Lynn political roundtable discusses election lessons

LYNN – Lynn Museum officials aimed to get an insider’s analysis at what happened in last week’s elections while it was still fresh in voter’s minds by playing host to “Political Ties,” a roundtable discussion held Tuesday night.About 70 guests came to listen to panelists Jennifer Nassour, former chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, John Walsh, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and Peter H. Gamage, publisher of The Daily Item, in their dialogue of how voters came to choose their leaders on Nov. 6.Moderator Jim Carrigan began the discussion by asking Nassour and Walsh, “What happened last week?””What happened last week is that the people spoke, and isn’t that the whole point?” said Walsh. He credited the victories of Democrats last Tuesday at the local, state and national level to their strong grassroots campaigns. Walsh said voters rejected Republican ideas, economically with the “trickle-down theory,” as well as socially. “It will be a long time before we see elected leaders take rape lightly,” he said. “When our largest city is being threatened, we should not have leaders that think climate change is a joke ?The way to prosperity is not through tax breaks for the wealthy and crushing unions.”Nassour received criticism from a mainly Democratic audience when she said social issues, especially women’s rights, were used to pull voters away from voting Republican. “Social issues are not an issue,” she said. “Boo-hoo to every one of you who used woman’s rights as a scare tactic. Shame on you.”Gamage said social media was a real factor in drawing votes. “Social media has democratized input, involvement and, certainly commentary, giving a voice far wider than participants, meaning voters, have had before,” he said. “Everyone feels the opportunity to become involved and participate more in process ? I can tell you that they view it as a right and nobody is going to stop them.”Gamage pointed out that President Barack Obama had 23 million followers on Twitter, compared to Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s 1.8 million. “Obama set the bar very high as far as using social media,”The panelists also discussed what their parties would do for the poor in addition to the much-discussed middle class, the disappearing act of the Massachusetts Republican Party, and the role of a third party candidate.Nassour said Libertarian candidate Daniel Fishman was not the reason Republican candidate Richard Tisei lost the Sixth Congressional District seat. “It has nothing to do with a third party candidate – it’s all about voter turnout,” she said. “Someone had to be standing in the middle.”Walsh said for many Democrats who didn’t want to re-elect John Tierney, “Fishman was an alternative to a blank.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].