Going 15 Rounds in the Sound

In This Corner
I was just wondering when the wind farm in Nantucket Sound was going to be making an apprearance in this year's elections. It's tough to see how when almost everyone running has a variation of the same position on the issue.

With the exception of Rep. Matt Patrick (D), of Falmouth, who supports the project, but is waiting to see the results of the environmental review, all the other candidates for state or federal office, are opposed to the project, but are waiting to see the environmental report.

Patrick's opponent for the House seat from the Falmouth-Mashpee-Barnstable district, Larry Wheatley (R), Barnstable ran mainly as an opponent of Cape Wind two year's ago, with the overwhelming backing of the Cape Cod Times, to the degree that voters could not decifer his position on any other issue. Wheatley could hardly do otherwise, since the district includes the village of Osterville, Ground Zero for the opposition forces. Wheatley could not stray far from this base, without other hamlets of support in the district, like Falmouth.

This time around both candidate's have moderated their positions somewhat, or at least turned down the volumn. And the Times has stopped reminding everyone that Wheatley is opposed to the project, since it tends to bring out voters who might vote against Wheatley for his opposition to the project. Got that?

The House race in the Barnstable-Yarmouth district, which includes the Hyannis and West Yarmouth waterfront precincts, pits two candidates, Rep. Demetrius Atsalis (D), and Ann Canedy (R), both opposed to the wind farm, against each other, again in another rerun. They've stopped trying to outdo each other in their opposition to the wind farm, this time around. Given the similarity of their positions, neither is bringing up the subject this year.

In the Yarmouth-Dennis-Brewster district race, Dick Nietz (R) of Yarmouth has taken the offensive on the field of opposition to the wind farm, while Cleon Turner (D) of Dennis has taken to defending his opposition to the wind farm. Both postions are nuanced; Neitz's hometown stands to gain significantly from Cape Wind's construction, while Turner's proclivity for taking positions on the left, has many of his supporters supporting the wind farm as well.

Footnotes: The incumbent, Tom George (R) of Yarmouth, not running for re-election, interestingly supports the project. George is still the most principled man in Cape politics. Cynthia Stead (R) who was defeated in the Primary by Neitz, was the only other candidate in the field for a state house office supporting the wind farm.

The Lower Cape district features Rep. Shirley Gomes (R) of Harwich running for relection, and Sarah Peake (D) of Provincetown. Both women have staked out positions against the project, having more to do with their strategy to get (re)elected, than their principles. Gomes would like to nail down (win) the town of Chatham, whose voters largely oppose the project, while Peake wants to placate the true environmentalists in the district (read Democrats who need a reason to vote for a Democrat again). Peake doesn't need to complicate the election with the wind farm issue, since the it's a referendum on gay marriage anyway.

The Lightweights
In the race for State Senate from the Cape & Islands district, political newcomer, Gail Lese (R) from Yarmouth opposes the project. It seems she's taking her marching orders from Governor Romney, who recruited her specifically to move into the distrct and run for this seat as part of the Romney GOP charge to take back (part of ) the Senate. While incumbent Sen. Rob O'Leary (D) Barnstable, came out early in opposition (2 years before Gail Lese had even moved into the district) to the wind farm at the behest Congressman Bill Delahunt. Recently, both candidates were the beneficiaries of fundrasing efforts on their behalves by their political patrons. Don't expect a lot of debate on this topic during the campaign, Romney and Delahunt are on the same page on this one.

Footnote: Lou Gonzaga (I) of Hyannis is opposed to the wind farm, even though the only politcal hay to be made in his race, (read votes) would be to stake out a position contrary to his opponents.

The Referee
Most candidates realize that their positions now cut both ways. Cape Codders seem to be evenly split on the issue. Despite the Cape Cod Times best (worst) effort to slant the results of a poll to make it appear that a majority of residents opposed the project, the polling data reveiled that about 2/5 of us support the wind farm , about 2/5 oppose the wind farm, and the remaining 1/5 of us could go either way. So however the candidates pose their position, they will try to bury it somewhere beneath their postions on issues like, school funding/aid formulas, and gay marriage.

The Heavyweights
The most interesting race this year seems to be in the 10th Congressional District because of the geography of the region, which includes both Osterville and Quincy. The most vociferous opponent of the wind farm has been Congressman Bill Delahunt(D) of Quincy. In responding to the early calls from the Cape based opponents, like the Chamber of Commerce, he has gone so far as to file legislation to stop the project, lobby federal agencies against it, and recruit opponents to fight it.

What is curious about these actions is that there has been no mention of them in the Quincy Pariot Ledger. Quincy is where the Fore River Shipyard is located, the most ideal location for the manufacture(r) of the wind turines (GE). Delahunt opted to preserve the view of the Osterville crowd, some of whom are Pioneers (fundraisers) for Bush, at the expense of union jobs for the folks back home.

His challenger, Mike Jones (R) of Plymouth seems to be taking the same tack, but for a slightly more ethical reason. He doesn't care about Quincy, which he can't win anyway, because it's overwhelmingly Democtratic, but he needs the Governor's support, who opposes the wind farm, in the rest of the district to win.