Salvatore DiMasi

Latest Articles

Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Trail of jeers

Forget Paul Revere. This summer, treat yourself to a tour of Boston's worst in political corruption.
As summer officially kicks off this weekend, thousands upon thousands of people will be descending on our fair metropolis to get a glimpse of America's most history-drenched city.
By LAWRENCE ''HUGGY'' BERGMAN | June 26, 2010

Weenie Roast!

The Phoenix 's second annual Memorial Day political roast
A year ago, with scandals and embarrassments swirling around Massachusetts state politics, the Phoenix tossed some well-deserving pols on the flames in our first annual Memorial Day political roast. I'm pleased that I've been invited back.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 05, 2010

Mayor-Select Marie?

Some think that Tom Menino is anointing Marie St. Fleur as his successor, but he might just be serving himself
Tom Menino, just a few months into an unprecedented fifth term as Boston’s mayor, has raised eyebrows by hiring State Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester to the newly created, $120,000-a-year position of chief of advocacy and strategic investment.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 05, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

The crying game

House Speaker Robert DeLeo tolerates dissent. Then why do some call him a bully?
If you are wondering why Democrats in Washington can't get anything done, even though they control both houses of Congress, take a look at the glacial pace we often see closer to home on Beacon Hill.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 01, 2010

Brave new Globe?

With a new publisher and a bevy of edit changes, is the Boston Globe poised for a new chapter?
Sizing up the Boston Globe 's recent past is easy: simply put, in the past 12 months, the paper has seen enough gut-wrenching drama to change the name of Morrissey Boulevard to Melrose Place. But forecasting the paper's future is another matter.
By ADAM REILLY | January 29, 2010

Elephant in the Room

Massachusetts Republicans suddenly think this is their year — but if they shoot too high, they might fall hard
Platoons of state Republicans, energized by Scott Brown's stunning victory over Democrat Martha Coakley last week, are setting their sights on November.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 27, 2010

How Brown won

While Massachusetts Democrats assess blame for who lost the Senate seat, the truth is that Scott Brown won it
As the Massachusetts US Senate election unfolded yesterday, all that the pols and pundits wanted to talk about was how Martha Coakley managed to lose the race. And there is plenty there to dissect. But there is another part of the story, and that is how Scott Brown managed to win it.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 22, 2010

State of flux

Inside the Massachusetts State House, a forecast of political chaos for 2010 promises extreme gridlock
A few weeks ago, the state legislature headed into its winter break with what might be called a flurry of inactivity.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 11, 2009

Can Beacon Hill do better?

Gambling and education take center stage
With DiMasi gone, the idea of casino gambling is again alive.
By EDITORIAL | September 23, 2009

Stonewalled: what a riot!

Letters to the Boston editor, June 26, 2009
I was excited to read the “Trail of Tunes” feature about outdoor music festivals in the Phoenix Summer Guide.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | June 24, 2009

Weakened watchdogs

If the Globe shrinks, will Beacon Hill run amok?
The ongoing crisis at the Boston Globe shouldn't be troubling just to devotees of the sports pages and "Coupling." Citizens who prize strong coverage of the Massachusetts State House ought to be fretting over the paper's fate, too. With its four-person State House contingent, the Globe has a stronger presence under the Golden Dome than any other major Boston media outlet.
By ADAM REILLY | June 19, 2009

Massholes

A timeline of modern-day state house corruption
Scandal and accusations of corruption are nothing new to Massachusetts state government. Hutchinson was accused of enforcing the much-despised Stamp Act and Tea Act in part because his brother-in-law was stamp master, and two of his sons were designated tea consignees.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 17, 2009

Mass betrayal

How House progressives have let you down — and why they'll do it again
Is the Massachusetts House of Representatives beyond all hope? Under Democratic leadership, the song has pretty much remained the same for the last decade and a half: an insular and out-of-touch legislature is lost in its own constricted and often petty perspectives.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 19, 2009

Roast pork

As our state's bumbling, craven, and inept elected officials stumble toward summer, we get a few good laughs out of their promises for reform
Back in January, Governor Deval Patrick declared a "season of significant government reform" on Beacon Hill.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 27, 2009

Despot for attention

Plus, vote for Passoni
Former vice-president Dick Cheney has taken his torture tour all over the place in the past few weeks, waging an ongoing campaign to defend what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation."
By EDITORIAL | May 13, 2009

All quiet on the Times Co. front

The Globe crisis leaves New York speechless. Plus, Morrissey Boulevard's problematic political fan club
When I heard this past Friday that the New York Times Company had delivered a radical ultimatum to the Boston Globe 's 13 unions I called Globe spokesman Bob Powers to check it out. He wasn't talking.
By ADAM REILLY | April 09, 2009

Tone deaf

Can Gov. Deval hear the thunder of jeers?
March has not been kind to Deval Patrick.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 25, 2009

Black power

Letters to the Boston editor, March 20, 2009
Brooding about whether Barack Obama would have become president if he had been a more “traditionally black candidate,” i.e., a descendant of slaves, is a self-indulgence that trivializes the enormity of what has occurred.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | March 19, 2009

Youth infusion

The surprisingly diverse leaders of team DeLeo. Plus, do environmentalists have reason to worry?
In DeLeo's restructuring, white, non-Hispanic men older than 45 fell from power in droves.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 19, 2009

Money talks

Can Beacon Hill reform itself when the State Senate President and the new House Speaker rake in so much lobbyist cash?
To hear our state legislators talk lately, Beacon Hill is all about reforming the sketchy, poorly governed relationships between lawmakers and lobbyists.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 06, 2009

Rescuing the Globe

10 ways to bail out Boston's sinking paper of record. Plus, spinning Bill Kristol's brief time at the Times .
If you work at the Boston Globe , and have any bright ideas on how to stop that paper's downward spiral, management is all ears. At least, that's the party line.
By ADAM REILLY | February 02, 2009

The pain hits home

Boston faces a sobering year
With unsuccessful wars running in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the worst economic crisis in almost 80 years likely to get worse long before it gets better, Barack Obama will face challenges of historic proportions when he becomes the nation's 44th president next week.
By EDITORIAL | January 14, 2009

All in the family

Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s New Yorker advertorial. Plus, Chuck turner goes all Chuck Norris.
The December 1 New Yorker featured a five-page story by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on his efforts to use DNA testing to clarify his ancestry.
By ADAM REILLY | December 08, 2008

The Chuck Turner conspiracy?

Unheard Voices
Sure, some news outlets have competently covered City Councilor Chuck Turner's recent arrest for allegedly accepting a cash bribe in exchange for a liquor license — and then lying about it.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 28, 2008

A moral dilemma

State and local politics is paralyzed by fear
We need serious action and strong leadership — and a public trust that is unlikely to be given.
By EDITORIAL | November 26, 2008

The enthusiasm gap

This election, with Obama having stoked pennant fever in Denver, it is the Dems who have cornered the excitement market
The selection of gun-shooting, anti-abortion, creationist, doctrinaire conservative Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice-presidential nominee has finally got the GOP’s conservative base excited.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 03, 2008

Voting right

Why Beacon Hill should adopt same-day voting and join the national popular-vote movement. Plus, that Obama cover.
The Massachusetts Legislature is expected to vote in the next several days on two proposals that would make democracy, well, more democratic.
By EDITORIAL | July 16, 2008