referenced such organizations in
the country.
When the news broke, Crews, a former state senator from Georgia
who moved to Massachusetts four years ago, had just begun to
explore the possibility of a House run in his district, the Third,
against four-term incumbent Democrat James McGovern.
"I would have chosen a different format" for the announcement,
Crews said wryly. The previous week, he had met with 16 supporters
at his home and decided to form an exploratory committee. Some of
those 16 had gone to town clerks in the district to get nomination
papers. Some clerks, in turn, had told them they had to disclose
who they intended to nominate.
"I don't know if that's really true," Crews said. But the
ultra-efficient network of Secretary of State Bill Galvin kicked
into gear and got the tip to the Globe and local news
stations.
Crews' reputation did the rest.
Since taking over the MFI, Crews has demonstrated his skill at
political communication, getting himself and MFI on the speed-dials
of news editors and producers from CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and every major
newspaper. When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court voted that
the Commonwealth had to provide for homosexual marriage, Crews
found himself on TV almost non-stop.
His opponent, James McGovern, a lifelong politico, got a boost
onto the House Judiciary Committee from his Democratic mentor, Rep.
Joseph Moakley, whom he served as chief of staff. McGovern's
written statement to the Globe echoed the standard
Democratic mantras about jobs, health care, and the environment,
and "people."
Crews said he thinks McGovern is "out of touch with the
District's conservative base. There is a strong pro-life community
in the district. And we know from this work over the marriage issue
that there is a majority in the district that supports marriage as
it's always been defined."
Crews noted that McGovern signed a letter, along with all the
rest of Massachusetts' 100 percent Democratic congressional
delegation, opposing any amendment banning gay marriage. "He voted
against the partial-birth abortion bill. He voted against the fetal
protection bill," Crews said.
He also said that McGovern spends a lot of time on Latin
American issues and in Latin America. An immigration reform group,
Numbers USA, has posted McGovern's votes on immigration issues, and
apparently sees that record as negative -- i.e., thoughtlessly
pro-immigration. In a state like Massachusetts, where voters
display a strong streak of nativism and resentment toward
immigrants, both legal and illegal, that could be the stuff of a
challenge.
Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, carried the Third with 53
percent of the vote last election. So Crews thinks he has a chance.
And winning wouldn't be unprecedented for a Republican. Before
McGovern, the district was represented by Republican Peter Blute,
now a talk radio host on Boston's WRKO.
It's going to be interesting, if Crews pulls together the
necessary signatures and money, which I think he will. The race
pits one of the nation's best political communicators, an ordained
Georgia minister, a Colonel in the National Guard, a man identified
with "the religious right," against a Democratic machine politician
in the quintessential Democratic machine state.
If Crews wins, he will transform the Massachusetts congressional
delegation. With his ability to command press attention, he'll make
Barney Frank look like an also-ran. He will revitalize the
Massachusetts Republican Party.
Will Massachusetts swing voters punch the ballot for a Georgia
preacher? If enough of them do, this race could transform national
politics, too.
(Disclosure: My wife and I contribute to Massachusetts
Family Institute, and I wrote a pamphlet on abstinence education
for MFI last year.)
topics:
Education, Health Care, Abortion, Environment, NATO, Immigration
