Young Republicans beat Gov. Patrick at his own game.
The issues generating buzz on Governor Deval Patrick's new civic engagement website are largely predictable: gay marriage support, renewable energy, and the administration's proposed municipal partnership package.
But one subject gaining popularity on the three-day-old site was championed by the Democrat's opponents in his successful campaign last fall. The long-time Republican rallying cry to rollback the state income tax from 5.3 to 5 percent has received enough "votes" to make it one of the top 15 most popular issues on DevalPatrick.com.
While gay marriage support has received seven times more votes than the rollback, the income tax issue has gotten enough support to show that the new site can be a vehicle to push the agenda of interest groups and the Republican minority.
UPDATE: More from Mass Backwards, Jon Keller, Andrea Estes, Casey Ross, the Boston Phoenix and the AP.
