You now what’s surprisingly fun? Reading through campaign finance reports.
Last week I went over Steven G. Pagliuca’s latest report with the Federal Election Commission, and found that the candidate, as he has claimed repeatedly, has not accepted any money from any Political Action Committees (PACs). Indeed, he has sunk more than $1.8 million on his own cash into the campaign.
So what about the donors who have ponied up $205,000 to the campaign? I saw lots of friends and colleagues from Mr. Pagliuca’s two major business concerns – the Boston Celtics and Bain Capital – including Celtics coach Doc Rivers, former Celtics superstar Danny Ainge, and team co-owner Wycliffe Grousbeck.
Martha Coakley’s $2.1 million war chest is mostly funded by nearly 600 individual donations, which suggests she has a decent potential voter base. PACs have accounted for about $41,000 in donations.
Michael E. Capuano transferred $1.2 million from his Congressional campaign fund and added to that $306,000 in individual donations and $32.500 from PAC donations…curiously, there does not appear to be a lot of donations in this latter group from Rep. Capuano’s numerous union endorsers. Hmm. Maybe the unions are broke…
The real surprise: Alan A. Khazei, the guy who’s been playing things extremely low-key compared to his rivals, has more than $1.1 million ready to spend thanks to more than 800 individual donations — many of them from out-of-state contributors, which does not speak well of any local grass-roots support, but still: Dude! You’re getting hammered in the race! SPEND YOUR MONEY!
I must add that I was tickled to see at the top of Mr. Khazei’s donor list J.J. Abrams, the guy who gave us “Lost” and “Fringe,” and this summer’s blockbuster movie “Star Trek.” Wow. Other notable names on the list: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a favorite writer of mine, Brad Meltzer (“The Book of Fate” and “Identity Crisis”).
He also received a donation or two from people in Bain Capital…you know: Pagliuca’s outfit.
Bet that’s going to be an awkward Christmas party.
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Speaking of Rep. Capuano, the Boston Herald this week ran a none-too-flattering story about how the congressman currently boasts (if that’s the word for it) the 10th worst voting record in Congress for 2009. That’s 10th worst out of 435 members. In the Herald’s words, Rep. Capuano “blew off” 128 votes (14 percent) this year.
The congressman’s mouthpieces countered by noting Rep. Capuano’s lifetime voting rate is 96 percent. To give that its proper context, he’s been in Congress since 1999.
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Ah, but Rep. Capuano’s voting record is not the only candidate faux pas people are talking about this week. AG. Coakley is catching some flack for passing on a candidate’s forum in Amhearst Sunday night. She said she had a long-standing prior commitment and couldn’t attend, but the legitimacy of that claim didn’t stop her rivals from taking potshots.
Among the shooters was this year’s “Where the hell did HE come from?!” candidate, Republican Jack E. Robinson. Mr. Robinson, despite his run-silent-run-deep stealth campaign, managed to gather enough signatures to land a spot on the primary ballot alongside State Senator Scott P. Brown (R – Wrentham).
(Please note that the first Republican to officially declare his candidacy, Canton selectman Bob Burr, did more overt campaigning than Robinson – although barely – yet still didn’t make the ballot. That’s a kidney punch to the ego.)
Mr. Robinson unsuccessfully ran for the late Edward M. Kennedy’s US Senate seat in 2000.
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To continue my series of smooth segues: this is your final reminder that Sen. Brown will be in Hyannis this Sunday for a campaign fundraiser. That event will be at the Hyannis Golf Course on Route 132 from 3 to 5 PM.
Political news and announcements may be sent to Michael Bailey, Region editor and senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
