Editorial, Opinion

STAFF EDIT: Fight club

The theme of the first 2009 Boston mayoral debate last night surfaced as a textbook lesson in contrasts and comparisons. While current mayor Thomas Menino spent the evening playing defense, his opponents City Councilors-at-Large Sam Yoon and Mike Flaherty and businessman Kevin McCrea used their time mostly to talk about how much they weren’t like Menino. As far as debates go, this one was less of a comprehensive survey of competing political ideas and more of a he-said-he-said, leaving voters hungry for something a little more substantial.

After serving four full terms, Menino’s strengths and weaknesses as mayor are no secret to his constituents. Voters rely on these debates to make an informed decision, and it’s no significant resource if three opponents use their time to barrage viewers with a history of Menino’s mistakes, nor do they need Menino to defend the mayor they’ve known for 16 years. What became an exercise in redundancy had the potential to become something much more fulfilling, especially considering the diverse backgrounds among the candidates. With four very different platforms at play, candidates would have fared better to emphasize what makes them the antithesis of a mayoral mistake, instead of what makes them the antithesis of Menino’s mistakes. Regrettably, the overall feel of the debate was markedly regressive in an atmosphere that flourishes with promises of progress.

Of the four candidates, it was McCrea who made the most resounding impression during the debate. His position as a construction company owner, who has never served in political office, designates him the classic dark horse candidate, the candidate who isn’t restricted by existing political constraints to argue conventionally and venture (a calculated distance) out on a limb. Where McCrea shines is in his anti-politician’s politics, his ability to build the framework of his crusade with the very antithetical tactics that make his opponents seem sluggish.

In his opportune dark horse position, McCrea was lucky to be able to make the unimpressive approach used by his competition seem slightly more dimensional, although no candidate truly delivered the spirited debate craved by voters. They were so wrapped up in their own relationships and the perceived mistakes they tacked onto one another, that they made a mistake that transcended all the rest: they detached themselves from their constituents. And because they couldn’t be relatable, they presented a paltry offering to would-be supporters and left voters nodding in disappointed agreement as debate moderator WBZ-TV political analyst John Keller lamented he was, ‘left wanting more.’

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