Patrick McCabe for State Representative

Background:

I was born in Somerville, MA to a working-class family. My father was a truck driver and warehouse worker and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. Growing up, I remember being very proud of my father for working very hard. He was always working several jobs. I also remember being very embarrassed when I had to go to the store and buy bread and milk with a hand filled with pennies, nickels and food stamps. I am getting involved in politics to ensure that children do not need to be embarrassed because their father is a truck driver. Working people should be valued.

To win on the issues that are important to working families, I knew that it would take a different kind of leader. The old way of politics does not benefit most Americans; it benefits the powerful few. After High School, I decided to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point where leadership was the focus of my studies.

While at West Point, I served in many positions of leadership but serving as the Secretary of the Contemporary Affairs Seminar, West Point's equivalent of an African-American Student Union, and Vice-President of the Mountaineering Club were the most important leadership positions for my personal development. Both of these leadership positions helped broaden my world view and hone my skills as a leader.

After graduating from West Point, I served as an Infantry officer for seven years. I was a company commander in the 101st Airborne Division in Kosovo for six months prior to leaving active duty. My service in Kosovo provided me with a lesson on the destructiveness of the politics of division and exclusion. I saw thousands of people who would never realize their potential or benefit from the contributions of others because they were victims of or purveyors of hatred and intolerance. After seven years of active-duty, I left the service and moved back home with more passion than ever to help make my community more socially, economically, and environmentally just. My wife Amy-Jayne and I live in Medford with our two young children, and for the past four years I’ve worked as the Organizing and Communications Director for SEIU Local 1984 in Concord, New Hampshire, helping public employees fight for quality public services, dignity, and respect.

Goals:

I entered this race after my opponent told a group of young students from our local high school's Gay Straight Alliance that it was okay to write discrimination into our constitution by banning same sex marriage because he was defending our right to change the constitution. I not only disagree with his position but I am troubled that a so-called "leader" would tell a group of young people who are trying to figure out where they fit in our society that they are less than equal. With that, I realized how disconnected the current representative was with the Medford and Malden communities and launched my campaign for state representative.

The marriage equality issue is only one of the most recent examples of my opponent using his office and his position to further a set of values opposite of those of the people of our district; he is also passionately pro-life, and an opponent of stem cell research. I'm running to give the people of the 35th the voice on Beacon Hill that they've been lacking; one that advocates for their interests, and shares their values. In office I will work to build a more just society that the people of my district overwhelmingly believe in and deserve.

Issues:

I believe that access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, and in the Massachusetts House I will fight to establish a system of universal single-payer healthcare that respects that right. Any system that spends 40 cents out of every dollar on administration, as our nation’s present healthcare system does, is broken. Our current system of universal healthcare by insurance mandate in Massachusetts is a step in the right direction, in that it has greatly expanded access to healthcare among the vulnerable populations of our state, but it fails to address the issue of cost. Only by taking for-profit insurance companies and HMOs permanently out of the picture can we address the ridiculous inflation of healthcare costs in our country.

I believe that access to a world-class education, and economic opportunity it represents, is a human right as well. Our system of public K-12 and higher education has been first on the chopping block during two decades of Republican administrations in our state, and I will fight in the house to reverse these cuts. If we are ever to realize the American ideal of equality of opportunity, it will be through consistent excellence in our public schools, which I believe should be fully funded from pre-school to Ph.D. programs. In the house, I will work to significantly increase teacher compensation to bring it in league with that of other professionals, and bring parents and teachers into a bigger role in reforming our education policy. I will work to support innovative educational models like pilot and charter schools, but only in ways that do not undermine funding mechanisms for traditional public schools. On public higher education, I will work for a massive increase in investment in our state university system, state and community colleges. I believe our residents, including the children of undocumented immigrants, are entitled to an affordable, world-class public higher education, comparable in quality to what students at our most prestigious private institutions receive, at the cost of what they can earn at a part-time job. Investing in higher learning for our children and ourselves will stimulate economic development, lure more well paying jobs to Massachusetts, and increase economic opportunity and the standard of living of our people.

Finally, I believe that one of the most important roles of a public official is to set responsible environmental policy, to guarantee that our children and our children's children will inherit our planet in better condition than we did. Addressing global warming and air quality will be one of my highest priorities in office, but so will environmentally sustainable development, incentives for 'smart growth' and 'transit-oriented development', supporting and strengthening public transit, and repairing our damaged river and coastal ecosystems. Only by building a society where we don't poison our own air and water or recklessly misuse land can we create the conditions for enduring prosperity and great quality of life.

Grassroots Support:

Grassroots organizing is not just a tactic or technique that our campaign is using to win this race. By empowering people who are invisible in the shadows of our society, we will creative substantive change in every corner of our society. Organizing people from the bottom up to stand up for their interests and their rights is my life. The only way I know how to change our institutions and our society for the better, whether economically or politically, is through grassroots organizing. For the past four years I have worked as the Organizing and Communications Director for SEIU Local 1984 in New Hampshire, where every day I help public employees and their families stand up for their rights and get the respect they deserve. I am in this race for State Rep to empower the voters of my district, the same way I work to empower my union members every day.

Our campaign is focused on the grassroots because it’s our only possible path to victory. My opponent, the incumbent, is a powerfully entrenched professional politician, with over one hundred thousand dollars at his disposal. What I have is an amazing and talented campaign staff, 100+ incredible, energetic volunteers, and the core values of the voters of the district in my corner.

Almost the entire budget of my campaign is being spent on our staff and field program. Our opponent likes to put out lots of glossy fliers in the mail, but I understand that this race is going to be won house by house, door by door, one voter at a time. When I am sworn in next January, it will be because of the incredible dedication of the hundreds of people who gave up their weekends again and again, or pitched in $10 or $15 when they could to help spread our message of progressive values and change.

DFA Values:

A socially progressive agenda is important to help everyone in our society succeed in building their own vision of the American Dream. I want my two children grow up in a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, where no groups are victimized or marginalized, and everyone is asked to contribute to build a better world. I am pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, pro-stem cell research, pro-immigrant and in favor of closing corporate tax loopholes. Our incumbent State Representative supports none of these. I believe our social policies need to be focused on helping all people in this country realize their full potential. This is something that has been missing in the representation of my district for far too long, and something I know we need. The people of the 35th Middlesex district deserve a State Representative who will fight for the inclusive, progressive, Democratic values our community shares.

Many Americans work very hard to pay their taxes and they must know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely. Public services and those who provide them are under attack because of unwise decisions and lapses in accountability and leadership. Everyone has a right to know how their tax money is being spent. As an Army officer, I was always a good steward of tax-payer dollars and insisted on accountability for all financial decisions. I recouped tens of thousands of dollars for overpayment of repair parts and was able to use this money for much needed basic equipment for my soldiers. This allowed us to be combat ready when we received orders to deploy to Kosovo.

That said, I am dedicated to finding new sources of state revenue to support the programs that make our state stronger. Implementing my legislative priorities will require new sources of state revenue, and I believe we can get that revenue without damaging our economic competitiveness by closing corporate tax loopholes, redistributing the tax burden towards corporations and away from private citizens, and creating a genuinely progressive tax structure.