United Independent Party candidate for Governor of Massachusetts Evan Falchuk kickstarted a six-week field effort Thursday morning, launching his “County Caravan” statewide tour of the commonwealth. Having already visited upwards of 80 cities and towns across the Bay State, Falchuk hopes to not only to further spread his message and vision for the state, but also to better understand the needs of those he wishes to govern.
His tour will take him to all corners of the commonwealth, from the snow-capped Berkshires to the resort towns on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. But what he’s hoping for, more than mere introductions to the populous, is for his campaign goals to resonate more soundly amongst Bay Staters in a manner they’re not particularly used to. And so far, it’s been successful.
“What I do every single time is go out there and get into real conversations with people,” Falchuk told BostInno over the phone. “They’re so used to candidates showing up, shaking hands and disappearing. I’m doing it because i’m really interested in meeting with people and hearing what they have to say.”
In crisscrossing Massachusetts, Falchuk begins his journey out in Western Massachusetts, Hampshire County in particular. And while most other candidates are interested in bridging the gap between the state’s inefficient schism – interconnecting the Boston-centric eastern half of the state with the central and western sections in hopes of fostering sprawling economic stability, reliable transportation and job creation – Falchuk has found that the needs of the people in one part of Massachusetts aren’t so different from those of another.
In fact, they all seem to be rallying around Falchuk’s main objective: disrupting a tired, bipartisan political system.
“People like that I’m forming a new Independent party, they like the idea that there’s someone that promises to be able to change the landscape,” explained Falchuk. “The fact that there’s going to be a party that believes in new, smart, independent people, it really resonates….We need to build a new organization or else the parties will keep all of our voices out.”
But rather than simply use the tour to solely showcase his progressive thinking in the realm of politics, he knows that there are various pockets of Massachusetts whose grounds are more fertile for prosperity and jobs. As of October 2013, per statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Massachusetts is 7.2 percent, only slightly better than the national average of 7.3 percent. And while those numbers are from October and fluctuation since has been inevitable, those numbers aren’t changing drastically any time soon.
Some metropolitan areas are in such dire straits that unemployment is upwards of 10 percent.
“If you’re in Western Mass., there are people that still don’t have high speed internet access in their homes,” Falchuk observed. “It’s almost like not having water.” And when one considers the high-tech landscape of much of Massachusetts and the need for telecommunication jobs, not being able to connect to Wi-Fi from home is terribly discouraging.
As a successful entrepreneur few candidates recognize the need for high speed internet, a seemingly simple roadblock to overcome and one that’s often overlooked by his fellow gubernatorial challengers, better than Falchuk and that’s sure to change should he be elected to office. After all, out of necessity comes innovation.
By forming a new non-partisan party, spreading the word across the state and actually engaging residents in conversation rather than make empty promises for the sake of pulling down votes, Evan Falchuk hopes to restore Massachusetts’ reputation as a haven where contentious political beliefs can be channeled into productive and constructive collaboration.
For more information on Evan Falcnuk’s County Caravan, check out his campaign website and schedule below.
Thursday, Jan. 23: Hampshire County (including Northampton, Hadley and Amherst)
Sunday, Jan. 26: Berkshire County (including North Adams, Adams, Cheshire and Pittsfield)
Wednesday, Jan. 29: Worcester County (including Worcester, Shrewsbury and Leominster)
Thursday, Jan. 30: Hampden County (including Springfield, Chicopee and Westfield)
Saturday, Feb. 1: Essex County (including Andover, Danvers and Peabody)
Monday, Feb. 3: Franklin County (including Greenfield, Deerfield and Orange)
Wednesday, Feb. 5: Suffolk County (including Boston, Revere and Winthrop)
Friday, Feb. 7: Middlesex County (including Reading, Woburn and Wakefield)
Monday, Feb. 10: Norfolk County (including Quincy, Weymouth and Braintree)
Friday, Feb. 14: Bristol County (including Attleboro, Taunton and Dartmouth)
Sunday, Feb. 16: Barnstable County (including Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth)
Thursday, Feb. 20: Plymouth County (including Hingham, Marshfield and Plymouth)
Wednesday, Feb. 26: Dukes County and Nantucket County (including Martha’s Vineyard: Tisbury and Oak Bluffs, and Nantucket)
