Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Union has found their candidate

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO endorsed the not-yet-official congressional candidacy of Joseph P. Kennedy III yesterday — a pre-emptive move one prospective GOP opponent called a tactic straight out of the Camelot playbook — but Republicans say premature union nods could backfire on the Democratic dynasty’s scion.
“Well, that is shocking,” a sarcastic Sean Bielat told a Herald reporter who informed him of the endorsement. “It’s the first step in the coronation process. This is how the Kennedys do things.”
Bielat announced his candidacy for the redrawn 4th Congressional District seat in January; Kennedy hasn’t announced yet. A University of Massachusetts at Lowell/Boston Herald poll last week suggested Kennedy gets a huge boost from name recognition. The poll had the political neophyte who just moved into the district last week trouncing Bielat, 60 percent to 28 percent — despite Bielat’s hard-fought, well-financed race against U.S. Rep. Barney Frank in 2010, which Frank took with 54 percent to Bielat’s 43 percent.
The Service Employees International Union State Council also endorsed Kennedy last week.
Bielat, who challenged the retiring Barney Frank two years ago for the seat, called both labor groups’ support of an unofficial candidate “unbelievable.”
“It exposes the pretension that this is something other than a typical Kennedy campaign,” Bielat said.
Republican candidate Elizabeth Childs of Brookline said, “I know my neighbors. I see them in the grocery store. My kids go to school with their kids. I see them in my medical practice. I just do not think they are so blinded by a name.”
Kennedy spokesman Kyle Sullivan said Kennedy “appreciates these early expressions of support from organizations that fight every day for economic opportunity and basic fairness for working men and women ... He has been taking some time to get across the district to listen to people’s thoughts on the issues facing families of the 4th District as well as their thoughts on his potential candidacy. If he runs, he is going to work hard to earn every vote.”


        Why not cancel the election altogether! You do not think Romney had a tough job in this state?

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