Cahill’s criticism of Patrick stirs political speculation

BOSTON -- The recent dust up between Treasurer Tim Cahill (D-Quincy) and Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Milton) over the handling of the Bay State's finances has drawn strong words on both sides.

"I think it's a reckless move by the administration and by the legislature," Cahill said on NECN Tuesday of the governor's plan to guarantee the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's near $2.4 billion debt. Asked if he was consulted on the plan Cahill responded, "No, no we've had very minimal conversations with the administration."Treasurer Tim Cahill (D-Quincy)

Cahill's remarks prompted a quick and fierce response from Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray (D-Worcester) who said Cahill shouldn't criticize the governor when he doesn't have a plan of his own. "He's been informed about this since April," Murray told the Boston Globe Wednesday. "He had plenty of time to come forward with ideas, and we have not heard from him...What is reckless in this situation is to do nothing . . . because the turnpike could end up facing a $200 million payment that would fall on the backs of the toll payers."

Putting aside whether Patrick's plan is reckless or not, the fiery exchange between Murray and Cahill (the Globe's Casey Ross called Murray's remarks "unusually heated") has not gone unnoticed by political analysts who believe both pols are eyeing the governor's office. In particular, Cahill's injecting himself into the budget discussion, they say, is a way to stay politically relevant.

"Tim Cahill appears to be using his position as the Commonwealth's chief financial officer to raise his political profile," said Seth Gitell, political analyst and author of Gitell.com. "Consistently underestimated, Cahill has shown himself to be a strong statewide office holder." Gitell said Cahill is in a unique position to capitalize politically on the struggling economy. "[Cahill's] oversight of the budget -- a top priority during difficult fiscal times -- creates an opportunity for him to make headlines. This could pay dividends if either Governor Patrick eventually joins a Barack Obama administration or if the governor's poll numbers plummet."

Sources said the exchange is emblematic of the classic power struggle within the Massachusetts Democratic Party between more liberal pols and more moderate or conservative pols. Cahill, they say, fits the paradigm of a fiscally moderate, Irish Catholic Democrat. On the other hand, Patrick, like Gov. Michael Dukakis (D-Brookline), is part of the progressive camp.

Others said Cahill's remarks are an example of the treasurer seeing an opportunity to make headlines and keep himself relevant (there were several television news cameras at Cahill's testimony before Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), the chair of the Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets Thursday morning). "Criticism is healthy but Murray has a point that he should have an alternative plan before criticizing the governor's plan," said Michael Shea, a Boston Democratic political consultant. "Clearly Cahill has gubernatorial aspirations."

"One of the rules in politics," Shea added, "is if you are going to pitch, you have to be able to catch."

Still others said any talk of Cahill's actions being political motivated is premature, though not unfounded in history. "Just as Joe Malone (R) found himself often accused by representatives of being disloyal to Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) when Malone disagreed with him," said Michael Goldman, the Boston Democratic strategist, referring to the former Bay State treasurer. "The treasurer is in the position when he disagrees with the governor to make those disagreements known. I think the governor understands."

Of course, Goldman acknowledged, Malone did eventually run against Cellucci, which is why the exchange was bound to cause political speculation. "The truth is that no matter what Malone did," he said, "people automatically assumed that he was looking down the road and he did run. So it's no surprise people are superimposing that model on this governor and treasurer."

Goldman said Cahill has every right to voice his disagreement with Patrick's policies because he is an independently elected statewide official, not part of Patrick's administration. "The surprise," he said, "would be if any independently elected individual, be it the treasurer, the auditor, the Secretary of State or the Attorney General agreed with the governor one hundred percent of the time."