We begin this week with an update of who’s running for the late Edward M. Kennedy’s vacant US Senate seat. It’s gotten busy since last week’s column!
Congressman Michael E. Capuano jumped into the race last week, setting the stage for what is shaping up to be a four-way primary showdown. Before he even formalized his candidacy, Mr. Capuano fired off an opening barrage aimed at front-runner Martha Coakley, calling her a political “blank slate” who has never offered an opinion on national issues such as health care reform and the Iraq War.
“I wouldn’t mind if you were just a new candidate, but she’s been running for four and a half years,” he said, referring to the fact that Ms. Coakley, according to the buzz, has been considering a Senate run for quite some time now. “It’s just a little too cautious to me.”
If he liked Ms. Coakley’s “blank slate” status, then Mr. Capuano is going LOVE Steve Pagliuca, whose claim to fame is that he’s co-owner of the Boston Celtics. He announced his candidacy as a Democrat last Thursday.
The there’s Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year, who pulled nomination papers last week. He was set to announce his candidacy yesterday.
Meanwhile State Senator Scott P. Brown (R – Wrentham), Republican candidate for US Senate, has launched his new campaign website. What you won’t find there — and I swear I’m not making this up — is any reference to or pictures from his 1982 nude centerfold spread for “Cosmopolitan.” (Is anyone surprised that the Boston Herald broke that story?)
WARNING! The above link to Cosmo is only barely safe for work, and not at all safe for husbands who have let themselves go.
And, I jive you not, he said he did it because he was young and needed the money. To be precise: he was at the time a student at Boston College Law School and he entered a Cosmo-sponsored centerfold contest. He won, and used the prize money to pay his tuition.
Yep…gonna be a fun election!
I should mention that Mr. Brown will be facing off in the primaries against the alliterative Bob Burr, a selectman from Canton. Technically he announced his candidacy before Mr. Brown, but no one seems to much care. I mean, have you heard anything about the guy?
And, what the hey, let’s throw a real spin on the race by announcing that Joe Kennedy is running! No, not Joseph P. Kennedy II, nephew to the late senator, but a guy from Dedham named Joe Kennedy. He’s an independent candidate.
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Notice that in the above item I referred to Ms. Coakley as the front-runner. I use that title in light of the first poll to assess the US Senate special election.
The Suffolk University/WHDH-TV News poll set up a theoretical race between several candidates, and found that Ms. Coakley is the lead contender. In a match-up between Ms. Coakley, Mr. Brown – at the time the only other person formally in the race – and Mr. Capuano, 32 percent of those surveyed believed Ms. Coakley would win, seven percent chose Mr. Brown, and three percent chose Mr. Capuano.
By the way: Mr. Pagliuca has a lot of catching up to do. The poll found that 72 percent of those surveyed had no clue who he was.
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It’s not a new website per se, but Timothy P. Cahill has given the site he used as a candidate for state treasurer an overhaul for his gubernatorial campaign. The URL is still http://treasurercahill.com/ but the content (such as it is) is geared more toward his potential new job.
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And what of Mr. Cahill’s treasurer gig? Well, regardless of what happens there, there is someone new eyeballing the post for 2010. That someone is a gent named Steve Grossman, who is president of the Somerville-based Grossman Marketing Group and, according to his website, “a leading figure in numerous charitable organizations, and a distinguished political activist who has chaired the Democratic Party both in Massachusetts and nationally.”
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Doesn’t it figure? Last week I gripe that Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker Jr.’s website hasn’t been updated in a while and, right after deadline, he adds something. Not much, but something.
Head there now to see that something, a short video updating the state of his campaign. If that’s too much effort, let me summarize by repeating what I said last week: he still has a campaign. Now he just needs to do something with it.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
Tags: 2010 election, US Senator Ted Kennedy
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
Let’s see who is the cautious candidate and who is bold-
Check out the facts: Who’s Timid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SHbwnIhaxk&feature=player_embedded
Another great must see: Cash Countdown
http://www.womenforcoakley.com/2009/09/27/cash-countdown/
Filling Ted Kennedy’s seat with the most qualified candidate who happens to be a woman will assure that Massachusetts has another powerful voice in the Senate; one that will break another equal rights barrier, our first woman Senator. Martha Coakley is the ideal choice. Her courage and commitment to social justice will guarantee that Massachusetts has another advocate of whom we can be proud.
So, you’re saying we should vote for someone simply because they are a woman?