A few weeks ago, Jeff Beatty, who is running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, called on fellow GOP candidate Jim Ogonowski "to think of the interests of the Party and run for Congress." Beatty offered support for Ogonowski if he chose to challenge Tsongas again.

Looking at the situation now, I believe it may have been wise for Ogonowski to have taken him up on the offer. Congressional approval hasn't gotten any better since Tsongas skimmed out her victory. In the GOP U.S. Senate primary race, Beatty has done significantly better than Ogonowski in fundraising.

Who has a better chance at defeating John Kerry? I can't really say, but I would have liked to have seen a situation where we had a possibility of seeing and end to one-party representation from Massachusetts in both the U.S. House and Senate.

Apple has big plans for its latest retail store and its first in downtown Boston—literally. The new brick-and-mortar outlet, opening Thursday on Boston’s tony Boylston Street, will be the largest Apple Store in the United States with three floors of retail space.

“Apple has exploded in growth,” said Apple senior vice president of retail Ron Johnson during a Wednesday preview of the Boylston Street store. “Boston is also redeveloping…there’s so much growth in Boston, combined with growth for Apple, that it’s time to build another large store.”

While the Metro Boston area already features eight stores, the Boylston Street store is the first in the city itself. Johnson noted Wednesday that Apple has had its eye on the site for eight years—before the company even opened the first of its retail outlets. And its plans for the Boylston Street outlet have expanded over time.

“If we had opened this store in 2001, it would have been one level,” Johnson said. “If we had opened it in 2005, it would have been a two level store. But in 2008, it’s the largest store in the U.S.”

How does the Governor plan to run a reelection campaign while doing his "vigorous media campaign" for his forthcoming book? For someone who has made a lot of missteps since the inauguration, it is going to take more than a catchy "together we can" slogan to try to run two separate campaigns in different places, at the same time.

A female lawmaker's allegation that a male House colleague told her, "I could really hurt you if I wanted to," is providing a rare public glimpse into one of the most secretive panels on Beacon Hill.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating the complaint by Rep. Jennifer Callahan, D-Sutton, but members of the committee are prohibited not only from discussing the case publicly but also from disclosing any information about any matters before them.

Nor can they reveal even the most basic details of the committee's operations — such as how many complaints they deal with in any given year.

One thing is known about the Ethics Committee's work, however: It rarely finds anything unethical about the behavior of any member of the House, even when those members admit to, or are convicted of, wrongdoing.

If the committee does recommend disciplinary action against Jennifer Callahan's colleague, it will be the first time in nearly two decades it has held a state lawmaker accountable for violating House ethics rules.

While the committee has not disciplined a single lawmaker since 1991, a number of prominent legislators have committed what could be considered ethical breaches and have been punished for them outside the Legislature.

Two House speakers have stepped down: Charles Flaherty after pleading guilty to federal tax evasion and Thomas Finneran prior to pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, a felony, in a federal voting rights case.

In 1994, a judge ruled that then Rep. Kevin Fitzgerald, a Boston Democrat who acted as an attorney to a mentally ill "bag lady," manipulated the woman into leaving him and an aide a $400,000 inheritance.

If the Ethics Committee considered those cases, it took no action.

Nor did the Ethics Committee take any action after Rep. Marie St. Fleur, the vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, admitted to owing thousands in federal taxes. The revelation did force the Boston Democrat out of the 2006 race for lieutenant governor.

The ethics of some committee members also have been questioned.

Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty, D-Chelsea and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is also a defense attorney who is among lawmakers blamed for watering down a 2005 law cracking down on drunken drivers.

Another member is Rep. Thomas Petrolati, D-Ludlow, who has accepted campaign contributions from known felons, according to published reports. Petrolati, speaker pro-tempore, ranks second only to the House speaker.

And perhaps ironically, DiMasi, who ordered the probe into Callahan's allegations, is the subject of four complaints Republicans have filed over whether his business and personal connections have affected major legislation.

A spike in the number of reported hate crimes against gays, lesbians and transsexuals in Suffolk County spurred District Attorney Daniel Conley to appoint the DA office’s first victim-witness advocate for the community last week.

“When people are targeted because of who they are, it can’t be stood for,” Conley said.

State Treasurer Tim Cahill suffered an intra-party political defeat yesterday, getting trounced in his bid for a coveted delegate’s seat at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Cahill’s loss to Arthur Powell, a Democratic State Committee member from Beverly, is a blow to the treasurer, who has one of the state’s largest campaign war chests and is widely expected to make a future run for governor. He’s the only top-tier Democrat who ran but didn’t win, and he will be forced to watch from the sidelines as a slew of movers and shakers head to Denver to represent Massachusetts.

“He wishes Arthur Powell, the Clinton organization and all the delegates the best,” Cahill spokeswoman Alison Mitchell said in a statement.

He's probably right. But I would also add that in any election amongst Democrats, Jesus Christ wouldn't win.

"Attorney General Martha Coakley needs to start acting like a General and start her own investigation into the serious ethics allegations leveled against Speaker DiMasi, and also the charge of 'Phantom Voting' which violates the civil rights of the people of this Commonwealth. Her inaction on these issues speak volumes about her leadership - she makes Tom Reilly look busy."

Rob Willington, Executive Director of the Mass GOP, released the following statement:

"Once again Speaker DiMasi has shown that when it comes to the Democrat party, ethics are optional. I won't hold my breath waiting for the Democrats to do anything about it, because they have shown a complete unwillingness to do the right thing, even when blatant violations are staring them in the face. The voters will remember their arrogance this November, and Republicans will be there to remind them."

Gov. Deval Patrick rode into office 16 months ago on a wave of hope and optimism, but the public's patience for change in the politics of Beacon Hill appears to be waning.

A new poll released yesterday shows that Patrick's approval rating is at an all-time low, with just 41 percent of adults over 18 saying they approve of the job Patrick is doing as governor.

Another 56 percent of responders said they disapprove, just a month after those numbers were reversed with 53 percent approving of Patrick's work from the corner office.

The poll, sponsored by WBZ-TV and conducted by Survey USA, surveyed 600 adults earlier this month and has a margin of error of 4.1 percent.

While Democrats still have faith in the governor, the poll shows that 60 percent of Independent voters are unhappy with the results they are seeing from the Patrick administration, and even self-identified liberals are evenly split on the governor's job performance.

The second week of April was, by the roller-coaster standards of the Patrick era, a pretty good one for the governor. He won legislative approval for some of his long-sought corporate tax hikes, touted progress on several job-development initiatives, and won plaudits for a widely-covered speech on the economy. But when Survey USA went into the field the weekend of April 11 for its regular tracking of the governor's job approval rating, the results marked an all-time low.

Here are the numbers, just reported to us by Survey USA today. They show Patrick winning approval from an anemic 41% of registered voters, while an astonishing 56% give thumbs down.

A special survey we commissioned with a smaller sample on April 9th had the spread at 41-49%. But it's probably better for direct comparison purposes to match these results up with the last 600-adult tracking poll taken in mid-February (before Bookgate).

Back then, Patrick's approval/disapproval was 47-45%, not great, but not that bad. But now, his disapproval is off the charts, especially among men: 61% of them now disapprove of his work, up from 47% in mid-winter. All age groups are markedly less satisfied with Patrick's performance now than they were two months ago, none more so than the 35-54 demographic, where his approval has collapsed from 44% to 30% and his disapproval has jumped an eye-popping 18 points to 68%, George W. Bush-like numbers. Democrats are losing patience, too; his 61-31% spread of February has dwindled to 53-44%. In the ideological categories, moderates continue to desert Patrick. And get this: even liberals, who approved of his work by a whopping 70-25% spread back then, are now evenly divided on the topic. And one final note: with the warning that they're only about 20% of the sample in each survey, a relatively small slice that could skew the numbers somewhat, voters in southeastern Massachusetts (including the Cape) seem to be especially alienated. His rating there was 47-44% in February; now, it's 31-66%.

David Ortiz’ shirt may have been “cursed,” but a Red Sox [team stats] fan’s brilliant practical joke on the New York Yankees has fetched $175,100 at auction for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Jimmy Fund spokesman Janet Haley Dubow told the Herald.

A week’s worth of fever-pitch bidding on Ebay - that began last Thursday at $511 - to snag the storied Major League Baseball jersey ended at 12:30 p.m. today.

Bronx cement mason Gino Castignoli entombed it in two feet of concrete last year in the Yankees’ new stadium to doom his home team to decades of bad baseball, but upon finding out, the quaking Evil Empire dug it up April 13 with jackhammers.

The Yankees may suck, but they did a pretty good thing.

Massachusetts is one of the bluest states in the country, so it's quite remarkable to see a Republican running neck-and-neck with any Democrat, but the fact that McCain is tied with Obama is really significant. Obama's candidacy is a larger version of Deval Patrick gubernatorial candidacy: An unqualified candidate with a knack for having good speeches about "hope" who not only runs for office, but allegedly against the status quo.

Massachusetts voters clearly see the parallels and have no desire to be fooled twice. The question I have is when are Democrats across the country going to realize that there's less to Barack Obama than meets the eye ... or the ears.

So even when John Kerry says he's done something, he hasn't.

But maybe it's better this way.

Even sadder than the fact that Kerry hasn't done anything in 9 years, in his entire career in the Senate, he's been the lead sponsor of only 8 bills:

S.J.RES.158: A joint resolution designating October 22 through 28, 1989, as "World Population Awareness Week".
Introduced: 6/16/1989
Latest Major Action: 10/25/1990
Law No: 101-465

S.J.RES.160: A joint resolution designating the week beginning October 20, 1991, as "World Population Awareness Week".
Introduced: 6/13/1991
Latest Major Action: 10/30/1991
Law No: 102-149

S.1563: A bill to authorize appropriations to carry out the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced: 7/25/1991
Latest Major Action: 12/04/1991
Law No: 102-186

S.J.RES. 318: A joint resolution designating November 13, 1992, as "Vietnam Veterans Memorial 10th Anniversary Day".
Introduced: 6/18/1992
Latest Major Action: 10/24/1992
Law No: 102-518

S.J.RES.337: A joint resolution designating September 18, 1992, as "National POW/MIA Recognition Day", and authorizing display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag.
Introduced: 9/15/1992
Latest Major Action: 9/30/1992
Law No: 102-373

S.1206: A bill to redesignate the Federal building located at 380 Trapelo Road in Waltham, Massachusetts, as the "Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center".
Introduced: 7/1/1993
Latest Major Action: 4/14/1994
Law No: 103-234

S.1636: A bill to authorize appropriations for the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and to improve the program to reduce the incidental taking of marine mammals during the course of commercial fishing operations, and for other purposes.
Introduced: 11/08/1993
Latest Major Action: 4/30/1994
Law No: 103-238

S.791: A bill to amend the Small Business Act with respect to the women's business center program.
Introduced: 4/14/1999
Latest Major Action: 12/9/1999
Law No: 106-165