Keller @ Large: Looking at the Massachusetts Democratic party platform

BOSTON – Where is the Massachusetts Democratic party headed? That’s what WBZ:TV political analyst Jon Keller wanted to learn from party chairman Gus Bickford as Democrats nominated their candidates for statewide office this weekend.

Bickford and Keller discussed the 15% convention delegate threshold needed to get on the primary ballot, and the charge that the party is anti-business based on opposition to a ballot initiative that would give gig workers like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers the classification of an independent contractor.

“It’s a pro-worker stance,” Bickford said. “We want them to have independence of being able to drive when they want, but basically to be able to drive with fair wages and reimbursements that are appropriate.”

Also among the positions sought by the Democratic party platform is a ban on seating elected officials who “enabled” the insurrection attempt on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020. Keller asked Bickford if he could name anyone in Boston who falls under that category.

“No, I don’t know of anyone that fits that very specific category,” Bickford said. “There are people that, you know, basically get on the line when you read some of their comments about what they may or may not have done.”

Keller also asked about how the party is taking on anti-Semitism, and what Bickford thinks about the state of the Massachusetts Republican party.

“I so would like many of my friends who are Republican to be able to take back the Republican party. This is not the Republican party of Massachusetts,” he said. “It’s a disservice, frankly to the state, to have what I believe is a group of people that are just following a corrupt former president.”

Republican party chair person Jim Lyons has repeatedly declined requests to be interviewed, Keller noted.

Keller @ Large, Part 2