Contenders won’t be playing nice anymore
The gloves are coming off in Boston’s mayoral race with candidates trading accusations of ideas-poaching and flip-flopping as they head into a red-hot sprint to undercut their opponents and sway undecided voters before the 12-way Sept. 24 preliminary election.
“All the campaigns are looking to sharpen their spears in these final few weeks,” said a mayoral campaign official who asked not to be identified. “Everyone knows that after Labor Day is when voters are really paying attention.”
The campaign for frontrunner John R. Connolly, who holds a narrow lead over Martin J. Walsh in the latest polls, went on the offensive yesterday, charging Walsh has borrowed several of the city councilor’s platform ideas and slogans.
In his March kickoff speech, Connolly pledged to create a city “Office of Recovery Services” to focus on the “scourge of addiction,” the campaign said. Four months later, on July 22, they complained, Walsh put out a statement saying, after meeting with his “Public Health policy team,” it had become apparent that creating an “Office of Recovery Services at City Hall … is imperative.”
“Frankly, we weren’t aware,” Walsh policy director Joyce Linehan said. “We apologize if he was offended, but Marty takes a different view of these things: A campaign is an opportunity to share good ideas. And with Marty’s background in substance abuse and recovery, I don’t think his announcement caught anyone by surprise.”
In July, Connolly coined “Hubs of Opportunity” to describe his initiative to link high schools with colleges, employers and trade unions to help students land jobs and scholarships. Yesterday, Walsh used “Hub of Opportunity” on Internet ads and in a Labor Day speech to promote his vision of job growth.
“‘Hub” is not all that original either. Boston has been called “The Hub of the Universe” for a very long time,” Linehan said.
District Attorney Daniel F. Conley also got attacked, in a behind-the-scenes effort by a rival campaign that claimed he flip-flopped on social issues.
In TV ads, Conley — a former city councilor who in 1996 backed a proposal to grant health benefits to the partners of gay city workers — touts his record. But in recent days his rival has been spreading the word — while insisting on no-fingerprints anonymity — that Conley said at the time: “Marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Conley spokesman Mike Sherry called his record on gay rights “stellar” and said he supported marriage equality long before courts ruled on it.
“He courageously cast the deciding vote to extend domestic-partner benefits,” Sherry said. “Dredging up a quote from nearly 20 years ago, out of context, is a pathetic attempt to smear a long, strong and consistent record in support for LGBTQ rights.”
The rival campaign also dredged up two Boston Globe articles from Conley’s 2002 district attorney’s race that describe him as an “abortion opponent.”
Sherry yesterday strongly defended Conley’s support of a woman’s right to an abortion, saying: “Throughout his tenure as DA and as a Boston city councilor, he has shown the utmost respect for the law and women’s right to choose.”
In a 2013 Planned Parenthood voter guide, Conley is on the record in support of abortion rights.
Those who enjoy the bloodsport of politics should prepare for a veritable Olympic competition of such behind-the scenes attacks, said Jim Spencer, a political strategist who advised Sam Yoon’s 2009 mayoral bid.
“The gloves will come off, but in a Boston way,” he said. What should voters expect? “Rumors and buzz on the ground.”