To be or not to be for fellow Democrat Elizabeth Warren and her effort to unseat Republican Senator Scott Brown? That is the question for the Hamlet of City Hall.
Mayor Menino has yet to endorse a candidate in this nationally watched political blockbuster, and has been sending mixed signals ever since Warren got into the race. A year ago, Menino was calling Brown unbeatable and publicly questioned whether Warren would be marketable. A year later, he is now telling reporters that his endorsement decision will come very shortly; he is just waiting for the proper time. He remained noncommittal in Charlotte, where he and Warren both addressed delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
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Brown is not unbeatable and the Mayor is a tool for waiting this long. So in other words, I agree. Disgraceful really.
The good mayor seems comfortable on the sidelines. It looks like he is waiting to get some sort of fealty from one candidate or the other. He represents an era of power politics. He favors local deals for Boston over issue oriented, talented politicians. So far he is dismissing his own Party's view of what makes a strong country. If his endorsement can not be full throated for a strong candidate in his own Party, he can stay just where he is. We will win this for Elizabeth Warren without him. Why he wants to sink himself into irrelevancy is not understandable.
I suspect the answer is that Elizabeth Warren is not someone long steeped in the "horse trading" of Massachusetts politics. Menino is instinctively comfortable with a politician of Brown's background, which inevitably includes backslapping, compromises, and some knowledge of the bodies buried on Beacon Hill. A year ago, the mayor imagined that sticking with Brown, a fairly popular incumbent ex-state legislator (even if Republican) would put him on the winning side. However, the national Democratic party poured money and resources behind Warren as a high profile candidate to "recover" Kennedy's seat. As a result of this and her own personality, she got more independence than the average Democratic pol in this state and was better able to run without Mumbles's support. After recent polls, I would guess Menino is now seeing Brown as the probable loser and will presently try to cash in his chips on the Democratic side before they are worthless. I hope Warren tells him betting is already closed.
The more pressing question is: What difference would it make? Menino's "machine" is a shadow of its former self. The Mayor and his advisors have amassed a pretty dismal record in the last six years when it comes to the candidates he's picked. His organization was once solid and relevant- especially in communities of color- but then came his back-to-back bad decisions: Endorsing Reilly (over Gov. Patrick in 2006) and then Hillary Clinton over the president in 2008. Neither of these calls won the mayor's organization any love among black voters, who still like Menino but have lost faith in his much-celebrated "instincts." That the Globe and NY Times continue to advance the myth that the Mayor's machine is in any way d in Boston flies in the face of more recent evidence too: Namely, that his chosen candidate for city council in Dorchester last year was beaten badly by Frank Baker, whose campaign had a decidedly independent (of Menino) theme. Just two weeks ago, Councillor Sal LaMattina, heavily backed by the Menino "machine"- got upended by a total unknown. The Globe's right about one thing: All Menino is accomplishing with his gamesmanship is to cast doubt on the electability of Warren, who deserves better from one of her party's chief standard bearers in this state. It's disgraceful behavior from the mayor, who should know - as a sincere believer in gun control- the damage that Brown and his GOP allies continue to do in the city neighborhoods of this country.
Shameful on Menino's part. Warren is the candidate for Massachusetts. The other guy is a good sports buddy, but his votes are WRONG. If for nothing else, how about some party loyalty? (Ray Flynn makes me sick to my stomach. Catholics are about more than the abortion issue, how about the lack of compassion and humanity from Brown and the GOP?)
Why does Menino "owe" anyone an endorsement? Doesn't he have the right to keep his mouth shut on the matter? If Warren was a better candidate it would have been game over a long time ago.
Tommy is a liberal DEMOCRAT. You 'progressives' deserve him. A real progressive would have endorsed Warren already. While we're at it, Flynn the fraud calls himself a Democrat as well. The label is totally meaningless. These guys are moderate Republicans. Or liberal Centrists. The labels I repeat are nonsense and anyone who buys any distinction between them is a liberal centrist moderate.