Green-Rainbow LG Candidate: An Inspiration

It's been prety quiet around these parts for ol' Hoss. Real world time pressures have kept me from posting as much as I could over the summer.

But this morning's Globe profile of Green-Rainbow Lieutenant Governor Candidate Martina Robinson has prompted me to stir. She is truly an inspirational figure and we as Democrats ought to be ashamed of ourselves for letting her go.

Before I go on, let me state this: I support Deval Patrick and Tim Murray completely. I will vote for them in 4 weeks, I will continue to support them with my time and money. But I hope all of us take a look at Ms. Robinson when we think about how much we really have to complain about in life.

Martina has cerebral palsy, yet she is a three-time candidate for Belchertown Selectman. I, for one, hope she runs again so that we netroots-ers can propel her to victory. I hope she runs for Rtate Representative or Senator someday. She is someone who we need in the political realm in Massachusetts. Senator Berry has been a leader on disability issues, but he's as much of an insider up on Becaon Hill as anyone else.

Martina also has what could be the line of the race thus far and does a good job summing up what the LG actually does:

Compared with some of her greater challenges, Robinson said, the job she seeks looks pretty easy.

``I've chaired lots of meetings," she said. ``I can do that in my sleep."

As far as the LG debate goes, here's what should happen: it should be extended to 90 minutes, Ms. Robinson should be invited and given the opportunity to have an aide repeat her answers if she wants, and Tim Murray ought to be the first person advocating for her to be there. Let's face it: no one is going to watch the LG debate, so it doesn't matter if it's 30 minutes longer. And I would also hope that the broadcast networks wouldn't balk at adding 30 minutes. It's the right thing to do if it's what is necessary to allow Ms. Robinson the time she needs to answer the questions facing our state.

I strongly urge the Patrick/Murray campaign to advocate for this or a similar measure if it is not already doing so.