What We Learned Yesterday

There were few surprises both here and nationally last night. Steve DiNatale and Deval Patrick ran away with their races, and polling was so good leading up to the gubernatorial election that Patrick finished almost right on the number of many late polls. The U.S. House went blue, the Senate even this morning is still up in the air. Going into the election, most thought the House was going Dem, the Senate would be very, very close.

In terms of big-picture results, we learned very little yesterday. But we did learn a lot about the mood of the country and the state.

What we learned in Massachusetts is that people were ready to be loved. They wanted to feel like they had a connection to their candidate and their government, and they didn't want it through big media and traditional big campaign strategy. Three examples:

Locally, DiNatale. He cruised to victory, whomping Republican Ed Niemczura by a 3-to-1 margin. Niemczura was a political neophyte and ran like it, but DiNatale's victory is nothing short of crushing.

DiNatale didn't do it by running on his record as a School Committee member and city councilor. He did it by professing his love for the city and knocking on doors. DiNatale's accomplishments in elected office are short. He has been a passive city councilor this year especially as Dean Tran and Ted DeSalvatore have played starring roles. But DiNatale wasn't running as an accomplished public official. He was running on his tenacious, almost maniacal, will to knock on every door, shake every hand, meet every voter. You certainly can't argue with the results.

Similarly, Deval Patrick had zero record to run on. He had never run for office before. But Patrick created the greatest grassroots organization this state has ever seen. His campaign was fueled by a uniquely energized base that was shameless in its work pestering friends, neighbors and strangers to vote for their guy. In the primary, Patrick asked his volunteers to reach out to 100 people each to get to the polls. There's no doubt they took that request seriously.

Patrick was able to tap into the mood of the electorate. They didn't want to hear Kerry Healey's darkness. They wanted Patrick's hope and deliverance, and they wanted to hear it not just from the candidate, but from their neighbor. Someone they knew. Patrick didn't win the race because of the issues or a great ad campaign. He won because of his grassroots organization.

Finally, there are a bunch of reasons why Question 1 was left in ruin, but here's one that's a little different: This race was won through local -- often weekly -- newspapers.

The proponents of Q1 dominated large media. Except for one or two holdouts (like the Patriot Ledger), every large and mid-sized newspaper in the state -- including major powerbrokers like the Globe, Herald, Telegram and Gazette and the Springfield Republican -- endorsed the ballot question. Large media coverage was generally favorable.

But on the local level, the opponents dominated. Every time a police chief or board of selectmen was opposed to the measure, there was a local story on it. They ran full-page ads in many small weekly newspapers.

As the media landscape changes, the smaller guys are gaining. As the Globe and Herald figure out how to slow the loss of revenue and figure out how to maximize revenue through websites, people are still devouring their local hometown weeklies, and those papers are in much better financial positions. The opposition was able to corral the total strength of those weeklies and turn it into a force. It was another example of people looking narrowly at their government, and not being led by big media and traditional conventional wisdom.

So, Patrick is governor, and he'll have to prove to have as much ability to lead as he has ability to inspire. DiNatale will have to prove that his electoral determination can be transformed into legislative success. Democrats need to prove that the distaste in George Bush and 12 years of Republican ownership of Capitol Hill can be a postive change in Washington. Voters approved of the candidates who they thought made them feel best as they entered the voting booth. Now those candidates need to prove they are best to lead the state and the nation forward.

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One a side note to last night, one of the somewhat underreported stories last night is Nancy Pelosi's likely ascention to Speaker of the House as the Democrats take over Congress. Yes, her speakership was noted throughout the night, but she is the first woman Speaker ever, and is now just behind Dick Cheney in the line of presidential succession. It's reasonable to argue that Nancy Pelosi is the most powerful woman, ever, in the United States. On those terms, it's a historic and awesome turn of events (awesome in this case as causing awe, not awesome in an "awesome, dude" kind of way) that should be noted.