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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday!
KERRY STUMPS FOR BIDEN — John Kerry pitched Joe Biden as the most electable Democrat running for the presidential nomination during a campaign swing through New Hampshire on Sunday. Kerry and the former vice president held town halls in Nashua and Hampton, which each drew several hundred people.
In some ways, the visit was a reprise of Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Biden and Kerry came on stage to Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender," Kerry's presidential campaign song. And the former senator and secretary of state shared several stories from 2004 during his 30-minute speech to introduce Biden to the audience, including a bit about the slight resemblance he bears to New Hampshire's now-fallen Old Man of the Mountain. Kerry even compared Biden to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, though the town hall was held during the game.
Kerry used his narrow general election loss to former President George Bush to lay out how Biden could accomplish what Kerry could not: beat a sitting Republican president.
"Sixteen years ago you voted for me, and together that November we turned New Hampshire blue. We carried Michigan, we carried Wisconsin, we carried Pennsylvania, we came within one state," Kerry said. "I'll tell you what. You knew the stakes back then ... they are even higher now."
By choosing to endorse Biden, Kerry passed over the two Massachusetts Democrats competing for the nomination — Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Gov. Deval Patrick. Kerry said his decision boiled down to his relationship with Biden.
"I am not here to oppose any other candidate. I am here for Joe Biden. I am here for my friend because I know who he is. I know what he stands for. I know what he can do," Kerry said on Sunday. As for serving alongside him again, though, Kerry was less definitive. Kerry told reporters he has "no desire" to serve in a Biden administration if the former vice president is elected.
Kerry also delivered a warning that voters should not be "seduced" by Democratic candidates who are running on a specific issue. "Make sure you think about who can win those states we need to win," Kerry said.
"When I hear some people draw these minor distinctions between some of the candidates," Kerry added, "I must say to you I'm tempted to be a little like Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind and say, 'Frankly I don't give a damn.'"
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker holds a media availability with members of the MBTA's Safety Review Panel, members of the Fiscal and Management Control Board, Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack and MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak to discuss the panel's report. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will join Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and city officials to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Worcester firefighter Christopher Roy.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends a Salvation Army Red Kettle event downtown. Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Ayanna Pressley attend a solidarity concert for the striking Harvard Grad Students Union. The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters endorses Rep. Joe Kennedy III for Senate.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Cracking the climate code," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "AN ARCANE STATE BOARD, known to few outside the world of design and construction, is the setting of a furious clash the outcome of which could influence the amount of climate-curdling emissions that pour out of chimneys, as well as the future supply of housing in Massachusetts, where affordable homes are already scarce. The Board of Building Regulation and Standards might seem an odd venue for the drama that has unfolded there. The BBRS adopts and administers the statewide building code and the building energy code, sets of rules that are important but would bore the average reader to tears. It is the domain of professionals who think in cubic feet, seismic loads, and kilowatt hours. Now, the problems of the world are before it."
- "Tarr wants state to expand 'angel' programs," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Hundreds of opioid addicts have turned to Gloucester police for help under a controversial program that gives those who turn over their drugs a chance to get clean without getting busted. The Gloucester Police Department's Angel Initiative has been replicated across the state and nation amid a wave of addiction that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. But questions linger about how effective the programs are and whether the initiatives run afoul of state laws, which don't allow police to shelter addicts from prosecution."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Who are the 'Dreamers?' In the fight for legal status, DACA-protected immigrants grapple with how they're perceived," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "Meet Carlos Aguilar. He's a fan of spoken word poetry. He played soccer in high school. And he was a young undocumented immigrant, or "Dreamer," who obtained protections under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and is now pursuing his doctorate at Harvard Graduate School of Education. The third detail comes up often at rallies and news conferences, usually as politicians introduce Aguilar to make the case for giving Dreamers a path to citizenship. How could the U.S. not offer green cards to someone like him, they often ask, how could the country turn away an Ivy League scholar?"
- "City Council ballot recount continues into second day," by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: "Volunteers and city officials huddled around folding tables inside City Hall for a second day Sunday, scrutinizing ballots from last month's City Council election to determine who will claim the council's fourth and final at-large seat. More than 66,000 ballots must be hand-counted to decide whether Julia Mejia or Alejandra St. Guillen will join the council. The candidates, both community activists seeking office for the first time, requested the recount after results from the Nov. 5 election showed Mejia winning by just eight votes."
- "Boston Awarded $1.8 Million In Federal Funding For Housing Vouchers," The Associated Press: "Boston has been awarded $1.8 million in federal funding to provide homes for residents with disabilities and homeless people. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the funding for the Boston Housing Authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Saturday. It will pay for 139 housing vouchers for residents with disabilities, homeless families and the chronically homeless. The Democrat said the vouchers will provide a housing lifeline for some of the city's most vulnerable people, while offering services that can help to foster a better quality of life."
- "The working class battles The Man in Harvard strike," by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: "The steps of Harvard's Widener Library might not be the obvious setting for a showdown between the working class and The Man. But so it was last week. The afternoon that I stopped by, perhaps 100 graduate students in the third day of a strike were protesting against what they consider the university's unfair labor practices. Their union of 4,500 students has been bargaining fruitlessly for 13 months. They are demanding higher pay, better health care, and greater protections against harassment and discrimination."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "With plenty on his political plate, Patrick dines at Railroad Street Youth Project dinner," by Haven Orecchio-Egresitz, The Berkshire Eagle: "Deval Patrick, presidential candidate and known Berkshire foodie, took a break from the campaign trail Saturday night to dine on a gourmet meal prepared by South County teens. Patrick and his wife, Diane, who live part time in Richmond, were among about 200 guests to attend the Railroad Street Youth Project's annual Culinary Arts Apprenticeship Dinner at Crissey Farm, an event that features the work of young apprentices to local chefs. "When I was first running, they were just getting off the ground," Patrick said of his introduction to the youth project during his campaign for Massachusetts governor."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "'People are boiling over with frustration' over their daily commute on the T," by Danny McDonald and Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: "For Christine Madore, Wednesday morning's commute was a nightmarish experience that is becoming all too commonplace. The Salem city councilor's commuter rail train was late "as usual," and at Boston's North Station, Orange Line trains were crowded, with Madore comparing them to a "can of sardines." She waited for two trains before walking to work, arriving at a meeting an hour late, and finding "half the room was empty or on a conference line because nobody could make it to work on time." Madore's comments came after Orange Line passengers were besieged by breakdowns and service interruptions earlier last week."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "'$500 to anyone who kills an ice agent' tweeter acquitted," by Lucas Phillips, Boston Globe: "A man who was living in Cambridge when he sent out a tweet apparently advocating the killing of ICE agents was acquitted by a federal jury Friday, according to his lawyer and the US Attorney's office. Brandon James Ziobrowski, now 34 and living in Bronx, N.Y., was acquitted of a federal criminal threatening charge after a four-day trial at Boston federal court that began Monday, according to Ziobrowski's lawyer, Derege Demissie of Demissie & Church, a Cambridge firm. Ziobrowski had moved to New York when he was arrested on Aug 9, 2018, about a month after he tweeted to more than 400 followers that he would raise money for a hit on federal agents."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Warren made $1.9 million from corporate and financial legal work," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Elizabeth Warren — under pressure from rival Pete Buttigieg to reveal her past compensation from corporate clients — announced Sunday that she's received $1.9 million from private legal work since 1986. The Massachusetts senator and former Harvard professor made the disclosure amid a tit-for-tat with Buttigieg over previous career assignments: Her legal representation of corporations, and his work at the corporate consulting firm McKinsey. Vying for pole position in Iowa, Warren and Buttitieg have sought to put one another on defense by suggesting the other had something to hide."
- "How the Cool Kids of the Left Turned on Elizabeth Warren," by Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna, POLITICO Magazine: "Millennial socialists' favorite magazine is breaking up with Elizabeth Warren. But it's saying: It's not me. It's you. That magazine is Jacobin, the nine-year-old publication that has become the de facto voice of the young socialist movement in America. Its favorite candidate all along has been Bernie Sanders, the only self-proclaimed socialist to mount a major campaign for the presidency of the United States since Eugene Debs almost 100 years ago. But for many months, as the 2020 campaign began to unfold, Jacobin treated Warren as the next best thing."
- "AP Interview: Warren says voters are ready for female ticket," by Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press: "Elizabeth Warren said Sunday she believes Americans are ready for a presidential ticket with two women at the top, rejecting concerns from some Democrats that a woman can't beat President Donald Trump. "Sure, why not?" the Democratic presidential candidate told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of a town hall campaign event in Charleston."
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| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
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- "More than 20 arrested in blockades of train delivering coal to N.H. power plant," by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: "Protesters blocked railroad freight tracks in Worcester, Ayer, and Hooksett, N.H., on Saturday and Sunday, trying to keep a train from delivering coal to a New Hampshire power plant. "In 2019, there's no reason for us to still be burning coal," said Marla Marcum, director of the Climate Disobedience Center. "We're tired of paying for it. We're tired of paying for the kind of plant that pollutes the river and causes asthma and contributes to climate change." The train was delivering coal to Merrimack Station, a power plant in Bow, N.H. The protests were part of an ongoing effort to shut down the coal power plant."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "TREACHERY," — Globe: "Beating the heat by storing the snow," "FBI calls Fla. attack an act of terrorism," FLAT PATS FALL SHORT AGAIN." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "The Velis Senate Expansion Is Now Underway," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "At a low-key fundraiser Tuesday, Westfield Rep John Velis held court with local notables both from here and throughout the 2nd Hampden & Hampshire Senate district. This was not his first swing through town. Although the current occupant of the Senate seat, Don Humason has won the mayoralty in his and Velis' hometown a month ago, the latter has been eyeing the position for some time. To some extent, Velis is in a holding pattern now."
- "Former Holyoke City Councilor Nelson Roman charged with felony embezzlement from nonprofit Nueva Esperanza," by Dennis Hohenberger, MassLive.com: "Former Ward 2 City Councilor Nelson Roman is facing a single felony count of embezzlement of $250 or more, tied to his tenure as executive director of city nonprofit Nueva Esperanza. Holyoke police investigators filed a criminal complaint against Roman Nov. 15 in Holyoke District Court. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 11. The embezzlement charge is specific to officers or staff who work for volunteer organizations like Nueva Esperanza."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "UMass CEO Eric Dickson backs Medicare for All, calls plan 'bold, courageous,'" by Cyrus Moulton, Telegram & Gazette: "Many hospitals hate the idea. Pharmaceutical companies, health insurance groups and hospital trade groups are lobbying against it. In fact, for many in the health care industry, the only thing universal about Medicare for All is disdain. But for UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Dr. Eric W. Dickson, Medicare for All — specifically, Sen. Elizabeth's Warren's plan for Medicare for All — is not only worth considering, it's worth praising."
- "Potential renovations in Norfolk could move some inmates from MCI-Framingham," by Cesareo Contreras, MetroWest Daily News: "State officials are planning to renovate a correctional facility in Norfolk to accommodate approximately 200 female inmates, whom they would move from the Massachusetts Correctional Institute-Framingham by the spring 2024. On Wednesday, the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, working with the Department of Correction and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, issued a request for proposal for a $650,000 design study on the Bay State Correctional Facility in Norfolk."
- "Cape faces winter without Pilgrim power," by Christine Legere, Cape Cod Times: "This year marks New England's first winter in more than four decades without the benefit of power generated by the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, but the region won't be left in the dark. The 690-megawatt reactor in Plymouth was permanently shuttered May 31, but plans to make up for the lost electricity have long been in the works. "We have known of Pilgrim's retirement for a number of years," said Matt Kakley, spokesman for ISO-New England, the overseer of the region's power grid."
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Sunday birthday-ers Jonathan Kamens, who turned 5-0; Nick Colvin, and Honey Sharp (h/t son Daniel Lippman).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to James Pindell , Boston Globe political reporter
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? No! The Chiefs beat the Patriots 23-16.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: THE FOURTH AWAKENS - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray discuss the ongoing spat between Senate candidates Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Joe Kennedy III and Shannon Liss Riordan over taking a People's Pledge. Candidate for congress Jesse Mermell talks about why she is running to replace Kennedy, her time as president of the Alliance for Business Leadership and her role in former Gov. Deval Patrick's administration. Another congressional candidate, Ihssane Leckey, talks about her vision for the 4th Congressional District, her time as a Wall Street regulator and whether the district is ready for a Democratic socialist as a representative. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: JALSA Impact Executive Director Cindy Rowe was spotted at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser last week, not Rachael Dubinsky.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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