GOP Chair Believes O'Brien Will Lose

Having just returned from a three hour pilgrimmage to one of the most well connected Republican operatives in the state (no, I'm not going to reveal a name here), I am prepared to report that Republican State Party Chair Wayne McDonald is worried.

He may not be saying it publicly, but McDonald privately is confiding to GOP operatives that House Speaker Bill O'Brien will likely lose his election for State Rep in Hillsborough District 5 (Mt. Vernon, New Boston) come November (assuming he gets by the September primary).  Three Republicans, including Bob Mead whom O'Brien fired (or allowed to leave, if you prefer such niceties) as his chief of staff, are running for the two seats there.

In my projections released here yesterday, I didn't name whom I thought would lose, but I predicted the two member district would be split, one Republican and one Democrat come November 7.

Apparently the party chair is more pessimistic than I am, offering behind the scenes word that O'Brien will not be back.  Maybe Chairman McDonald fears Republicans will lose both those seats.  On the other hand, maybe he's simply hoping that O'Brien will lose and thus avoid further tainting the Grand Old Party in this Grand Old State.

Hint--My source and I spoke of our separate experiences in two of the world's greatest cities, Berlin, Germany, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada although I must say, he was in Berlin before I was born, a decade before the wall even went up.  Ah yes, those were the good old days when Berlin was the spy capital of the world. 

As they said in the West after that glorious November day in 1989, "Ich will die Mauer wieder haben."

Ich will nicht Bill O'Brien wieder haben!