Jennifer C. Braceras

Born in New York, but raised in Connecticut, I first came to the Bay State in 1985 to attend UMass-Amherst. It was there in the "happy valley," surrounded by 1960s-style liberals and blame-America academics, that I realized why politics matter. And it was there that I became a conservative. Having reflexively registered in the Democratic party at age 18, I became a Republican in 1988 for the sole purpose of casting my ballot for Jack Kemp in the GOP presidential primary that year. My candidate didn't win the nomination, but by then I was in deep. After graduation, I left Amherst for Washington, where I cut my political teeth as a staff assistant in the White House office of Vice President Dan Quayle. Two years later, I returned to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Law School. In law school, and as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, I found myself surrounded by critical theorists obsessed with dismantling basic American institutions in the name of progress and power. I joined the Federalist Society and vowed to return to Washington as soon as possible. But something funny happened on the way back to D.C.: I met my husband, and we decided to settle here to be close to both of our families. Massachusetts may not have been the best political fit for me, but there was never a doubt that Boston's rich history, small town feel, incredible sports teams, and proximity to both beaches and mountains made this a great place to raise our family. Since making Massachusetts my permanent home, I have practiced law at a major Boston firm, taught law school courses in constitutional law and civil rights, and written for the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. I was honored to serve, by appointment of President George W. Bush, as a Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and, by appointment of Governor Mitt Romney, as a Trustee of the University of Massachusetts, my alma mater. After more than two decades, I have grown accustomed to being a political outsider in this bluest of states. But I know that there are many others who feel alienated from the prevailing political culture here — people who feel that their views are not reflected in local media coverage of politics; people who feel that, in Massachusetts, their votes rarely count. It is these people we hope to reach at NewBostonPost. By providing news and feature stories not found elsewhere, we hope to attract conservative-leaning readers who feel that the mainstream media ignores issues of interest to them. And we hope to attract readers of all political perspectives who are bored with the predictable fare published by Boston's traditional media outlets. On our Opinion Page, we hope to provide engaging commentary on local, national, and international issues. Although we will publish mostly conservative viewpoints, we aim to highlight the diversity of thought within the conservative movement and will also showcase compelling commentary by writers from other ideological perspectives. Our columnists will not always agree with one another (see, for example, our opposing pieces on Donald Trump), but their discussions will always be lively and thought-provoking. We hope that you will be challenged and inspired by the news, feature stories, political analysis, and commentary that you find on the NewBostonPost. Contact Jennifer Braceras at [email protected]