There is an interesting story in the Boston Globe today on a UMass Lowell poll conducted showing that Reilly has weaked a good deal among democratic voters and Patrick is much stronger with both candidates in a dead heat with the Republican Kerry Healey.

Poll finds Patrick and Reilly running even among Democrats

Political newcomer Deval Patrick was running even with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly among Democratic primary voters in a recent poll, a sign that Reilly's political missteps have cost him in the race for the party's gubernatorial nomination.

The survey of 400 likely primary voters, conducted over the past week by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, indicated that 40 percent of Democrats supported Reilly and 40 percent backed Patrick, with 20 percent undecided. The finding is in sharp contrast to Reilly's strong lead in a similar poll taken last September when he led Patrick by a 49 percent to 18 percent margin. The poll did not include a potential three-way race with wealthy businessman Chris Gabrieli, who is also mulling a run for governor.

Reilly's political problems also showed up in a trial heat against Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, the early favorite to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination. In a sample of 550 registered voters, Reilly and Healey were in a statistical dead heat, with him getting 43 percent to her 42 percent. That is a marked change from the strong lead he held over Healey in a similar matchup in a September UMass poll when he was 25 percentage points ahead of her. She officially announced her candidacy last week, as the polling began.

In another general election match-up, Healey and Patrick were in a statistical dead heat, with Patrick receiving 40 percent and Healey getting 38 percent.

But the poll indicated that Healey's candidacy would be hurt if businessman Christy Mihos, who has been courting Republicans to challenge her in the Sept. 19 primary, decides to run as an independent in the general election. In a three-way race, the poll found that 36 percent of those surveyed backed Reilly, 30 percent supported Healey, and 17 percent favored Mihos. If Patrick were the Democratic nominee, the poll found him receiving 34 percent, Healey 34 percent, and Mihos 12 percent.

One piece of good news for the attorney general was that the voters' views of him have stayed steady. Some 53 percent of those polled viewed him favorably while 29 percent gave him an unfavorable rating. In September, 56 percent rated him favorably and 22 percent unfavorably.

BU's biolab may have received final federal government approval, at construction may be starting in a few weeks, but that isn't about to stop the projects opponents in City Council.

Yesterday Councilor Chuck Turner--who represents those of us who live on Columbus Avenue--introduced legislation that would prohibit bio-level 4 research in Boston. Councilor Turner said that a panel of scientists has come to an agreement that BU's claim that their lab will not conduct certain types of DNA research using the chemicals cannot be true. The panel says that it would make no sense to attempt bio-level 4 research without the DNA.

New at-large councilor Sam Yoon added that the combination of the dangerous chemicals and the experimental DNA adds a new level of danger to the bio-lab, because the research will be unprecedented. And while we are all in favor of unprecedented research in all areas, in this case many believe that the research BU conducts will not be groundbreaking, but is merely happening because of the Bush administrations obsession with terrorism.

A hearing on the issue will be held in the coming weeks or months, keep your internet tuned right here for the details.


On a side note, Councilors Turner and Yoon, as well as Councilors Yancey and Arroyo are the four members of Boston City Councils' "Team Unity," the liberal wing of Council which will hopefully come to NU for an event organized by the NU Dems later in the Spring.

I found two things interesting today. First, the state of Massachusetts is going to force Wal-Mart to put the morning after pill in their pharmacies. As this Globe story shows, this could have national implications:
State orders Wal-Mart to Sell Morning -After Pill -- Boston Globe

Wal-Mart said yesterday it will start stocking and selling the emergency contraceptive drug Plan B at its 44 Massachusetts pharmacies and is giving serious consideration to carrying the drug at all of its stores nationwide.

The world's biggest retailer acted after the state Board of Registration in Pharmacy voted unanimously to require Wal-Mart to stock and dispense Plan B, a high dose of hormones that women can take three to five days after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.

The only other state where Wal-Mart sells the so-called morning-after pill is Illinois, where a state law requires it. Elsewhere, Wal-Mart has refused to stock the drug for undisclosed ''business reasons."

Dan Fogleman, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the Arkansas-based chain would comply with the Massachusetts pharmacy board's ruling ''as soon as reasonably possible" and was reviewing its stance on Plan B nationally.

''We are actively thinking through this issue," he said.

Wal-Mart operates 3,400 pharmacies nationwide. Unlike Massachusetts, where pharmacies are plentiful, Wal-Mart in some communities around the country is the only place where residents can fill prescriptions.

''What's happening here in Massachusetts is really a turning point," said Melissa Kogut, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, a reproductive health advocacy group that supports abortion rights but says Plan B is a contraception issue, not one of abortion. NARAL and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts have been urging Wal-Mart to change its Plan B policy for months.

On another issue -- Tom Reilly isnt for smaller sentences on small marijuana related violations.
Have a look here:

Attorney General Tom Reilly says a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana sends the "wrong message" to kids.

Reilly -- who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor -- says the goal should be to keep young people away from drugs.

A legislative committee on Beacon Hill approved a measure earlier this week that would make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil offense punishable by a $250 fine. It's currently a criminal offense that can result in up to six months in jail and a $500 dollar fine.

I think the legislation makes sense but I suppose our favorite outsider and independent Mr. Reilly thinks people will vote for him if he takes this stance even if it is bad policy.

It is good to see the Democrats are at least thinking about what will resonate with voters. Sadly, they really have not come out with any sort of comprehensive democratic strategy for america freedom and other stuff yet. But have a look at this story:
Democrats add a new C to Corruption - The Hill

As Democrats mull when and how to introduce an election-year agenda, some party leaders have already begun to broaden the now-familiar Democratic refrain of a “culture of corruption, cronyism, incompetence and cover-up” to add a new alliterative element: costs.

The shift in language reflects some frustration among Democrats that their steady drumbeat on corruption isn’t connecting with voters as much as they’d like.

The new phrase allows them to segue from ethical abuses to pocketbook issues such as prescriptions drugs, energy prices and tuition costs, where they contend that Republicans have fallen under the sway of industry lobbyists and rewarded special interests to the detriment of average voters.

“There is a very focused determination [to] educate the public … that this isn’t just some inside-the-Beltway thing but that it has a direct relationship to their lives,” a House Democratic leadership aide said. “I think we’ve recognized the need to do this for a while, but we are clearly now making the very aggressive transition.”

We still need and overall strategy.

I am a serious uptight old man. However, the snow has led me to some fun new of real threats to America. Have a look:
Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter

The Associated Press
Sunday, February 12, 2006; 3:58 PM

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Cheney turned to shoot a bird and accidentally hit Whittington. She said Whittington was taken to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital by ambulance.

I guess all the rich friends don't get all the perks

But they are so true. I really wish the following column were not true. At the end of the day, however, the Democrats dont have a heck of a lot of a unified National Security policy. The fact that there is no policy showing how we are strong really hurts us and certaintly does anything other than making us immune to the types of attacks metioned by the President below. The 2006 elections are not far away and we better have something right about now. Something that we can make better before 2008 and stronger for the future. Anyways, I am mad now but take a look at this. I am not happy but I have said this before:
A Post 9/11 Problem for Democrats
By Joan Vennochi

Then, Coretta Scott King's funeral intervened. Four presidents attended -- Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and the Republican father and son, George H.W. and George W. Bush. Carter used the platform to allude to the Bush administration wiretapping controversy. He mentioned the difficulties that Mrs. King and her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., endured as they became the target of secret government wiretapping; he failed to mention that attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, a Democrat, authorized the King wiretapping. In their funeral remarks, the Bushes took the gracious approach, leaving the Democrats to look tastelessly partisan.

Moments like that undercut the Democrats' ability to exploit the growing public perception of incompetence and abuse of power in the Bush White House. Facing the 2006 election year, Republicans in Congress are attuned to the public's unhappiness over the direction the country is headed. It is apparent in the GOP's pressing of Gonzales about wiretapping; the resistance to certain provisions of the Patriot Act; and the criticism of the administration's slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

But whenever resistance to his policies starts to reach critical mass, Bush pushes the old 9/11 button:

Speaking to the National Guard Association this week, he revealed that the United States and governments of several Southeast Asian countries disrupted a plan by Al Qaeda to hijack a commercial airliner and fly it into a Los Angeles skyscraper in early 2002. Vice President Dick Cheney told a group of conservatives at the Heritage Foundation that the country has been protected from additional terrorist attacks by ''more than just luck."

Average citizens smirk, and Democrats scoff. Bush never fails to entertain. This time, he referred to the West Coast target as the ''Liberty Tower" instead of the ''Library Tower."

But until Democrats come up with a post-9/11 strategy, the Bush White House and the GOP get the last laugh.