del.icio.us(Matt Wilding sent us an email, and I invited him to write a guest post. He crossposted at thefutureofprogress.com, where he blogs regularly.)
I should be clear, I do not work on the John Bonifaz campaign. In fact, I don’t really think Bill Galvin has done a terrible job as Sec. of State. But I cannot in good conscience support a candidate that does not respect the voters, and Bill Galvin has proven throughout this campaign that that is exactly his position.
Like many people, I attempted to attend a debate between the two candidates in Medford, MA last week. I had heard both men speak on different occasions throughout the campaign, and had been privileged enough to meet both of them. Having been a delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention, I voted for John Bonifaz not because I didn’t want Bill Galvin to be Sec. of State, but because I wanted to hear more from Bonifaz about what we could do to change it. It seemed then to be a golden opportunity to finally see the two men square off in a good old-fashioned style democratic debate to aid me in making my final decision. I could weigh the candidates' ideas against each other in real time, and perhaps walk out of the room a little more confident. As it turned out though, I barely had to get to the door.
Arriving at about 7pm, I was told that Bill Galvin had "just cancelled." As the newspapers would later report, he was allegedly "stuck in New Bedford." Funny thing about Massachusetts - New Bedford and Medford are nowhere near each other. If you're still in New Bedford at 6pm on a Wednesday, the likelihood of your being able to get to Medford by 7 is nil. Not only did Bill Galvin decide that we weren't worth his time, but that he didn't even need to tell us until the event was approaching start. As a result, at least one very angry Boston voter skulked away very angry that Bill Galvin stole my time. I didn't even have to stay to listen to Bonifaz, as he had handily won the day.
After the initial feeling that I don't matter to the front-runner wore off, I collected my composure again, and on September 4th, wrote an email to the Galvin campaign. In that email I explained my experience and how turned off I was by Bill Galvin as a result. I asked for an apology to be issued for Galvin's brazen disregard for the people that give him his job, and stated that I would be voting for John Bonifaz on September 19, and would be encouraging my friends and family to do the same.
The Galvin campaign never responded, nor did they make any semblance of an apology to the voters of Massachusetts. They have also continued to ignore invitations from the Bonifaz camp to reschedule the debate. I did, however, receive a response from the Bonifaz campaign. Having copied the email to them, I got enthusiastic emails from multiple members of the campaign, thanking me for my support. The John Bonifaz campaign apparently recognizes that for a job primarily concerned with voter registration, turnout, and elections, showing the voters that you're listening is primary.
Since Galvin's snub to the voters of Massachusetts, I have thought a lot about his tenure as Sec. of State, and I think the most telling thing about the debate incident is that it is part of a longer pattern in Bill Galvin's record. In a state that champions democracy, and in fact sired the richest and most people-oriented ideas of this country, we have a voter system which involves voter registration weeks before an actual election, and continued enrollment that depends on your willingness to respond to census surveys again and again. This is not to say that getting reinstated at the polls if you fail to fill out the survey is terribly difficult, it's just annoying, but it is also a bit time consuming. There is no need to have to fill out forms at the polls because according to the rolls you are an "inactive voter" when you had just voted in the last election held there. Although on the surface little inconveniences like this are not that significant, built up with other little inconveniences, they become deterrents for poorer voters with less free time on their hands to think about voting. That is the Bill Galvin signature right now. He seems to believe it is alright to waste voters' time, whereas John Bonifaz seems to actually values it.
