Yacht clubs become stumbling point for MA GOP

>>> as of today, we have an all but official lineup for the senate election in massachusetts to fill john kerry 's seat. today was the deadline for certifying signatures for candidates who are trying to get on the ballot. now, on the democratic side, congressman ed markey and congressman stephen lynch both got their signatures certified and turned into today. congressman markey is still considered to be the favorite. the more conservative congressman lynch was really hoping to cut into that perceived advantage by getting the afl-cio to endorse him. but that did not happen. he did not get enough votes from the executive board of the afl-cio. so stephen lynch 's hopes have been dashed, and the biggest labor group in the state is not going to endorse anybody in the democratic primary . so that means practically that ed markey is more favored than ever in the democratic primary . that's the democratic side. on the republican side , three candidates are trying to get on the ballot. it now seems as if they are all on their way to doing that. and with three republicans likely to be on the ballot and the primary set for next month, the massachusetts republican party decided that they should hold a straw poll in the race. this is kind of the first official word from the party on this big occasion, right? this is a high profile occasion. no other senate race in the country is going to be going on when this happens. this is massachusetts republicans picking somebody to run for the united states senate . who is going to be the next guy after scott brown ? how are they going to follow that up? this is a really high-profile moment for republicans in massachusetts . and so the republican party in massachusetts scheduled their straw poll at a yacht club , lovely, because nothing brands a party trying to get over its thurston romney iii problem like local news reports having to describe the multiple glittering cha chandeliers that the republicans held their straw poll at a yacht club . you think it seems like the wrong face forward for the party at this point you are thing along the same lines as the guy who won the straw poll under the glittering yacht club chandeliers. the boston globe reporting that dan winslow slipped out from the yacht club before the votes were even counted, before even finding he had won the straw poll , quote, but before he left he said he thought the event set the wrong message. they gave us three minutes to speak today. three minutes is longer than i ever wanted to spend at a yacht club . i am not a tea and crumpets republican. i am running a grassroots campaign.

>> which is probably closer to the right message for massachusetts republicans. even if he might be exactly the wrong messenger for that message. because even though candidate dan winslow says he did not want to spend three minutes in a yacht club , and really even that was too many, candidate dan winslow himself has a apparently been on the board of directors of a massachusetts yacht club as recently as 2011 , he disclosed he was deserving on the board of directors for a very nice yacht and tennis club. that's according to this disclosure form uploaded by the center for american progress . we have a link on our blog if you you would like to peruse. but the bottom line is he is not to be confused with a tea and crumpets yachting republican. he is in fact a yachting and tennis club republican, and i guess that's a whole different thing. and i guess there is nothing wrong with, that unless, of course, you're campaigning for office by in part telling people you are not the kind of guy who would voluntarily set foot inside a yacht club . if you're that guy, then the fact that you're on the board of directors of a yacht club is embarrassing. the primaries in massachusetts are next month. they happen on april 30th . the special election is going to be in june. and from the looks of things so far, this is going to be a fun