Marty Lamb is really leading and taking bold steps to clean up the election process. This is great to see. I'd like the campaign to be issue based, not the mud slinging. I'm glad to see Lamb take the initiative to go forward with this. He's thinking about what we as voters want to see, and that's admirable. It's a breath of fresh air. This is a worthy statement by Lamb and we welcome it and thank him for this consideration.

It's nice that Marty wants to stick to the issues, but anyone who knows Carolyn Dykema will know how utterly unnecessary a "pledge" is. She has never engaged in that type of campaigning and never will. Carolyn is not only an intelligent and capable State Rep, she's also a kind and thoughtful person. Marty knows that and so do most of her constituents.

The third party groups are her surrogates and do a great deal of negative campaigning. We see it time and time again. It's all orchestrated and coordinated.

Brown and Warren made the agreement so, why can't we do it locally ?

This campaign should be about the differences on the issues between the two candidates.

What a great idea. Mr. Lamb is a gentleman. He would never stoop so low as to sling mud. But, Ms. Dykema and her Democrat Union chronies would in a heartbeat. This pledge will make sure Ms. Dykema and her surrogates just stick to the issues.

Marty's surrogates - his supporters who post on sites like Patch and others - have regularly been mocking, criticizing and belittling Carolyn since he entered the race. Marty himself has been critical of Carolyn in his press materials, proving that this is simply another gimmick, not unlike his "money seeds" or proposing bans that are already on the books., Having said all this, I hope Carolyn signs it so Marty and his surrogates will be bound to it, too.

Carolyn's voting record IS on the table for fair discussion. Here are examples of what you describe as her "extreme left wing" votes. If you feel I've cherry-picked from her list of accomplishments, please feel free to post other factual illustrations. It's all in the public record.
• Voted for pension reform expected to save taxpayers $5 billion over 30 years
• Voted for transportation reform expected to save taxpayers $2 billion over 20 years
• Co-sponsored successful legislation increasing the purchasing power of small businesses when buying health insurance
• Helped implement a sewer connection between Hopkinton and Milford that created 300 local jobs
• Voted to cap unemployment insurance rates, saving employers hundreds of dollars per employee
• Sponsored a bill giving local family farms the same tax credits enjoyed by agri-businesses
• Voted for municipal healthcare reform that is fair to employees and saves towns millions state-wide
• Co-sponsored the bottle bill
• Co-sponsored legislation to decrease the use of toxic chemicals
• Filed legislation to protect our water supply from medical waste
• Primary sponsor of legislation passed in 2012 that helps veterans with PTSD and “hidden wounds” get support services through the courts
• Voted to send more Community Preservation Act funding to our towns for open space, affordable housing and historic preservation
• Actively opposes a casino in our region

It's pretty cheeky of Marty to offer this pledge, when Carolyn has always run clean, issues-oriented campaigns and Marty has tricked out his campaigns with gimmicks, half-truths, surrogate attacks, and gamesmanship.

In fact, this silly pledge, which I don't trust Marty to adhere to, is just one more game.

For all you nay sayers. Maybe you never received mailing pieces from unions and political parties but I sure have. Every October of an election year my mailbox is stuffed. Claiming Dykema is not included in the mailings of these special interests is pure garbage. Claiming Dykema is "clean" of special interest influence is also garbage.

Let's take one example for now, although there are clearly more. I also receive mailings from multiple unions with their "slate" of candidates they are telling me to vote for. These candidates are the Democrat ticket and, yes, Carolyn is there too.

Now, let's look at the vote she made yesterday. A roll call vote (no, sorry Barry, pointing out a vote is not a personal attack or a "mocking or belittling") on a bill which, if it makes it through the Senate, which is likely, and gets signed by the Gov, will FORCE small in home day care providers to UNIONIZE and PAY the unions dues. The same unions that support Carolyn. This, of course, will either drive up prices or force the daycares to close. Did I mention that for the most part these are woman owned businesses?

You may not like that I am pointing this out because the facts go against your posts, but facts are facts.

Mr. Roney, No, the point is no outside PACs or special interests for either side. You want PACs and special interests involved in local politics?

Marty is taking the right step forward with this pledge.
I'm glad he is taking the lead on this
People are fed up with the mudslinging tactics

And exactly who is doing the mudslinging here in the case of this one specific election that people in the 8th middlesex are fed up with? I have yet to ever hear of one of Carolyn's campaign team staff mudslinging/speaking negative deceitful remarks about her opponent in this election. In fact, quite frequently it has been deceitful remarks from the other side...

Saw Marty Lamb and volunteers doing a standout in the rain last Saturday in Holliston Center and I beeped my horn and waved. Thanks for the positive support on the Bullard Farm issue. Next time, I'll stop and thank you in person. The other side has done nothing but be negative and try to force industrial zoning in our backyards. I wish the other side could have run that campaign cleanly. It was awful what they tried to do.