Mark Hutchinson had a fantastic campaign kick-off in Melrose tonight. Mark has a loyal team behind him and there was a lot of energy for him tonight.
Well over 100 people showed up tongiht on this rainy night for Mark.
City Councilor Paul Ferro knows how to win elections. Paul along with Stephen Levy, the Marlborough GOP Chair are doing great things. Paul is also reviving the Worcester Young Republicans and I had the pleasure of attending their first event last month.
MassRoots interviews Paul Ferro, enjoy!
Paul, first congrats on the victory. With the Democrats targeting your seat, you were able to hold on and get reelected as city councilor in Marlborough. Can you explain who your opponent was and what the Democrats did?
Thank you for taking the time to talk about my campaign. I represent Ward Two here in Marlborough. Ward Two has a population of approximately 5,000 with 2,800 voters. So in terms of size, my district is comparable to many towns in eastern and central Massachusetts.
We have non-partisan races for municipal office, but being the former chairman of Marlborough’s Republican Party, I am well know as being a Republican.
In this last election, the Democratic State Representative’s former Legislative aide challenged me. The Marlborough Democratic Party, and the State Representative made a concerted effort to defeat me. My challenger’s literature highly touted her work as the State Representative’s aide, and had multiple photos’ of her and the Representative. In addition, he personally called voters to ask them to support her, display a lawn sign, and/or place one of her bumper stickers on their cars. Her donor list was a who’s-who of Marlborough Democrats, including the Democratic Party Chairman, the Representative, the Representatives Father-in-law, etc. The Democratic Congressman (Jim McGovern) also personally went door-to-door in my ward drumming up support for her and other Democratic candidates. He also gave her a substantial donation from his PAC.
Just as one example, my campaign estimated afterwards that 90% of her lawn sign locations were locations that had previously displayed a sign for either the State Representative, or the Congressman.
The Marlboro RTC is very active, how many other Republicans are elected in Marlborough?
We now have four Republicans on the City Council, including the Council President. There are six Democrats, and one independent that leans Republican. We also have one seat on the School committee. By comparison, when I became Chairman of the GOP in Marlborough in 2001, there where two-registered Republican elected officials.
So we have definitely been headed in the right direction in getting Republicans elected here in Marlborough.
What helped your campaign bring you to victory?
I cannot express what a great tool VoterVault is. Over the years, the Marlborough GOP made an effort to compile the voter turnout lists for Marlborough elections, and put them into a usable database. VoterVault provides the same data with only a few mouse clicks.
The access to phone numbers greatly eased my turnout efforts. On Election Day, my phone list of target voters for making GOTV calls became corrupted, but thanks to VoterVault, I was able to re-create it in minutes instead of hours!
Using VoterVault, I was able to easily household the voter list for my ward (a tough task to do!) so I could target my mail to households as opposed to individual voters. Voter vault also adds the Zip +4 which speeds mail delivery, particularly bulk mail, immensely. My mail would be dropped in the mail by my printer in Woburn at 7PM on Friday, and be in my mailbox in Marlborough by 1PM Saturday.
The walking lists you can create using VoterVault made my door-knocking and literature drops more effective, as I could easily skip houses on a street without a voter, or that where actually outside my district.
I know from experience of having to create my own database for my prior campaigns how much easier VoterVault can make it on a campaign for Ward Councilman or Congress to reach voters. It will only get better with time.
Mark Hutchinson will kick-off his campaign for State Rep on Thursday,
The Boston Herald reports today that Patrick's budget chief says state could face $1.3 Billion deficit.
More"Kirwan cautioned that the state is early in its budget process - she will not file a spending proposal until Jan. 23 - but she made clear yesterday that the projected $1.3 billion deficit is a minimum number that could grow significantly in the months ahead.
'In the short run, we have a spending problem,' she said, referring to growth in health-care costs and other preprogrammed expenses that are expanding faster than state tax revenues."
I'm here at the Brion Cangiamila campaign headquarters right now and it's primary night. Brion is not challenged but the Democrats had several candidates run.
State Representative Jim Marzilli who represents the far-left of his party won the election tonight. Here are the unofficial results from tonight:
Contact Matt right now with the Brion Cangiamila campaign. He can be emailed at matt@brionforsenate and ask him how you can be involved! The election is December 11th.
The Marlborough GOP has a great committee chaired by Stephen Levy. Here is what they mailed out to Republicans for their local election last Tuesday.
You too can do this. Feel free to contact us at info@massgop.com and request info to MassRootsAction to get access to our Republican Town Committee Action Packet.
"I beg Gov. Patrick to stop the railroad or at least have some compassion and call in an air strike on the middle-to-low-income taxpayer and finish us off quickly. Don't leave us on the side of the road dying of overtaxation. This is a clear case of the rich man doing the dancing while the poor man pays the band."
Thank you to all of the men and women in our armed forces who have given so much. Today, we remember you and thank you for your sacrifice.
The Boston Globe writes about the MassGOP ethics complaint which was filed yesterday. For those of you that don't know, a Patrick Administration official pressured the employer of a Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency board member to seek his resignation. The employer, Rockland Trust Co., is regulated by the Patrick Administration, putting the bank in the position to either seek its employee's resignation from the MassHousing board or worry about retribution from the Administration.
"The Patrick administration declined to comment on Nickley's intentions to file an ethics complaint or a separate Ethics Commission complaint over the same matter filed yesterday by the state Republican Party.
'People who volunteer for boards should not have to fear their public service will jeopardize their private employment if they run afoul of an out-of-control, power-hungry administration," said Robert Willington, the GOP executive director. 'And private employers should not have to fear retribution from state government when their employees serve on boards of public agencies.'"
Here is State Committeewoman Jeanne Boynton and Paul Boudo who recently won reelection to the City Council of West Springfield Last Tuesday. Both Jeanne and Paul attended the Voter Vault training in Southwick this past week (thank you Jeanne for setting it up).
Paul is a fan of Voter Vault and he used it very well on his campaign. Below is an email that he sent me after his Tuesday victory.
From: Paul Boudo
Sent: Wed 11/7/2007 4:55 PM
To: Robert Willington
Subject: Voter Vault Mailing List . . .
Rob.
Well the 2007 Town Election is history here in West Springfield. We had a 35.2% voter turn out and I was re-elected to my fourth term as a Councilor At Large.
The mailing list you helped me create using Voter Vault was successful. We mailed 3,500 post cards to voting families and received many compliments and VOTES because of it.
Thanks again for your help.
Regards,
Paul
Jim Keeney has organized Ward 9 in Boston for the GOP and we are happy to see this committee come alive.
You can reach Jim at jkeeney01@comcast.net to give him your words of encouragement and thank him for Growing Our Party!
There were many GOP victories at the municipal level on Tuesday and we were happy to work with a number of them. This past spring we began working with local candidates and got them on Voter Vault. We spent hours on the phone with some of these candidates walking them through voter vault and analyzing their district so that they could have a targeted message and contact the right voters enough times. It paid off.
Stay tuned. We hope to profile some of these candidates.
Last night we had a Voter Vault training with the Brookfield Republican Town Committee along with members of surrounding GOP committees. Former State Representative candidate Stephen Comtois put the training together and the feedback from the attendees was great.
Tomorrow (Thursday night) I will be in Southwick at 6:30 pm for another Voter Vault training.
Please email votervault@massgop.com if you are interested in this training or if you would like to schedule one in your area.
I'm here at the Cangiamila campaign headquarters right now in Woburn (13 Montvale Ave). Things are moving well and here are two volunteers working hard to help Brion. 
Last night, I had the pleasure of meeting with the Hull Republican Town Committee. They have a very dedicated group, signed up a new member, and have great plans to Grow Our Party in Hull.
Of course, I brought my laptop and projector and set up the training center right in the Ocean Club Restaurant. The owner of the Ocean Club is a Republican and she was very welcoming and she showed me the Ocean Club restaurant web cam.
The Hull Republican Town Committee has a website and they are looking to start a blog soon.
Tonight, I will be meeting with the Brookfield Republican Town Committee and other surrounding committees to review Voter Vault.
Political Notes: Christmas cards will be sent to Walter Reed
State Rep. Jeffrey Davis Perry, R-Sandwich, will collect and distribute Christmas and holiday cards for wounded American soldiers as part of a program at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Perry will forward cards directly to wounded solders recovering at Walter Reed.
Beginning this week, people can drop off cards addressed to "Recovering American Soldier" at Perry's district office, 449 Route 6A in East Sandwich.
The deadline is Dec. 1.
Perry will cover the costs of mailing the cards.
Regular office hours are held from 2 to 4 p.m. each Friday. If you cannot stop by during normal office hours, you can call the office at 508-888-2158 to arrange a convenient time to drop off cards.
"I believe we always need to express our appreciation for the sacrifices our armed forces have made for our country. Christmas and the holidays can often be a lonely time for those serving in the military, especially those in a medical facility, and I believe we can do our part by sending them cards expressing our support and gratitude for their service," Perry said.
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service, instant messaging, email, or an application such as Twitterrific.You can join us over at twitter if you want to stay connected with the Massachusetts Republican Party.
Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.
Prominent Twitter users include US presidential candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama[5], and author and journalist Anna David[6] (as well as many others).
As many of you know, we are asking Republican Town Committees to act less like a committee and more like a campaign. We mention this in our RTC Action Packet which you can download on our intranet, MassRootsAction.
We are proud to launch our online store where you can order MassGOP gear for you to use and wear proudly. If you have any creative ideas on future GOP products, please email us at info@massgop.com
We caught State Senator Scott Brown outside of the State House this week and he is a busy guy. When Fox 25 news saw him, they yelled across the street to get him on camera for a few minutes.
Senator Brown then bumped into former Speaker, Tom Finneran. Senator Brown was updating the Speaker on his new legislation to help track veterans that return home to ensure they receive the money they earned.
According to the State House News Service: "Roughly half the 27,000 Massachusetts soldiers eligible to receive the 'welcome home' bonuses the state approved for veterans of ongoing conflicts are collecting their checks, a rate that has lawmakers trying to boost participation.A new bill, which authors say must become law quickly in order to be effective next year, would add a check-off box to income tax forms for veterans to submit in order to trigger the benefits, which range from $500 to $1,000. "
Here is a recent article about the legislation. Call Senator Brown and thank him for helping our veterans at (617) 722-1555.
We had our first coffee meeting on Wednesday with a prospective candidate for municipal office on the North Shore. He wanted to discuss his campaign plan and the assistance that the MassGOP would provide if he decided to run.
This prospect understood how important it is to build the GOP farm team and we were happy to meet with him.
Obama & Patrick, Both Speak From The Same Consultant.
Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Barack Obama parrot each other's political rhetoric so much, it's hard to tell who had the original thought and who is copying whom. But a closer examination shows both are reading recycled talking points fed to them by the same political consultant.
"Its confusing because you start to wonder if Patrick is plagiarizing Obama or vice versa, but then you realize both are repeating the same lines from the same political consultant and hoping no one will notice," said Robert Willington, Executive Director of the MassGOP.
David Axelrod, Obama Chief Strategist, “Guided” Patrick’s Gubernatorial Campaign:
Chicago Political Strategist David Axelrod, A Top Adviser For Obama’s Presidential Campaign, Guided Both Obama’s Senate Campaign And Patrick’s Gubernatorial Bid. “The man who has honed that message for both candidates is veteran Chicago political strategist David Axelrod, who guided Obama's Senate campaign and Patrick's gubernatorial bid and is now a top strategist on Obama's presidential effort.” (Scott Helman, “Patrick, Obama Campaigns Share Language Of 'Hope',” The Boston Globe, 4/16/07)
Obama And Gov. Deval Patrick Use Similar Themes, Messages, And Even The Same Lines:
Obama’s Campaign Has Borrowed “Themes, Messages, And Even Specific Lines” From Patrick’s Gubernatorial Campaign. “In the midst of his improbable run for office, Obama and his advisers have evidently studied Patrick's up-from-nowhere victory in Massachusetts and are borrowing themes, messages, and even specific lines for the presidential campaign.” (Scott Helman, “Patrick, Obama Campaigns Share Language Of 'Hope',” The Boston Globe, 4/16/07)
Chairman Of The Massachusetts Democrat Party On Obama’s 2007 DNC Winter Meeting Speech: “We Could Have Closed Our Eyes When Obama Spoke [And] It Could Have Been Deval.” “When a delegation of Massachusetts Democrats heard Obama speak at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting in Washington in February, they could trace the thread, said state Democratic Party chairman Philip W. Johnston. ‘We all said that we could have closed our eyes when Obama spoke [and] it could have been Deval,’ Johnston said. ‘To us it was a similar kind of message. It's a message that transcends partisan politics.’” (Scott Helman, “Patrick, Obama Campaigns Share Language Of 'Hope',” The Boston Globe, 4/16/07)
Obama’s Campaign Is Criticized For Lacking Substance, Just Like Patrick’s
“If The Plaudits For Obama And Patrick As Campaigners Are Similar, So Are The Criticisms. Obama Is Facing The Same Charge Patrick Did Last Year: That He's Long On Atmospherics And Short On Specifics.” (Scott Helman, “Patrick, Obama Campaigns Share Language Of 'Hope',” The Boston Globe, 4/16/07)
Right now, I'm blogging from Woburn where we have a GOP cookout. Jeff Beatty is on his way and we also have Brion Cangiamila here.
Ogonowski ponders next move as GOP finds silver lining - Boston Herald
A massive blueprint for victory in 2008? - Human Events
GOP pick plows of dreams - Boston Herald
GOP sees victory in Massachusetts defeat - CNN
Despite loss, Ogonowski cold still have strong political future - Boston Herald
A ray of light for GOP - Politico/CBS
We are sending a letter to Jim thanking him for running a spirited campaign for U.S. Congress. Before we send the letter, we wanted to give you the opportunity to sign it.
So go ahead and thank Jim for running a great campaign. He gave so much to the GOP, we hope you can give him a quick thank you.
MassRoots blog is happy to do what it does so well over at HubPolitics tomorrow on Election Day. If you can't actually be here helping out Jim Ogonowski on the campaign trail, you can be with us on the NeTrail. 
See you over at HubPolitics.
Jim is on the phone right now continuing to speak with voters and get his message out.
Have you heard about our 24 hour "Midnight-Ride"? Well, Dan was the staffer on that ride and he has been working extremely long hours. I had to take this picture when I saw Dan in the office catching an hour of sleep. There are cots in this office so that the staff can save time and invest all of their energy into this campaign. We often hear about how hard Jim Ogonowski is working but I wanted to mention the staff and volunteers and give them some recognition that they deserve. They staff believes in Jim because Jim believes in them.
Dedication.
What can you dedicate tomorrow? Call (978) 269-5080 
"Ogonowski tried to hit every city and town in a district that stretches from the Merrimack Valley to Wayland and out to Lancaster. Driving in his Buick, usually with a single aide, Ogonowski started at Laudi's Breakfast House in Dracut Saturday at 6 a.m. and made 76 stops on a two-day "Midnight Ride" tour. It included a stop late Saturday night to greet passengers on the last commuter rail from Boston to Lowell, and a post-midnight visit to the Lowell police and fire headquarters." Boston Globe
UPDATE:
Dan is up and taking Jim back out to meet with voters. If you live in the 5th CD you may be lucky enough to meet Jim!
The campaign headquarters is filled with supporters. You can still volunteer tonight or tomorrow. Call the campaign HQ's at 978-269-5080 to make history.
Jim has a great team in Chelmsford. There have been several meetings today for activists regarding the GOTV operation.
Can you help Jim and his Team with the GOTV operation? Please call the campaign now at 978-269-5080.
Today is the last full day before Election Day and Jim is working VERY hard on the campaign trail. Jim made 76 stops on a two day "Midnight-Ride" tour and his message is resonating.
Today, the Boston Globe wrote about the campaign this weekend.
The Boston Herald is reporting that two Democrat State Representatives had a scuffle on the House floor yesterday. Reps Murphy and Natale are lining up to run for the open State Senate seat and there is some bad blood brewing between the two Reps.
Meanwhile, the GOP candidate is up and running and off to a great start.
Meet Brion.
Dear MassGOP,
Fellow Republicans around the country are watching Jim Ogonowski and hoping that he can win on Tuesday. This election is very close. You can help make history.
-Rob
"The people of the Massachusetts 5th District need a representative inCongress who understands what it is like to run a family business. We needsomeone who will be an independent voice for the district, not a tool ofunion interests and a stagnant, one-party political culture. We need someonewho is clear-eyed on the threats we face to our national security andinterests.We need Jim Ogonowski as our representative in Congress." More
Today, the Boston Herald reveals that Niki is relying on a lot of help from outside of Massachusetts. Outsiders rely on outsiders.
Last night, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Sandwich Republican Town Committee. They are very active and work hard to promote State Representative Jeff Perry.
The Chairman of the committee commented that in the past, the MassGOP has done a bad job with marketing and branding the party. While we can't expect a bumper sticker slogan to fix everything, I do agree that imaging is important to define who we are and what we stand for.
I think the MassGOP has recently made steps in the right direction. You may have noticed our new splash page when we relaunched MassGOP.com where it read "Promoting Less Government and Lower Taxes So That You Can Live Your Life." Short and simple and hits on a fundamental core of the GOP. We also have MassGOP stickers in the works for our activists to use. Just as we are asking our local committees to think as a campaign and not a committee, we too are looking at the MassGOP as a campaign.
Today, the Billerica RTC had a great event for Jim Ogonowski and we thank John and Sandra MacMillan for putting it together.
Below are some pictures of Jim Ogonowski and yes, the CONTRIBUTE button. How many times have you seen this contribute button and thought "maybe another time"?
You don't need to be a millionaire to donate. All you need is a few dollars - $500, $50, $30, or even $20 would be a huge help to push Jim over the finish line.
Patrick Ruffini has this post on TownHall.com and refers to a post from Democrat insiders that "there is a real concern here."
Please sign up below and help elect Jim Ogonowski to U.S. Congress. October 16th, is right around the corner and we need you to give us a few hours. Sign up below:
GO VIRAL - if you plan on signing up, please use the "SEND TO FRIENDS" option to multiply your efforts - you must have some fellow activists that would like to join you on the campaign trail :)
RedMassGroup reports that Niki Tsongas had to loan her campaign $50,000 and has roughly $19K more cash on hand than Ogonowski.
You can help make the difference here:
The Boston Globe notes how Jim Ogonowski has been speaking to the voters directly about immigration.
Ogonowski, a Dracut hay farmer and Air Force veteran, says that illegal immigrants strain schools and hospitals and pose a security threat. He has called for a "technological fence, a physical fence, and a manpower fence" to keep illegal immigrants from streaming into the United States. He supports deporting unauthorized immigrants. His campaign likens his approach to fixing a basement flooded by the Merrimack River: plug the leaks, then bail it out.Tonight, Jim Ogonowski joins Sun Editor Jim Campanini on NewsTalk Live.
Today, the Boston Globe reports that the "Biotech Council received subpoenas last week from the Ethics Commission seeking a broad selection of documents, including e-mail and telephone records, that would shed light on the council's decision to hire Coughlin as its new president in August, sources said."
The Patrick administration is certainly building a close and personal relationship with the ethics commission.
The Democrats in the Massachusetts State House were pushing a bill to require the state's pension fund to divest from companies doing business with Sudan.
House Republicans, led by Brad Jones, agreed and asked "why stop there?"
The GOP moved to add Iran, Cuba, Syria, and North Korea to the list but Democrats refused to move along with this amendment.
The GOP then withdrew Cuba, Syria, and North Korea and pursued only with Iran.
The Democrats response: No.
Brad Jones said "There's probably been more debate in Iran today than in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It's a disgrace, a disgrace,"
MassRoots likes to highlight the GOP officials serving at the municipal level in Massachusetts. Last week, we had the pleasure of meeting with the Berkley Board of Selectman at the Mass GOP headquarters (all Republicans) and this week we have noticed the new PaulFerro.com website.
Paul Ferro is a Republican City Councilor in Marlborough where he has fought hard to keep spending low. Paul Ferro has offered 80% of the proposed reductions to the Mayor's budget proposals.
Ferro is a young and energetic Republican who is carrying the GOP banner at the grassroots. Check out his website and if you like what you see, you can always send him a few dollar$.
We have added new information to the convention section of our website. Please keep checking back as new information develops. 
State Representative Jeff Perry has a monthly column and below are his thoughts on transportation. Sign this petition if you agree with the Transportation Bill of Rights proposed by minority leader Brad Jones and the GOP on Beacon Hill.
On Beacon Hill and in Washington, D.C. the focus of government seems to ebb and flow with the issue that the media is most concerned about at any given time. From my point of view, government in general and State government specifically is a reactionary institution. Unfortunately there is very little proactive thought or long term planning going on.
Recently the headlines have been full of stories regarding our crumbling transportation infrastructure and the estimated $20 billion needed to keep up with our aging roadway system. State leaders are couching this issue like they were somehow surprised by it.
Governor Patrick recently came out in favor of Casino Gambling with a dedicated portion of the revenue being targeted for maintenance and improvements to our roads and bridges. The Patrick Administration and Transportation Finance Commission have also identified major tax increases as their plan for the perceived transportation funding problem. They suggest that increasing the gas tax by 11.5 cents per gallon and then indexing it to inflation would generate $10.5 billion over 20 years. Also, the Commission recommended a 5 cent per mile user fee (tax), to be implemented through electronic tolling technology and phased in over the next 10 years, which reportedly would yield an additional $5.5 billion in new taxes by 2027.
It is time for Legislators and voters to say enough is enough. State government needs to stop looking to commuters and taxpayers for its own failure to plan for future infrastructure needs and wasteful spending in general. Do I need to remind everyone about the waste and fraud of the Big Dig project? Also, don’t forget that we have been paying 23.5 cents per gallon in since 1991, and somehow all of a sudden, we are in such a crisis situation that the only solution is increased taxation.
While I do not expect both of the above taxes to ultimately be approved, what I believe the pro-tax crowd on Beacon Hill is doing is setting you up for a smaller tax increase. If they announce an 11.5 cent tax increase and a new user fee and later they disregard the user fee plan and “only” raise the gas tax by 5 cents a gallon, they hope you will accept such increase and somehow feel good that it was not more.
I say not so fast! Last week, the Republicans on Beacon Hill filed the “Commuter Bill of Rights” as a joint resolution in both the House and the Senate. If we can get the majority party to agree (this is a big “If”), the proposal grants commuters the right to travel on safe roadways and bridges; the right to expect State officials will exhaust all available sources of funding before increasing taxes and fees; and the right to hold public officials accountable for finding and fixing problems with infrastructure. It also grants taxpayers the right to expect that the money they pay to the State will be used wisely to fund maintenance and repair of roads and bridges. Seems like something we all should be able to agree on, but watch the liberals as they dismiss our reform efforts to go directly for a tax increase.
In addition to the resolution, we are also filing cost-cutting legislation that could save the State over $100 million a year by merging the Turnpike Authority with MassHighway; putting MBTA workers into the Group Insurance Commission and reforming their pensions to end double-dipping; and stopping the practice of borrowing money to pay the salaries of MassHighway workers.
If the Governor is really serious about finding efficiencies and savings within our bloated transportation bureaucracy, which is full of waste and patronage, he then should support our proposal to eliminate the Turnpike Authority altogether and hand its responsibilities over to the Massachusetts Highway Department. If readers will recall, this is not a new concept as Governor Romney proposed it several times during his tenure, but each time the Democrats on Beacon Hill voted it down and maintained the status quo.
As I have written in this column in the past, as a member of the minority party, often the only way we can stop things like tax increases from happening is taking the message to the public and asking them to call their Representative and Senator and let their voice be heard. This is one of those times, we need your help or else I fear we will all being paying even more at the gas pump.
