Tanya and Joe Lucas held a house party to introduce gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem to Sturbridge voters.  The turnout was very good.  It would be great if other candidates would follow her example in coming to talk to the people of Sturbridge.

The above picture is from her campaign web site. It is not a picture of her in Sturbridge. There was significant snow on the ground today.  The venue being close to Wells State Park presented some challenges to many of the attendees including local ones who had no idea that the road to the park is not plowed in winter.  We didn’t have to go to the park, but the park road does give access to several residential streets in Sturbridge, at least when the roads are clear.  Today we had to backtrack to another access to these streets.

Hearing her in person make the case, it really dawned on me how applicable her experience is to being a governor.

An appointee to both Governor Deval Patrick and President Barack Obama’s Administrations, she has made government work for citizens when it matters the most. As a homeland security expert, Juliette knows what it means to bring together every facet of society and work towards common solutions with a clear path forward. Her career is proof that progressive politics and safety and security policy strengthen one another.

Her description of how she has worked with Governors and Mayors in times of crisis and stress as a key figure in homeland security was what made me realize what executive talent she has.  She also had a convincing explanation of how she would be able to deal with a Massachusetts legislature that is famous for jealously guarding its own centers of power in the state.

I liked her explanation of the importance of pushing Massachusetts forward on the the road already begun by Governor Patrick to become and remain competitive in the economy.  She understands the investments we need to make to compete nationally and globally.  As I said above, she has a good plan for working cooperatively with the state legislature to accomplish what needs to be done in a way that is fair to the voters of the state in all parts of the state.

To call her energetic just doesn’t begin to do justice to how she is going to campaign, and if elected, govern.