"All politics is local." So said the late speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill. I think he would agree that politics is also built on personal political relationships. Back in the day, when O'Neill was coming up, everybody knew everybody in the neighborhoods of Boston. Who you knew, who knew your family, mattered. But those kinds of neighborhoods and those kinds of relationships are rarer these days. Society is more transient. Far fewer people live in the towns, let alone the neighborhoods where they grew up.

Many of us are more isolated from the communities we live in. We are disconnected from politics and government. We don't know our city councilors or our state representatives. Voter participation is far lower than any other industrial democracy. Politics is ruled by big money, political consultants, ad agencies and television.

But there are deep rumblings and tremors in the body politic that may change that.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, the front runner for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts has fallen more than 30 points according to the most recent poll, reported by State House New Service. His opponent, Deval Patrick a civil rights and corporate lawyer who started out with no name recognition has made the race what the news service calls "a dead heat."

Tom Reilly's 40-point lead in the polls has narrowed substantially, with 44 percent of new poll takers indicating they would be less likely to vote for Reilly for governor due to reports that his handpicked running mate was negligent on tax and student loan payments.  According to results of a 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll taken Feb. 2 to Feb. 4 ...  39 percent of Democrats indicated they would vote for Reilly, 30 percent opted for former corporate attorney and civil rights law enforcer Deval Patrick, and 31 percent said they were undecided.  The poll of 400 registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.  Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they were aware of recent news about Rep. Marie St. Fleur's withdrawal from the Reilly  campaign, while 21 percent said they were not aware of the flap over St. Fleur.  "What was nearly a 40-point lead last February is only a nine-point lead today," David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center said in a statement.  "What's worse is among core registered Democrats, the Democratic Primary is now a statistical dead heat."  Among all registered voters surveyed in the poll, 35 percent viewed Reilly favorably, and 33 percent unfavorably.  Last year, 55 percent viewed Reilly favorably, compared to 11 percent unfavorably.

 

Patrick crushed Reilly in the recent Democratic Party caucuses by a margin of nearly 2-1.

Reilly who has raised more than $3 million and has long been seen as the all-but-inevitable candidate. However, Reilly's stock is plummeting.

This is happening in part because of Reilly's missteps that have impressed no one, but also because Democratic voters are concluding that Deval Patrick is a far better candidate with a far better chance of winning the corner office for the Democrats for the first time since 1986.

The Democratic Party caucuses held on Saturday in hundreds of communities around Massachusetts may well have been a tipping point in the history of state politics. At the very least -- they were a shock to the system.

The campaign of insurgent Deval Patrick is building a formidable campaign organization. Old Guard candidate, Attorney General Tom Reilly seems to believe organizing is unecessary. Such things are for "liberal activists," he says. That's a remarkable view from someone who seeks to lead a party that has not won a gubernatorial election since 1986.  It's especially remarkable coming from a candiate who news reports suggest lost the party caucuses by nearly 2-1.

Reilly epitomizes an imperious and money-driven approach to politics that is riding a long arc into the dustbin of history. The Deval Patrick campaign is shortening that arc in Massachusetts.

The race for governor of Massachusetts was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday when the just-selected running mate of Democratic front runner Attorney General Tom Reilly, abruptly quit the race. The Associated Press reports that  State Rep. Marie St. Fleur was exposed as having "tax and loan delinquencies."  The news was so startling that the wire story has been picked up all over the country and in Europe.

There are two candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts this year. One is a statewide elected official who has raised $3.7 million from fat cats and has padded his office payroll with highly-paid public relations staff. The other has been a civil rights leader, government official and corporate lawyer. He is running a grassroots campaign with a large and enthusiastic volunteer field organization.

The media have generally touted the former as the inevitable candidate and dismissed the latter as having an uphill climb from political obscurity.

But the tipping point may have arrived.