Live video stream for Lt. Gov's debate in Lowell at LTC

[TayTay]

LIVE STREAM: http://ltc.org/streaming/live?PHPSESSID=abd2e396131bb6068f48cb4fc7630484

And reps/blog owners from the following Mass blogs are here in the 'bloggers room' getting ready to go.

Blue Mass Group: http://www.bluemassgroup.com/logonSubmit.do

.08 Acres: http://point08.blogspot.com/2006/04/purple-massachusetts-1998.html

Mass Revolution Now: http://www.massrevolutionnow.com/

Marry in Massachusetts http://www.massmarrier.blogspot.com/

Left Center Left: http://www.leftcenterleft.com/

Lisa from the Boston Globe: boston.com/news/local/politics/blog (Not live commentary)

Left in Lowell: http://www.leftinlowell.com/

Chimes at Midnight: http://www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com/

More to come.

[welshTerrier2]

1. starts at 2:30 pm

thanks for the update ...

i hope this debate has some substance ... there's just so much "i'm going to create jobs and fix the damage republicans have caused" i can take ...

maybe they'll take questions from the audience or from the web ...

[TayTay]

2. Yes, we will be advancing questions

The main blogging site is Blue Mass Group. David Kravitz is one of the moderators asking questions.

f you have any questions, forward them there first and then you can send them over to me. But Blue Mass will be LOOKING for net questioners and questions.

[welshTerrier2]

6. great recaps, TayTay ...

i submitted two questions to the BMG ...

wonder if they'll use them ...

Murray is far and away the most polished ... i like Kelley's ideas on healthcare a lot ...

[TayTay]

10. Murray is 'hitting his marks'

that for sure. (I am not syaing he is the best candidate, just that you can tell he's run for public office before.) Wow! He is also the one with the focus on Romney/Healey a nd is repeatedly hitting them as the future opponents.

Boy, the difference shows in who has been on tV before.

[TayTay]

3. The candidates

First up: Andrea Silbert was up and she was talking about her involvement with the Mass educational system and the fact that she has children in the public school system. Her focus issue is eduction in this race.

Dr. Sam Kelley is next up. His focus area is on health care and on bringing better and more affordable health care to the citizens of the Commonwealth. He has a history of working with various offices and elected officials in Mass and wants to bring that experience to the job.

Deb Goldberg opens with personal responsibility and with the idea that the citizenry needs to have prompt action when a disaster like the current flood situation happens. Tis this into educational issues and the idea the we need to graduate students who can meet the current work requirements of businesses in the State. (Keep people working and living in MAss.)

Tim Murray, current serving Mayor of Worcester. This is not the first flood that Mass has gone through in the last few months. The state has not been doing a good job of responding to the needs of the citizens. His experience as a Mayor shows in his emphasis on the application of services. Firs tone to directly mention that they are running against the Romney Healey team.

[TayTay]

4. Candidate differences.

One of the biggest difference right now is in experience with talking at public forums. These are all excellent and knowledgeable candidates. It is obvious that Tim Murray has run before. He has menitoned working with other agencies and the municipalities and the diffulties for unions and so forth in controlling costs. The other candidates are not as polished, which is not a bad thing, just you see the difference.

I think the other candidates are beginning to warm up to the format. They each have their own strengths which is showing up in the answers. Dr. Kelley is more at ease on health care questions, Deb Goldberg at education.

[TayTay]

5. Wireless Access issues

Good round up of wifi problems and why we need it.

http://www.bostonwag.org/

[billybob537]

7. How do I get to the

Dubliner? From Chelmsford on 110

[TayTay]

9. It's on Market Street,

This is not far from the Tsongas arena. It's across the street from the municipal garage for public housing and the Historic Mills complex. (Ask for that in directions. )

[TayTay]

8. Schools

TM: advocate for locals, get better funding, be a state house advocate, etc.

AS: jobs to taxes to money to schools.

SK: Checken farm trough public school to Harvard. Ahm, I think he's in favor of it.

DG: She serves on Brookline School Committee, funded them without an override.

[TayTay]

11. I have to hear this again on the live stream

It's a little noisy here now. There were some really substantive issues that came up and then there was Cape Win d Farm, which I think was a dodge all around.

Everyone favors education, health care, unions and so forth. (Okay, they are all Dems.) The substantive differences are subtle. One is stressing experience in dealing with detail on a School committee, thus bringing the idea of local involvement in. (Hey, don't knock it, all politics is local still, after all.) Another is talking bout being personally involved in dealing with having to deal with the dictates of government in health care and so forth.

I would like to hear this again all the way through. It was a pretty good debate.

[welshTerrier2]

12. here are some "rough" notes i took

silbert - mom, school kid, jobs for woman, can't divide up a shrinking pile - need jobs, end hunger and homelessness, regional rail will help economic development

kelley = single payer healthcare, buy drugs from canada, need to restore hope, bulk prescription drug purchasing, two major problems are high cost of housing and healthcare

goldberg - flooding disaster - need people who care, doesn't depend on feds but i will be there to care, affordable healthcare, education starting at 2 year olds, funding services thru property taxes must stop, stop & shop business experience, we took 1% profit margins so families who worked for u could have healthcare, statewide wi-fi

murray - expressed concern for flood victims in mass, "the front line of government is local government", better partnership with local officials, need to work closely with legislature, expand commuter rail, clean polluted sites, voters feel they are not heard

[TayTay]

13. They were all very good people

though they are all in various stages of being 'camera ready.' (I hate making that observation. But it is a fact of life that sometimes the smartest people are not necessarily the best candidates.)

This was a landmark event in Massachusetts. This forum was requested by and arranged by 'the bloggers.' (That begs the question, why was I there? I don't have a blog of my own. Well, I volunteered to help with setup and stuff. Turns out they wanted me to post. Who knew?)

Why did I say a landmark event? Because every candidate responded, came into the room and introduced themselves to 'the bloggers' and chatted us up for awhile. These blogs and the people who post on them and write them are starting to get noticed in Mass and courted as a political force.

It's early. No one really knows how to use this force or how it will shake out. But today's event was organized and sponsored by 'the bloggers.' And the Boston Globe came and paid attention and took pictures, not just of the candidates, but of the bloggers. (We had our own reporter sitting with us for half the debate.) Ahm, I remember when the Globe and most other newspapers thought bloggers were those annoying people who sat in their parent's basement and spewed anonymous bile at people. Ahm, the Globe used to ignore 'those people' and disdain them as amateurs. We got our own reporter and photographer today.

The times they are a changing.....