BOSTON — On Beacon Hill, there's legislative pushback on the state's new budget. Soon after Gov. Deval Patrick vetoed funding for the aging Taunton State Hospital, lawmakers lined up calling for an override of that veto.

For perspective on the budget and what's behind conservative criticism of Mitt Romney, Morning Edition host Bob Seay spoke to Maurice Cunningham, chair of political science at UMass Boston to analyze not only the hospital move but Patrick's stands on immigration and his ability as a manager.

 
BOSTON — As July rolls in and we celebrate our nation’s birthday, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank is preparing to become the first congressman to have a same-sex marriage.
 
Frank, who is retiring at the end of this term, is getting married to Jim Ready, his partner of 5 years, this month. News reports are speculating the event will take place in Newton on July 7.
 
Planning the wedding has been “a little stressful,” Frank said in June in an interview with Todd Zwillich of The Takeaway.
 
However, Frank said he wasn't worried, and thinks the couple did a good job, in part thanks to some helpful assistance from Ready’s mother and Frank’s sister.
 
While there will be a disc jockey and decorations (although those will be left up to the hotel), a couple things will not be there: the press and the president.
 
The lack of the press is not surprising. In a November 2011 interview with WGBH News, Frank said one thing he intended to do when he retired was to "talk to the media less."
 
As for the president, it’s nothing Frank has against Obama, but rather the Secret Service.
 
“I was asked if I would invite the president,” Frank said, “and it’s not his fault, but he brings [The Secret Service] with him, and they can ruin a party.”

Excerpts from Frank's interview with WGBH News co-production The Takeaway

Q: So, how is the wedding planning going? Is it stressful at all?
 
A: It is. It’s a little stressful, but Jim and I called in some reinforcements. Jim’s mother and my sister, who, between them, you know, weddings are new for both of us but Jim’s mother married off three of his siblings and my sister married off two of her children, so they’ve been helpful to us. And I just spoke to Jim, he was up at his mother’s house today, they were going through the RSVPs. We’ve got it pretty well organized.
 
Q: Do you guys have any taste for wedding planning, do you guys get into decorations and whatnot?
 
A: No, we left that to the hotel. I’m not very focused on those things, but we are dealing with the hotel on that one, not getting into that much, we’re going to have a disc jockey, Jim has been talking to him about songs, and we’ve gotten suits for all of the guys who are going to be at the wedding for that.
 
Q: Are you at all worried about the wedding?
 
A: No, it’s under control, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of planning it. We have a certain issue of we don’t want it to be a spectacle. I suspect there might be some disappointed press people when we tell them they’re not invited.
 

 
BOSTON — On June 25, President Barack Obama will attend a campaign fundraiser at Boston’s Symphony Hall. The event comes at a tough time for the Obama campaign. Republican Mitt Romney outraised Obama in May. It was the first time he had done so. And outside groups supporting Romney spent $16 million on ads slamming Obama in the swing states. The president will attend two more fundraisers in the Bay State before heading out.
 
Also on June 25, opponents of a casino at East Boston’s Suffolk Downs will hold a community meeting. Developers want to build a 300-room hotel and resort casino at the thoroughbred racing track. Supporters say it will create 2,500 construction jobs and 4,000 resort jobs. But opponents fear increased crime, traffic congestion and reduced property values.
 
And on June 26, state officials are planning to break ground on a $106 million Hollywood-like studio complex at the former military base in Devens. The state announced $5 million in tax-increment financing for the project, which cuts taxes for the complex over 20 years. The fully occupied complex is expected to host 800 jobs.

 
BOSTON — As longtime Democratic incumbent Barney Frank prepares to retire from his 4th Congressional District seat, the favorite to replace him is likely Democratic nominee Joe Kennedy III. For a Republican to have a chance against Kennedy, they’ll need to ignite GOP passions the way Scott Brown did before winning election to the Senate in 2010. But mudslinging between the top two GOP contenders could make that unlikely.
 
Two years ago, Republican Sean Bielat mounted an impressive challenge to Frank. Now he’s running again — and trying to fight off fellow Republican Elizabeth Childs, who served as Mitt Romney’s commissioner of mental health.
 
To hear Bielat tell it, though, Childs doesn’t really belong in the GOP. As he told New England Cable News earlier this month: “You know, I don’t know to what extent a lot of people would consider her a Republican.“
 
She says operative, he says intern
 
That’s because Childs left the GOP in the 1980s and voted in the state’s Democratic primary just 2 years ago. But Bielat’s attacks raised Childs’ hackles — because Bielat is also a former Democrat. The day after Bielat put out a press release casting Childs as a closet Democrat, Childs fired back with a release of her own highlighting Bielat’s work as an “operative” for the Clinton-Gore campaign.
 
According to Bielat, though, that characterization is a bit overblown.
 
“I think that if, while I was involved in interning for the ’96 Clinton-Gore campaign, someone had told me I was an ‘operative,’ I would have been extremely flattered,” he told WGBH. “I was a junior in college, the campaign headquarters was a little ways down the street from Georgetown and I interned there 10 hours a week.”
 
“The whole thing’s goofy”
 
Bielat did admit that, after graduating from Georgetown University, he did opposition research for Democratic politicians. But he said that in contrast to Childs, his dalliances with the Democratic Party were youthful indiscretions.
 
“It’s a false equivalency to say, ‘16 years ago, Sean did some stuff when he was, you know, 22, 23 years old — and 11 months ago I did something when I was 50,’” he argued. “It’s not exactly parallel. So it’s goofy. The whole thing’s goofy.
 
Childs claimed that explanation didn’t hold up.
 
“Well, he’s only a little bit beyond when he was a Democrat,” she said of Bielat. “He was a Democrat up until he moved to Brookline to run against Barney Frank, and worked — worked! — on Democratic campaigns, was steeped in that his whole life as a Democrat.”
 
Worried about abortion, but more worried about debt
 
Asked about her switch from the Republicans to the Democrats and back again, Childs said she left the GOP when the party became increasingly strident on abortion. Then, last year, she returned to the Republican fold after concluding that Democrats weren’t serious about addressing the national debt.
 
“The fiscal issues I decided were so critical that as important as the choice issue is to me, if our children don’t have freedoms because we as a country are broke, then frankly, we may have won a battle but lost the war,” Childs said. “And I wasn’t willing to do that.”
 
The sniping between Bielat and Childs makes for good political theater. But it could leave the party with a nominee who’s incapable of exciting the Republican base. One beneficiary of this bickering could be David Steinhof, a Fall River dentist who’s also seeking the Republican nomination and calls himself the “conservative choice” for 4th District voters. There’s just one problem: he used to be a Democrat, too.

BOSTON — Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is stepping up personal attacks on his Democratic opponent. After leaving the issue mostly to surrogates, he appeared on national television twice the week of June 11 questioning Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American ancestry.

On Fox & Friends on June 14, Brown said Warren has a credibility problem.

"When you’re running for elective office, especially high elective office, you have to pass a test. And the test is about truthfulness and credibility and honesty. And quite frankly she failed that test as evidenced by her claiming to be Native American and her checking the box and making misrepresentations to not only Harvard but Penn,” he said.

He said the same thing on CBS Network News on June 11.

Warren defended herself on MSNBC, asserting that she does have Native American heritage but she never used it to get a job or a raise.

“This is how I grew up, this is my family. I’m not backing off from my family. It became clear I didn’t get anything for law school applications or from college or for any of the jobs that I was hired for," she said.

Warren has gone through a slow wringer over whether she inappropriately identified herself as Native American in order to advance her academic career. And while a Suffolk University poll in May showed a majority of voters don't care about her heritage, some party leaders have expressed concern that Warren's handling of the situation shows the dangers of putting such an inexperienced campaigner in a high-profile race. 

For months, Brown's campaign staff has been calling reporters and bombarding them with press releases pushing the Native American story line. But the week of June 11 marks the first time he took the attacks national in network television interviews. 
 
So far, Brown hasn't run any attack ads about Warren's heritage. And an agreement he signed with Warren back earlier this year bans third-party PACs from doing the dirty work for him.?. But as the campaign gets more competitive in the following months, Brown might have to go even more on the offensive.
 

Politicians rally at South Station on June 11, 2012. (Phillip Martin/WGBH)

BOSTON — Massachusetts officials, local mayors and advocates rallied on June 11 in Boston’s South Station for a solution to the state's transportation funding crisis.
 
State transportation secretary Richard Davey headlined the rally, saying that bridges, roads and transit systems across the state were crumbling and in need of updates and repair. “The current transportation system we have today we cannot afford and the kind of improved system we all want we cannot afford,” he said.

State transportation agencies are saddled with debt — most of it from the Big Dig. 45 percent of the state transportation budget goes to the debt burden. Transportation officials have said they need new sources of revenue for maintenance and new infrastructure. But raising the gas tax or hiking tolls have been political nonstarters. and Lawmakers in Western and Central Massachusetts are reluctant to dedicate tax dollars to Boston-area roads and bridges, and vice versa. 
 
Still Gov. Deval Patrick, local mayors and outside groups are upping pressure on lawmakers to take action.
 
“We’ve allowed ourselves to be divided by region, divided by mode," said Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone. "In a battle over dwindling resources, suburbs have been pitted against cities. Rural communities have been pitted against urban areas. Drivers have been pitted against rail and transit users. That has got to stop and stop now.”
 
They’re calling on lawmakers to produce a long-term funding solution in the next legislative session.

Elizabeth Warren at the state Democratic convention on June 2. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

 
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts has congratulated his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, for winning her party's endorsement and said he wants a debate. Warren said on June 2 after winning her party’s endorsement that she will debate Brown and that she is ready. She won nearly 96 percent at the state convention, avoiding a primary.
 
With Warren's decisive victory, supporters are hoping the campaign can regain some steady footing. The campaign has spent weeks mired in controversy over whether Warren improperly identified as Native American to boost her academic career.
 
At the convention, Warren used her speech to go after Scott Brown and to signal the Native American flap is behind her:
 
"I am not backing down. I didn’t get in this race to fold up the first time I got punched. I got in this race because people are getting hammered and they’re counting on me to stand up to them. I’m ready," she said.
 
Warren's Democratic opponent, immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco failed to get the 15 percent of delegates to land a spot on September's primary ballot.
 
As late as the morning of June 2, Democratic state party chair John Walsh had been predicting that DeFranco would meet the 15 percent threshold, but at the convention there were practically no DeFranco supporters. Everyone was wearing Elizabeth Warren T-shirts and waving Elizabeth Warren signs.
 
Party leaders were saying a primary would hurt Democrats in their bid to unseat Brown and retain control of the Senate. That was convincing to delegates like Carol Thompson from Worcester, who said, "I would really like us to avoid a primary fight. So it seems to me we have enough on our hands with the Republican incumbent.”
 
DeFranco, for her part, blamed the party establishment. “Well, it’s Massachusetts politics. Of course it’s a machine. We’re supposed to be a government of the people, that means everybody, not just the people who are hand-picked or in certain cliques,” she said.
 
Just 3 days before the convention, as it looked like DeFranco was gaining some last-minute momentum, Gov. Deval Patrick, who earlier said he would stay neutral, pulled the rug from under DeFranco by endorsing Warren. Also, party bigwig and former governor Michael Dukakis, who tends to stay out of intraparty politics, was working the floor on Saturday, persuading delegates to back Warren.
 
In Warren’s victory speech she thanked DeFranco from the podium and said now she was ready to take on Brown: "It’s exciting to be here today. The Democrats have decided we’re ready to go! We’re ready!"
 
Both Brown and Warren have agreed to a debate, but it has yet to be scheduled.

 
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren overwhelmingly won the support of her party at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention on June 2. Warren received support from nearly 96 percent of the delegates — a record, and enough to avoid a party primary in September. Warren also had the backing of the Democratic establishment and the endorsement of Gov. Deval Patrick, the state’s most popular pol.
  
Warren has been dogged in recent weeks by criticism over her claims to Native American ancestry. She used her convention speech to blast incumbent Scott Brown and to revive the enthusiasm that marked the early days of her campaign:
 
"Are you ready to take on Wall Street? Are you ready to take on Big Oil? Are you ready to stop the Republicans from taking over the United States Senate? Are you ready to tell Scott Brown to put on his $675 barn coat and go home? Are you ready?"
 
The speech also focused on Brown’s voting record and his stances on issues like the environment, job creation and student loans. As for the controversy over her heritage, she said Brown's primary campaign tactic "is to talk about my family and how I grew up. Well, I say this: If that’s all you’ve got, Scott Brown, I’m ready.”
 
Patrick said Democrats needed to get tough: "If we want to win elections in 2012, if we want to keep Barack Obama in the White House, win back our Senate seat, and move our country forward, if we want to earn the privilege to lead, then it’s time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe."
 
Marisa DeFranco, the underdog who seemed to enjoy a burst of momentum last week, used her convention speech to make a final plea to voters to let her on to the primary ticket, saying, "Let’s have a good and healthy primary and go after Scott Brown all summer long together. We will be the stronger for it."
 
DeFranco championed liberal values, including single-payer health care and union rights. She attributed the day's results partly to party favoritism.
 
"Well, it’s Massachusetts politics. Of course it’s a machine. But that’s why I’m in the race. Because I have to believe there’s room for real democracy — that a candidate or person, who sees that they want to do something actually make a difference, doesn’t have to be rich. Doesn’t have to have machine backing," she said. "We’re supposed to be a government of the people. That means everybody, not just the people who are hand-picked or in certain cliques.”
 
Warren now has a clean shot at Brown from now until November. The Warren-Brown race is expected to be the most closely watched Senate race in the nation.
 
The convention also paid tribute to retiring representatives John Olver and Barney Frank. Rep. Edward Markey said of the latter, "When they build a Mount Rushmore for liberals, Barney Frank is going to be up there."
 
 

Gov. Patrick on May 15. (Eric Haynes/Governor's Office)

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick endorsed Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Scott Brown at a hastily called press conference in Somerville on May 30.
 
Originally Patrick said he would stay out of the race until after the Democrats select a nominee. Just 3 days before the party convention in Springfield, he changed his mind.
 
“I just feel this is just a campaign that is so critically important and that it is time for us to turn our attention to our Republican opponent,” he said.
 
Warren is considered the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination. But immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco does need just 15 percent of convention delegates to win a spot on the primary ballot. If she succeeds, it could create a distraction for Warren.
 
Patrick was questioned about whether he was trying to keep DeFranco off the ballot. He said that was not the case.
 
The endorsement is a bright spot in what has otherwise been a tough month for Warren, who has been dogged by the debate over whether or not she improperly identified as Native American in order to further her academic career.
 
At the press conference, both Patrick and Warren deflected questions about her purported Native American heritage.When a reporter criticized that response as not providing an answer, Warren retorted, "It is an answer," adding, "he reason that I’m in this race is what I have been working on for decades now. I have stood by and watched while America’s families have gotten hammered."
 
Patrick said, “Let me say on behalf of the people of the Commonwealth, we don’t care about that subject." Recent polls suggest that most Bay State voters are not interested in Warren's ancestry. 

Reached in her car, DeFranco was undeterred.

"I'm disappointed, especially 2 days before this very big convention. But the bottom line, basically, is that endorsements are not going to win this election. This election is going to be won on the ground," she said. 

 

 
BOSTON — Her U.S. Senate campaign has little cash and no paid staff. Yet Massachusetts Democrat Marisa DeFranco is on the verge of qualifying for the September primary ballot if she gets enough votes at the upcoming convention in Springfield.
 
Consumer advocate and Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren is expected to easily win the party’s endorsement to the U.S. Senate. But DeFranco, a North Shore attorney, is gathering steam. Party officials say she will likely get the 15 percent of delegate votes needed to qualify for the primary ballot.
 
Some Democrats worry a contested primary could force Warren to divert her resources instead of focusing on the incumbent Republican, Scott Brown. And Warren's had a tough month. She has been dogged by the debate over whether or not she improperly identified as Native American in order to further her academic career — although a recent Suffolk University/7 News poll suggests most voters don’t care much about the issue.
 
Democratic Party chairman John Walsh said a DeFranco challenge won't do lasting damage to the Democrats in the fall general election.

“Elizabeth Warren has entered this race and has presented a somewhat historic level of support," he said. "Whether you look at the support she’s garnered on the ground, or financially, or her poll numbers, she really has come forward.”

As for the candidates in question, in conversations with WGBH News, both wanted to focus on the issues.
 
"We have been trying and trying and trying to pay attention to substance and issues in this campaign," DeFranco said. "We've been talking about a real jobs plan, how do we get people back to work. Those are things that matter to people on a day-to-day business. … They want to work hard, live the American dream and be who we are about in America."
 
For her part, Warren told WGBH News that she's been "meeting with people and talking about issues and really framing out what this election of 2012 is going to be about."
 
And Warren still had her sights primarily on incumbent Scott Brown: "The main thing is how to get out there so the voters of Massachusetts have the chance to see what the real differences are between what the Democrats are offering in this race and what the Republicans are offering."
 
  
The state Democratic convention is Saturday, June 2.

 
BOSTON — This week in Massachusetts state politics, the casino oversight board meets, officials commemorate the Western Massachusetts tornadoes and Springfield hosts the Democratic state convention.
 
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts gaming commission holds its weekly meeting. The commission has been under pressure to move quickly and plans to start evaluating proposals for casinos in January. The meeting comes after two major casino operators — Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts  — abandoned plans to build facilities in Massachusetts. Industry watchers say this could mean less competition for the Greater Boston license, leading to lower bids or less ambitious projects.
 
On May 30, the House of Representatives takes up a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote. The bill would also authorize random audits of voting machines to make sure they work properly.
 
On Friday, the governor and lieutenant governor head to Western Massachusetts to commemorate the anniversary of the June 1, 2011 tornadoes. The storms destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Insurance claims topped $200 million and three people died.
 
> > WATCH: Tornado damage lingers
 
And on Saturday, Massachusetts Democrats travel to Springfield for the state convention. Consumer advocate and Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren is expected to easily win the party’s nomination to the U.S. Senate. But North Shore immigration lawyer Marisa DeFranco is also gathering steam. She will likely get the 15 percent of delegate votes needed to qualify for the primary ballot.
 
> >  READ:Marisa DeFranco isn't going away
 

Forget spring: on Beacon Hill, it's budget season. (Chuck Jones)

 
BOSTON — This week in Massachusetts politics, the state budget process moves forward for the fiscal year that begins in July, the Senate is set to take up an ambitious plan to cut health care costs and the House is expected to vote on a bill to help troubled borrowers remain in their homes.
 
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is set to release its budget recommendations this week. Last month, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a $32.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2013. The House budget includes no new taxes. It would increase funds for K-12 education and would use a combination of one-time revenues and program cuts to help close a $1.3 billion budget deficit. Once Senate leaders release their budget draft this week, it will go to the entire Senate for a vote.
 
On Tuesday, the Senate begins debate on a landmark bill to cap the state’s rising health care costs. The legislation sets a target growth rate for overall health care spending and establishes a new regulatory body to oversee it. The House has also introduced a health cost containment bill with stricter spending limits and plans to vote on it in June. Industry experts say the bill would further establish Massachusetts' position at the forefront of health care policy.
 
On Wednesday, the House plans to take up a bill aimed at preventing foreclosures. It would require banks to offer borrowers loan modifications when it makes more financial sense than foreclosure.
 
The House will also vote on legislation extending new benefits for veterans.
 
Finally, this week marks the eighth anniversary of legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. Consider giving it a copy of the judge's decision cast in traditional bronze.

 
BOSTON — Two different stories hit the news during the week of May 7 about prominent Massachusetts politicians and not-so-flattering incidents from their pasts. They might factor in voter choices. 
 
This week, news surfaced that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney allegedly bullied a non-conformist student at his elite high school. And Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is accused of misrepresenting herself as Native American to boost her professional credentials.
 
Should voters care?

Focus on the issues
 
Boston University communication professor Tobe Berkovitz said ideally, candidates shouldn't be disqualified for something they may or may not have done 30 or 40 years ago:
 
“What we should care about are candidates stands on the issues, especially the really important ones of the day — economy, jobs. But we get down in the weeds on all these personality stories,” he said.
 
Sometimes, stories of past misdeeds don’t make much of an impact and some candidates seem to have nine lives. After all, President George W. Bush got his license suspended for drunk driving and never explicitly denied rumors of cocaine use, while President Barack Obama has acknowledged in print youthful cocaine and marijuana use.

A question of disconnect
 
But voters pay attention, Berkovitz said, when there’s a contradiction between the stories and the image the candidates are trying to project.
 
“Elizabeth Warren presented herself as a great liberal hope, and then when all of a sudden things show up that might have been dissonant with that image then it causes a lot of trouble," he said. "Mitt Romney presents himself as Mr. Clean, and then if you find out that perhaps he was Mr. Mean, then all of a sudden people think 'Oh, there’s a disconnect between how the candidates are presenting his or herself, and how I’m perceiving them.'”
 
It’s too soon to tell whether the Romney story will affect his chances. And so far, while Warren has been on the defensive over the Native American controversy, recent polls show the Massachusetts Senate race is still very close.
 

 
BOSTON — A North Shore immigration lawyer who has gathered enough signatures to qualify for a primary race against Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren said she's not going away.
 
Marisa DeFranco said she'll continue campaigning around the state.

"I have been very clear about my jobs plan, about renewable energy, about single-payer health care and the voters should have a choice. I mean, if we don't want to have a primary, let's just forget pretending and go back to the smoke-filled rooms, have the party pick the candidate and that's that," she said.
 
A band of volunteers — along with a "very, very, very" small number of paid canvassers — collected almost 17,000 signatures, over 11,000 of which have been certified by the state Elections Division. "People have the power but the elected officials in power like the apathy just fine," she said.
  
DeFranco estimated her war chest at $42,000. It's a pittance compared to Warren's $11 million. But she said the race should be about issues, not money.

One of her signature issues is health insurance. DeFranco called the current system "a monstrosity" that inhibits people who might start their own businesses. When she started her law practice in the 1990s, she paid $150 per month for health insurance. "That was affordable and hey, I could start my practice and entrepreneurs could go out there and strike out on their own. Totally impossible today," she said. 
 
Rather, she's advocating for a single-payer system, which, DeFranco said, "contrary to the myth, is not a government-run program. It is funded through our tax base and through the government, basically like Medicare."
 
She added, "Look, none of us wants anybody controlling any factor of our lives. But if you have a choice between the private sector and the government having some kind of role in health care, I'm going to chose the government because in government at least you can vote the jerks out."
 
As for the recent kerfuffle over Warren's Native American heritage or lack thereof, DeFranco thought her challenger should simply give a straight answer. And as a fellow woman lawyer, she said, "I know what it's like. You use every tool you possibly can to make sure that you're noticed … and if you put something out there that you truly believe in, that's a plus in your column, then say you did and stand by it."
 
DeFranco's spot on the ballot isn't guaranteed. She still must receive at least 15 percent of the delegate vote during the state Democratic convention on June 2 in Springfield.
 
> > EXTENDED AUDIO

 
BOSTON — A Harvard Law School professor and former Reagan administration official is calling "false" and "complete nonsense" any suggestion that Elizabeth Warren enjoyed an affirmative action advantage in her hiring as a full professor.
 
Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried told WGBH that the Democratic Senate candidate was recruited to be a tenured professor because she was preeminent in the fields of bankruptcy and commercial law, saying, "The suggestion that Elizabeth Warren was an affirmative action hire or that somehow minority status played any role in her hiring, displays a profound ignorance both of the hiring process at a major law school and also of her particular qualifications.”
 
Fried was a member of the appointments committee that reviewed Warren. He said the subject of her Native American ancestry never came up.
 
“She was hired because she is a superstar in her field. She’s at the very top of her profession as a scholar. She was one of the two or three best in the country," he said. Glowing student evaluations have continued to show her abilities in the classroom, he added.
 
He said that calls for Harvard to conduct a review of Warren’s hiring, as suggested by State Republican Party chairman Bob Maginn, were wrong-headed. Maginn did not return our emails.