Bennett's Blog

Bennett looks to help rebuild Mass GOP in 07'

April 1, 2007

Life of the party drives Bennett

By KAREN JEFFREY  - STAFF WRITER

Doug Bennett made a name for himself by spending nearly a year standing at Cape Cod rotaries with a blue and white sign that read, ''Bennett for Senate."

A simple catch phrase for the Nantucket resident's first foray into state politics.

The Nantucket selectman lost the primary to fellow Republican Ricardo Barros of Centerville, but gained ''a lot of experience to put to good use," says Bennett, 31, now long past any disappointment over the loss at the polls.

These days, Bennett, who has opted not to run for re-election as a Nantucket selectman and county commissioner, can be found several miles off Cape putting those senate campaign lessons to use.

''I can't say I was glad to lose, but it created other opportunities for me. I decided after losing the primary to spend the next year of my life party-building for the Republicans," Bennett said this week.

Bennett was recently named campaign director for Doug Obey, one of two Republicans vying to become the party's candidate in a special election in the 11th Norfolk District. The state representative seat was held by Robert Coughlin until January, when Gov. Deval Patrick appointed the Dedham Democrat to serve in the state Office of Economic Development.

Obey, a Westwood resident, is running against William McKinney of Dedham, in the April 17 primary contest. The winner of that race will go up against the winner of the May 15 Democratic primary.

Before joining the Obey campaign, Bennett began volunteering on weekends at the Republican state headquarters in Boston: making telephone calls to registered Republicans urging active participation in the party and support for candidates in future races.

''We need to rebuild a farm team for the party, and you do that by getting involved in the local level," Bennett said. ''You have to have organizations in place with people you can rely on, particularly at the local level. The better organized we are, the better candidates we can produce and the more races we'll win.

''The biggest lesson I learned from that race (against Barros) was the importance of targeting your audience, or focusing on the people who will vote.

''I took sort of a shotgun approach in my primary campaign. I figured that name recognition was most important," he said. ''The trick is not a shotgun approach but a laser approach: focus on those people who are Republicans and get them to vote, preferably for your candidate."

Aside from persuading Republicans to run for local offices, state party officials are also looking for diversity in age and opinion on issues.

''People in this state are hungry for something more than a one-party controlled Legislature," Bennett said. ''It just isn't healthy, never mind democratic, for there to be one party exerting such control."

Karen Jeffrey can be reached at kjeffrey@capecodonline.com.

(Published: April 1, 2007)