One of the Good Guys

The man of principle is known as such, and even in the fury of faction is respected.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

So, it won't be Barbie and Ken after all. It will be Barbie and G.I. Joe.

For months, speculation had been that Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey would select Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, as her choice to run with her a Lt. Governor. Indeed, Sen. Brown has made appearances on Cape, including speaking at a Lower Cape Women's Republican luncheon as recently as last Friday. Sen. Brown is a young and handsome JAG officer, and the jokes about the 'Barbie and Ken' ticket had been circulating for a while. However, Porcupine remembers the same jokes were made about Romney and Healey, too, and that seemed to have panned out pretty well for them.

But today, Kerry Healey upset the conventional wisdom by choosing two-term former State Representative Reed Hillman to run with her. Politicaly and personally, he is a top-notch choice.

Elected to the House in special election in 1999, Hillman represented the First Hampden District and served on the Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, Ways & Means, and Public Service committees. He was the Ranking Minority Member on each committee, except Ways & Means. Hillman advocated for the .08 per se drunken driving legislation, was a supporter of the Amber Alert plan and worked to expand the Sex Offender Registry and DNA database.

Per se makes it illegal for a motorist to drive with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or higher. Amber Alert created a network using media outlets to warn the public of child abductions. This was a result of the Molly Bish abduction and murder; Hillman gave one of the readings at her funeral mass.

Hillman was instrumental in creating the DNA database when he was Colonel of the State Police. Then, it only included 30 crimes. As a Representative, he expanded it to include 800 crimes, broadening the range of felonies that would make registration mandatory. The DNA is made available to other criminal justice agencies in the state as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Several dozen cold cases were solved because of the expanded reach.

He was not a particularly partisan Representative; for instance, he was the House co-sponsor of a bill filed by Sen. Cheryl Jacques for warrant reform.

He served as a Representative for five years, until he chose not to run for reelection in 2004. His aide, Todd Smola, now holds that seat.

Sturbridge resident Reed Hillman is well known in Worcester County, where it was rumored that he might run for District Attorney John Conte’s open seat. Instead, he will increase the range of Healey’s campaign to central Massachusetts, and will have a strong appeal to unenrolled and conservative Democrat voters across the state.

The fact that he is an honest man of tremendous principle and character is just gravy.