{"id":16849,"date":"2014-04-16T23:42:07","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T03:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/?p=16849"},"modified":"2014-04-17T00:39:37","modified_gmt":"2014-04-17T04:39:37","slug":"steve-grossman-for-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/2014\/04\/16\/steve-grossman-for-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Grossman For Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been tending toward supporting Steve Grossman who is a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

I have heard a remark about someone being dead set against him because as a former head of AIPAC, he has a very bigoted view of Arabs. Anyone who has read many of the things that I have posted about Israel and Palestinians would know that I am one Jew that would take a very dim view of this purported attitude of Grossman. In fact, I take such a dim view of such attitudes, that many of my relatives have unfriended me on Facebook. How’s that for my bona fides?<\/p>\n

So, I thought that I really ought to do some research on Steve Grossman to see if these accusations are warranted. Below is the result of my research. Let me cut to the chase. I have not found any evidence that would support the allegation. In fact quite the opposite. After doing this research, I am a much stronger supporter of Steve Grossman than I was when I started. I am grateful that the disparaging remarks about Steve Grossman encouraged me to do this research. <\/p>\n

Google search steve Grossman for governor Palestinian<\/a><\/p>\n

MA-Gov 2014 is on: Senator Dan Wolf blasts Treasurer Steve Grossman<\/a>.\u00a0 There is nothing in the article itself about Grossman and Arabs, but there are some comments that allude to the topic. For technical reasons, I can only include them here as an image. Click on the image to see a larger version.<\/p>\n

\n\"Comments<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\r\n<\/pre>\n
Steve Grossman, ex-AIPAC chair, running for Mass. governor<\/a> from JTA – Global Jewish News Source.<\/p>\n
He served as chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
\nfrom 1992 to 1997.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In Mass. governor’s race packed with Jewish candidates, much talk of repairing the world<\/a><\/p>\n
Steve Grossman, the state treasurer and a past chairman of the
\nDemocratic National Committee, quotes from Isaiah in describing his
\nambition to close the gap between rich and poor.<\/p>\n
“I received my Jewish heritage, my background, in being that person
\nwho can be a repairer of the breach between those who are well-to-do
\nand those who lack the things people aspire to,” he said in an
\ninterview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Other Jewish candidates according to the article are Dan Wolf, Evan Falchuk, Don Berwick,<\/p>\n
Grossman, 67, takes pride in his role reconciling AIPAC to the
\nIsraeli-Palestinian peace negotiations launched under Israeli Prime
\nMinister Yitzhak Rabin in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
“Rabin’s exact words were, ‘AIPAC is the most important American
\nJewish organization and I need your help,’ ” Grossman recalls of his
\n1993 meeting with the late Israeli leader.<\/p>\n
Grossman immediately convened a phone conference with the AIPAC
\nboard, and it became the first U.S. Jewish group to endorse the
\ntalks.<\/p>\n
“That was probably as meaningful a conversation I’ve had with any
\nleader,” Grossman said. “I felt I was participating in a small way in
\nJewish history.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Boston Phoenix March 16 – 23, 2000 article Is Grossman our next governor?<\/a> This article was the final straw in my research.\u00a0 There is so much other positive info in the article than what I have excerpted below, that I have become convinced that my choice of Steve Grossman is absolutely the right choice.<\/p>\n
Not everyone is so enthusiastic, of course. To critics such as Lou
\nDiNatale, the director of state and local policy at UMass Boston’s
\nMcCormack Institute, Grossman is a fundraiser, a rich Newton
\nbusinessman, a vanity candidate, a dilettante. “Grossman is the
\nfunctional equivalent of a Democratic Steve Forbes,” DiNatale says. “He
\ninherited a company from his family. His credentials are simply those
\nof being a fundraiser.”<\/p>\n
But a closer look at Grossman reveals a
\nlong-time activist committed to the ideals of grassroots politics — a
\nfamily commitment that goes all the way back to his grandfather.
\n.
\n.
\n.
\nThe war had personal as well as political consequences for
\nGrossman. At Harvard he signed an anti-war petition, despite the
\nwarnings of career-conscious classmates who said it would harm his
\nchances to get a job. Later, he accelerated his business-school program
\nand joined the US Army Reserves, which fulfilled his military
\nobligations. That’s where he met Edward Markey, a young man from
\nMalden. “We were always talking about politics,” Markey remembers.
\nWhen Markey announced that he was running for a congressional seat in
\n1976, Grossman called to offer his family’s support.
\n.
\n.
\n.
\nDuring the campaigns of 1992, Grossman acted as a one-man
\nDemocratic truth squad, trailing Governor Weld and his fellow
\nRepublicans as they traversed Massachusetts campaigning for GOP
\ncandidates. And after Paul Tsongas dropped out of the presidential
\nrace, Grossman threw his support to Bill Clinton, whom he had met when
\nhe briefed Clinton on Mideast policy before a speech that the
\nthen-governor of Arkansas made to AIPAC in 1989. By the time Clinton
\nwas inaugurated, Grossman was chairman of AIPAC, and his ties to the
\npresident would serve him well in that capacity. When Grossman met with
\nPrime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem the very day the news broke
\nthat the Israelis and the Palestinians had secretly been negotiating in
\nOslo, Rabin told Grossman the peace deal could not move forward unless
\nhe had the support of the American Jewish community. Toward that end,
\nGrossman worked with President Clinton to sell the deal and deliver
\nAmerican backing.<\/p>\n
By 1997, Grossman had left AIPAC and was
\npreparing to take a break from communal work, but his involvement in
\nparty affairs was about to intensify. The fundraising scandals
\nsurrounding the DNC were coming to a head. The party found itself
\n$20\u00a0million in debt, and donors were reluctant to contribute more
\nmoney. At this dark moment, Michael Whouley recommended Grossman to
\nVice-President Gore for the chairmanship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I have provided links to all my sources.\u00a0 You should read them yourself, and you should do your own research.<\/p>\n
\n
Mark Twain said<\/dt>\n
\u201cIt ain\u2019t what you don\u2019t know that gets you into trouble. It\u2019s what you know for sure that just ain\u2019t so.\u201d<\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
So please be careful about what you know for sure about Steve Grossman. I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open so that I can be sure, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have been tending toward supporting Steve Grossman who is a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. I have heard a remark about someone being dead set against him because as a former head of AIPAC, he has a very bigoted view of Arabs. Anyone who has read many of the things that I have posted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-stevegsposts","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16849"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16863,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16849\/revisions\/16863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ssgreenberg.name\/PoliticsBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}