Jim McGovern

Congressman Jim McGovern said Wednesday that the Democrats should be ready and willing to use their now considerable majorities in both chambers of Congress to pass significant legislation, the Associated Press reports.

The remarks came two days after Democrats expanded their majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, and a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "the country must be governed from the middle."

McGovern told the AP he is not concerned with the House moving left, but that he is worried about Democrats not using the mandate he believes the election provided.

"I'm not worried about overreaching," McGovern said. "I'm worried about being too timid and too cautious, and not stepping up to the plate and doing what we promised we would do."

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Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough) outside a Marlborough polling place Tuesday

MARLBOROUGH - Waiting outside to cast her ballot early Tuesday morning, Democratic State House candidate Danielle Gregoire said she already can't wait to see the results.

"I'm excited about this," she told PolitickerMA.com. "We worked hard and left it all on the field. No regrets."

Gregoire, of Marlborough, is running against Marlborough Republican Arthur Vigeant in Middlesex County's 4th District. The 4th District's seat was vacated by state Rep. Stephen LeDuc, who Gregoire has worked for in the State House.

Congressman Richard Neal said Sunday night that he isn't interested in pursuing the United States Senate, that he isn't sure if John Kerry would join an Obama administration and that he is focused on a couple state House races in his 2nd Congressional District.

In a brief but wide-ranging phone interview with PolitickerMA.com Sunday, Neal, a Springfield Democrat, said the speculation surrounding whether Kerry would be tapped for a cabinet spot in an Obama administration is "a bit premature."

"But at the same time," Neal added, "I think that the rumor seems to be growing stronger might lend some credibility to it. I don't know for sure...Who knows, much of it is speculative."

While his Republican challenger, Jeff Beatty, went to three sign standouts Sunday, U.S. Sen. John Kerry was in Washington D.C. Sunday morning to appear on NBC's Meet the Press. According to his campaign, Kerry returned to Massachusetts immediately afterward and attended a get out the vote rally in Shrewsbury with Congressmen Richard Neal (D-Springfield) and Jim McGovern (D-Worcester). State Senate candidate Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat who is running for state Sen. Edward Augustus' 2nd Worcester seat, was also at the event.

On Monday, Kerry is slated to attend an evening event in Barnstable.

Congressman Jim McGovern is set to headline a rally in Marlborough for State House candidates Jamie Eldridge and Danielle Gregoire Tuesday, according to Eldridge's campaign.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester)Eldridge, who is currently a state representative for Middlesex County's 37th District, is running against Marlborough Republican Steven Levy for state Sen. Pam Resor's Middlesex-Worcester seat. Gregoire is facing off against Marlborough Republican Arthur Vigeant in Middlesex County's 4th House District seat.

The event is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Democratic Coordinated Campaign Headquarters in Marlborough. McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, is slated to arrive at 4:30 p.m.

Congressman Jim McGovern is planning to attend several events for state Senate candidate Michael Moore in the run up to the election, his office said this week.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester)Michael Mershon, a spokesman for McGovern, told PolitickerMA.com that since McGovern is unchallenged this year, he is devoting a lot of energy to other campaigns in his district and Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

In particular, Mershon said, McGovern is doing whatever he can to help Moore succeed state Sen. Edward Augustus in Worcester's 2nd Senate District seat. Moore, a Millbury Democrat, is running against Shrewsbury Republican John LeBeaux and Shrewsbury Green-Rainbow candidate Steven Baer for the seat.

McGovern, Mershon said, is willing to fundraise and "offer our people to be whatever help we can" and has "kept the last week or two open on his schedule so that we can be flexible and do what he needs us to do."

DENVER -- U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern fired up the Massachusetts delegation to the Democratic National Convention Monday morning by setting his sights on President Bush and the Republican Party.U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester)

"I want to tell you something," McGovern (D-Worcester) told the delegation at its breakfast. "I have lived in Washington with George W. Bush as a United States congressman for eight years. He is the worst president in the history of the United States of America."

"And his Republican allies in the Congress are no better," he added. "Their agenda is not about advancing anything, it is about destructing everything."

Earlier this evening, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern Chief of Staff Chris Philbin took me, PolitickerMA.com columnist Wally Edge, to task for an opinion piece I did about his boss and the Progressive Democrats of America, an organization that has endorsed John Kerry's primary challenger Ed O'Reilly.

Here is Wally's response:

Earlier today, PolitickerMA.com's Wally Edge connected the dots between U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester), the Progressive Democrats of America and U.S. Senate candidate Ed O'Reilly (D-Gloucester) in his ongoing commentary on the "Inside Edge."

McGovern's office has since responded, stating that McGovern fully supports U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston) in his re-election run and highlighted the congressman's work with the Bay State's junior senator.

Below is the entirety of the McGovern's response.

Of the little organizational support John Kerry's primary challenger, Ed O'Reilly, has behind him, Progressive Democrats of America are the staunchest.

Their support isn't so much pro-O'Reilly as it is anti-Kerry. PDA believes he should be more vigorous in opposing funding for the Iraq war.