Franklin County candidate for state senate, Corey Parent presents himself reasonably enough, as a “local boy,” “family man” and someone who “reaches across the aisle;” but you have to ask yourself why Tom and Carol Breuer, big time far-right conservative donors who have been especially active in opposing gay rights in Massachusetts, have been contributing heavily to Parent, in particular, over the course of the past two election cycles.

Some may recall a blogpost about Parent and the Breuers that I wrote way back in 2016 when I first was made aware of their oversized support for Parent, who ran successfully in that election for the House.

That targeted support suggests to me that Parent is being groomed as another handmaid of the religious right, which, as we have seen on the national stage, is less interested in cooperating in order to do the people’s business than it is in arresting the evolution of our diverse democracy toward more progressive and inclusive policies.

This does not make me want Parent to climb that next rung of the ladder into the state senate.

Surely the folly of promoting individuals backed by the far right has more than proven itself since Donald Trump took the White House by questionable means.

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but here is where it all begins.  Local candidates strike the contribution mother load, then bind themselves ever tighter to an exclusionary special interest, as they rise in political fortune on a sea of easy cash.  

For me, this is not what the democratic process should be all about.