Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The SOTU reviews are in

Friday, March 8, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The SOTU reviews are in

With help from Mia McCarthy

DEMOCRATIC BINGO — The all-Democratic congressional delegation had a long wish list of issues they wanted President Joe Biden to address in his fiery, election-setting State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Thursday night. For the most part, they heard them.

WHAT THEY WANTED

Democrats wanted Biden to brag more about his accomplishments. They wanted him to bash Republicans for blocking the bipartisan border deal. They hoped he would highlight an improving economy. And they wanted him to voice a full-throated defense of reproductive rights, including access to in vitro fertilization.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley wanted Biden to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Sen. Elizabeth Warren hoped he would talk about making the wealthy pay their fair share and — as she said on CNN shortly before the speech — shrinkflation. Sen. Ed Markey, of course, wanted to hear Biden focus on climate issues.

WHAT THEY GOT

Most of it. Biden promised to restore Roe v. Wade and called on Congress to guarantee access to IVF, as Democrats in a crowd peppered with IVF patients and doctors rose and applauded.

“So many of us in the room were just reassured that he was in the fight with us,” Rep. Lori Trahan, whose guest was a doctor at the Boston IVF fertility clinic where she underwent treatments to get pregnant with her two daughters, told Playbook in a phone interview after the speech.

Biden took on the economy head-on — acknowledging that prices are still high, but reminding Americans that inflation has been ticking down. Warren, in particular, should be pleased with what came next: Biden repeated her rallying cry to “make the wealthy pay their fair share.” He mentioned shrinkflation — and even ad-libbed about the shrinking size of Snickers bars. He hit on junk fees. And he highlighted his efforts to cancel student loan debt. Warren was seen applauding when he called for raises for public school teachers, too.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (left) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) cheer on President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address. | Shawn Thew/Pool via AP

Biden also went for Republicans’ jugular over the failed border bill. And he referenced “my predecessor” more than a dozen times — knocking Trump (though never by name) for the hand he had in tanking the bipartisan deal; his policies on health care, gun control and foreign policy; and over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“This was a strong speech that drew sharp contrast,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss told our colleague Mia McCarthy at the Capitol. And it’s “going to make it a lot more challenging for Republicans to try to hit [Biden] on immigration now.”

Trahan isn’t so sure on that last part. "I have become more and more convinced, and it was only just emphasized to me tonight, that [Republicans] would rather scream out '5,000 a day' or 'shut down the border' or complain about this or campaign on it — even worse — than actually solve the problem,” said Trahan, who was seated near one of Biden’s chief antagonists, the MAGA-hat wearing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

WHAT THEY DIDN’T GET

A call for a permanent cease-fire. Pressley was spotted nodding along when Biden said “protecting and saving innocent lives must be a priority” for Israel. But she rebuked his refusal to go beyond calling for a six-week pause in fighting.

“We need a lasting, indefinite #CeasefireNOW to save lives, return the hostages, and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Pressley posted on X . The president, she added, “has a moral, humanitarian, and political mandate to make that happen.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) (left) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) hold up signs protesting President Joe Biden's policies in the Israel-Hamas conflict as he delivers his State of the Union address. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Warren indicated that the president’s plan to establish a temporary port in Gaza to improve the flow of humanitarian aid isn’t enough. “The port entry is really important and it shows the president's commitment to humanitarian aid,” Warren told Mia ahead of Biden’s speech.

“But we need to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for the humanitarian disaster that has occurred," Warren continued. "We need hostage release. We need a cease-fire. We need humanitarian relief, and we need to be pushing both parties toward a two-state solution.” (Biden did call for the release of hostages and a two-state solution.)

Some abortion-rights activists also criticized the president for failing to specifically say the word “abortion” during his 67-minute speech. But not House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark: “Job well done, @POTUS,” she posted on X . “Thank you for standing up for reproductive freedom.”

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . SPOTTED AT SOTU: Markey almost missing the Senate procession into the House chamber (h/t Mia); Warren, Pressley and Clark hugging it out ; Healey administration Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt as Rep. Richard Neal’s guest; Clark and members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus wearing “suffragette” white to symbolize their commitment to women’s rights.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll attends a ribbon-cutting event in Salem and keynotes a Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce event at 11:45 a.m. Atorney General Andrea Campbell testifies on her budget at a 10:30 a.m. legislative hearing in Gloucester. Auditor Diana DiZoglio and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are among the pols attending state Sen. Sal DiDomenico ’s annual St. Paddy’s Celebration at 7:15 p.m. in Charlestown.

THIS WEEKEND — The Boston Globe’s James Pindell is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. YMCA of Greater Boston's David Shapiro and Heading Home CEO Danielle Ferrier are on WCVB's "On the Record" at 11 a.m. Sunday. Campbell is on NBC10’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Tips? Scoops? SOTU thoughts? Email us: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com.

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The stakes are high as America's health care community strives to meet the evolving needs of patients and practitioners, adopt new technologies and navigate skeptical public attitudes toward science. Join POLITICO’s annual Health Care Summit on March 13 where we will discuss the future of medicine, including the latest in health tech, new drugs and brain treatments, diagnostics, health equity, workforce strains and more. REGISTER HERE .

DATELINE D.C.

President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address. | Shawn Thew/Pool via AP

AGE-OLD PROBLEM — President Joe Biden ’s age is among his biggest liabilities in his reelection campaign. And he addressed the concerns head-on in his speech, both in demeanor and in word choice.

“I felt this was very different,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss said. “What he did was he took his age and he walked the American public through how it’s shaped how he’s acted as president. … What it did is it created an appreciation for his wisdom, for his age.”

THE REPUBLICAN RESPONSE — While Sen. Elizabeth Warren was hyping Biden, one of her Republican challengers, John Deaton , said the president's speech shows Washington is the “same cast of characters, fumbling around with the same problems and coming up with the same failed solutions.” That includes Warren, he said.

BTW, Deaton “will not” support Biden or Donald Trump this fall, a spokesperson for his campaign said. While many other Republicans are falling in line behind the former president now that the GOP primaries are effectively over, Deaton, who registered as a Republican shortly before announcing his bid against Warren, is not.

DEATON DOES NOT VOTE REGULARLY!
WASN'T EVEN REGISTERED TO VOTE...
NEVER HELD PUBLIC OFFICE!
THE GUY'S A LOSER!

DATELINE BEACON HILL

SENATE’S EARLY ED PLAY — The Senate plans to vote next Thursday on a bill that aims to make child care and early education more affordable. There isn’t a specific price tag attached to the legislation, which would make permanent Commonwealth Cares for Children grants and an existing loan forgiveness program for early educators.

NOT KEEPING A LOW PROFILE — Another day, another profile of Auditor Diana DiZoglio , this time from Boston Magazine . One fun fact we learned from it: DiZoglio does a daily cold plunge (she says it’s for the health benefits).

DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Add state Reps. Jay Barrows and Peter Capano to the list of Beacon Hill lawmakers not running for reelection this year.

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Mass. launches new $10.5M program to help 400 migrant families move out of state-run shelters,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts’ eight resettlement agencies inked $10.5 million worth of contracts with the state to move 400 migrant families out of state-run shelters and into stable housing by the end of the year, kicking off a program the Healey administration hopes will free up shelter space."

FROM THE HUB

NOT BACKING DOWN — Restaurateurs suing Boston over outdoor dining restrictions in the North End are amending their lawsuit to account for the losses they say they’re anticipating this year and declaring they are “at war” with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu , the Boston Herald’s Lance Reynolds reports .

— “Boston reparations task force will not complete work by end-of-year target,” by Laney Ruckstuhl and Rupa Shenoy, WBUR: “The task force charged with making recommendations to city leaders regarding possible reparations for Black Bostonians will not complete its work by the end of this year as originally planned, its chair said this week. Attorney Joseph Feaster, who oversees the task force, said the group is still gathering research in what is the first of three phases involved with creating its final report.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS — Finally, a good reason for a MBTA delay. The Green Line experienced delays on Thursday after officials helped a baby duck off the tracks between North Station and Science Park. The duck was safely returned to the river, per WBUR, which has video (!).

On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more .

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

NOT SO SLOW AFTER ALL — More than 1.2 million people voted in Tuesday’s presidential primaries, according to unofficial tallies. And Trump continues to be a turnout driver — both for and against him. The 567,000 ballots cast in the GOP primary amounted to the second-highest Republican primary turnout in state history. The highest: 2016.

Turnout on the Democratic side was 632,000 , which Secretary of State Bill Galvin ’s office said was the “highest in recent history” when there was an incumbent president on the ballot.

Nearly half of all voters, 48 percent, took advantage of the state’s no-excuse vote-by-mail program, to Galvin’s delight. “There is little doubt” that mail-in voting “helped drive turnout in this primary,” he said in a statement. Early voting remains more popular among Democrats than Republicans.

Voters in Rockport on Super Tuesday. | AFP via Getty Images

CHALLENGING TIME — Warren’s crypto criticism could draw her another challenger on the Republican side — though unlike Deaton, this one’s lived in the state for more than a couple of months.

Quincy City Council President Ian Cain is making calls about running against Warren as a Republican, according to two Republicans familiar with the conversations. The first openly gay, Black president of the city’s council, Cain also co-founded a startup incubator called QUBIC Labs and is an advocate for blockchain. He didn’t respond to requests for comment. The Boston Globe first reported his interest in the race .

Cain’s politics are murky: He is a former Democrat who switched to unenrolled in 2019 and then re-registered as a Republican on Feb. 29, according to the Quincy City Clerk’s office. A poll that tested him as a potential challenger to Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch (who he once interned for) last September described him as “part of the next generation of progressive Democrats.” Both Cain and Lynch denied to Playbook at the time that they were behind the survey.

Cain told the CommonWealth Beacon last year that if he had to pick a political party to align with, it would be the GOP. Yet he’s also donated to Democrats, backed then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III against Sen. Ed Markey in 2020 and posted photos to social media in August 2022 promoting then-candidates Maura Healey and Andrea Campbell for governor and attorney general, respectively.

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING

— “What lies beneath towns may be the downfall of the MBTA Communities law,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “[M]any municipalities, mostly small or medium-sized communities outside of Boston, tell GBH News their concern is more mundane than political: What to do with the sewage?”

— “Mass. promised to 'significantly reduce' public housing vacancies. The effort barely made a dent,” by Todd Wallack, WBUR.

— “Lawsuit filed against MIT accuses the university of allowing antisemitism on campus,” by Michael Casey, The Associated Press.

— “Massachusetts ramps up financial oversight for 2 faith-based colleges,” by Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive.

excerpt:

Dive Brief:

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education is ramping up financial oversight for two of the state’s faith-based colleges, warning that it cannot confirm the institutions have the resources to stay open through the next academic year.
The agency said last month that it is working with the two institutions, Northpoint Bible College and Boston Baptist College, to craft contingency plans in the event they close.
Both higher education institutions have at least one major risk factor for financial troubles — small student populations. Northpoint Bible College enrolled 225 students in fall 2022, while Boston Baptist College had just 43 students.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Emma Brodie and Axios Boston’s Mike Deehan .

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Stefani Jones, who celebrates Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-er Dave Newman .

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: STUPOR TUESDAY — Hosts Steve Koczela and Lisa Kashinsky parse the Bay State’s not-at-all-surprising Super Tuesday results and what they mean for November. Host Jennifer Smith checks in on the first of a series of committee hearings on the current slate of ballot measures. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .

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