Boston Globe article; GOP battles blues after election reduces ranks in Legislature
And the reply from Aaron Margolis of Hub Politics(quoted in the piece);
Note to Boston Globe: I’m Not Depressed
by Aaron Margolis, November 6th, 2008 at 02:35pm
Last night I took a phone call from a member of the Boston Globe staff who was writing an article about post-election gloom amongst Massachusetts Republicans. Normally, I dislike these kinds of phone call interviews, but it’s hard to pass up sometimes.
The call was directly referring to my pre-election day post, specifically about my thoughts on Beacon Hill:
Beacon Hill is nearly 90% democrats. This is absurd. The reason why your vote on Question 1 is meaningless is because of the state legislature has shown time and time again your vote is bupkis–totally meaningless. The “party of choice” takes that choice away from you. You vote for change, and they take it away. Party of the people? Not quite. It’s only natural that we disapprove of the whole government body, but like our particular elected official…but people, please, look at the record of your elected officials. If they are not on your side, don’t give them the privilege of your vote. The only way to reign them in is to bring something resembling balance to Beacon Hill, and yes, that means electing some Republicans.
Right off the bat, I’m asked “so are you feeling a bit depressed right now?”
Why should I be depressed? I’m not walking around with my head down all ashamed of my political beliefs. Yes, we lost a few more seats on Beacon Hill, but does that change anything for Republicans in this state? No. I replied, “I’m not depressed; I’m disappointed, but not depressed.” We chatted for a few minutes. I elaborated a bit on my thoughts about the imbalance of power on Beacon Hill, and that was that.
Much to my surprise, I read the article on boston.com and find out that not only am I “depressed” but I apparently spoke on behalf of “other Republicans.”
Aaron Margolis, co-editor in chief of the conservative political blog hubpolitics.com, called the imbalance “absurd.”
“It’s frustrating when there’s that imbalance of power because one party is constantly being reinforced and [can become] power hungry,” he said. “Me and other Republicans feel disenfranchised and a little depressed about the whole situation.”
This is why I hate phone interviews. I did say that Republicans are no doubt feeling disenfranchised, but depressed? No. Whether the state legislature is 90% Democrat, or 100%, the voice of Republican Party (and the citizens of the Commonwealth, for that matter) is still ignored the same. Adding insult to injury, the paraphrasing of my words left little to be desired. Friends who know me best that have read the article agree that the last sentence doesn’t even sound like me. ‘Me and other Republicans’? No, no, no. First of all, it’s poor English. Second, I don’t speak on behalf of other Republicans; they can speak for themselves.
I was also asked if I would move out of Massachusetts. For the past six years, I knew I would not be able to move out (even if I wanted to) because I’ve been working towards earning my masters degree. But now, with two months left before I graduate, I can’t imagine moving out of Massachusetts just because of the dwindling number of Republicans in the State House. While reasons could come up that might tempt or require me to move, the last reason would be because Massachusetts is getting bluer. The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats wonder what is wrong with the country when their party loses (and then threaten to move to Canada), while Republicans ask themselves what they did wrong and regroup to try to win next time. I am not going to retreat in defeat because of a lost battle. That is not what Republicans do. You can’t bury your head in the sand if you want change.
It seems likely this particular Boston Globe staff member had an agenda to get me to say I was “depressed” about the situation on Beacon Hill, but I was not biting. Nonetheless, words got put into my mouth. I guess we live and learn.
I’ll state for the record that I am not depressed–I am just extremely disappointed in what is happening to the Commonwealth. In the end we get the government we deserve, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Aaron Margolis
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