"We feel that O'Brien will re establish the role of governor to that of the state's commander-in-chief, a role that the office now lacks," said Association President Ralph White. "As the state's 'real leader' she will be able to work in greater harmony with the Legislature as both strive to lift Massachusetts out of its current fiscal morass.

"Shannon O'Brien has the proven ability as a manager, policy expert and politician to lead the Commonwealth out of the tough economic times that now exist. We are confident that she will do so with the compassion and creativity that are necessary to protect our state's most vulnerable citizens - many of whom are our members."

As our members are well aware, the Association has a long tradition of supporting those public officials, regardless of party affiliation, who have a record of standing with public retirees. We have endorsed a number of Republicans as well as Democrats over the years.

During her four years as State Treasurer, O'Brien has proven to be a true friend and supporter of public retirees. She was the first treasurer in nearly a decade to use the power of her office to better the lives of our members. That alone sets her apart from the Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

From the very beginning of Shannon O'Brien's public service as a state representative in the 1980s, she has demonstrated a compassion for the issues that are important to our members. As a state senator and during her last four years as treasurer, she has developed a strong knowledge of our public pension system. This knowledge will be invaluable in addressing retirement issues from the corner office.

In her role as chairman of the State Retirement Board and Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board, and as a member of the Teachers' Retirement Board, our Association has had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with O'Brien.

Clearly, Shannon O'Brien has an outstanding record of advocacy and support of public retirees that our Association can wholeheartedly embrace.

Public retirees are becoming increasingly upset that their hard-earned public pensions are the target of political attacks. Our members are being forced to witness a daily smear campaign aimed at the management of the Commonwealth's pension fund.

The attacks have been targeted at State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien. As treasurer, O'Brien is chairman of the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board, which invests some $27 billion dollars in public retirement funds.

O'Brien's opponents, the Republican Party and its nominee Mitt Romney, have attempted to blame O'Brien for the downturn in PRIT's investment returns. It started when Romney's designated "pit bull", lieutenant governor candidate, Kerry Healey, stood on the State House steps, on the morning after the September primary elections, attacking O'Brien's management style.

"The fact remains that the Commonwealth's pension fund (PRIT) performed in the top third of all large pension funds in the country over the past four years," said Ralph White, who is a member of the PRIM Board which oversees the fund. "And for the first six months of this year, we are in the top quartile in the earnings of our pension fund.

"It's true that we, like all multi-billion dollar employee pension funds, have had losses during the depressed market which began in March of 2000. But we've still maintained an average annual earnings of 10.55% over the last 10 years, while the median return for all public pension funds during that same period was 9.39%."

When one reviews the facts, only one conclusion can be reached. These attacks on O'Brien are groundless and should be looked upon by our members as shabby politics.