Not political, not ideological, just history….
The first campaign I ever worked on was in the summer and fall of 1978. Scott Harshbarger, former Harvard football star and long-time assistant Attorney General, was running for District Attorney of Middlesex County in Massachusetts. He was a smart, young, appealing, no-nonsense candidate running in the Democratic primary against 19-year incumbent John Droney. Droney was basically a figurehead. He had suffered a debilitating stroke years before that was kept from the public, and his office was run by his bright, ambitious, albeit pompous first assistant, John Kerry. Harshbarger ran a vigorous and visible campaign, aided by his bright, albeit cocky press secretary and speechwriter, me. (I could not make it through a press release without throwing in two or three gratuitous football analogies: Harshbarger scored with his six-point plan on crime prevention, and was critical of Droney’s record without piling on….).
Harshbarger waited until a couple of weeks before the primary to hold a press conference on the steps of the courthouse to reveal Droney’s condition and essentially tell the voters, “Look, I’m not running against John Kerry. I’m running against this guy and he cannot physically do his job. It’s sad, but you should know this.” All of a sudden, a shoo-in incumbent wasn’t such a shoo-in.
Primary Night, it was close. We took an early lead, then fell behind. As night turned into early morning, we were a couple thousand votes behind. But don’t worry, we were told. Framingham, the 2nd largest city in the county, hadn’t come in. Framingham would put us over the top. Get ready to pop some corks.
At 4:00 am, Framingham came in. And maybe this is my faulty memory 31-plus years later, but not only did it not put us over the top, I don’t think we even fricking won it. 31-plus years later, I can’t even drive through Framingham without thinking about how we had bungled.
What is my point? Because Massachusetts is 3-to-1 registered Democrats, the Democratic primary in Massachusetts IS the election. Or feels that way. Which is why Republicans pop their heads through frequently, especially in the governor’s office. Too many Democratic candidates win the primary and start measuring for drapes. They sit and wait for Framingham to come it instead of, you know, maybe going to Framingham.
I haven’t voted in Massachusetts in three decades, but I am forever fascinated at this reoccuring, ciccada-like arrogance among candidates. Scott Harshbarger learned to play four quarters. Four years later, 1982, he defeated Droney for DA, was relected, then went on to serve as state Attorney General, when he defeated the Democratic incumbent James Shannon in the primary. He ran for Governor in 1998 and narrowly lost to incumbent Republican Paul Celucci, who took over when Bill Weld went to work for Poppy Bush, and whose only good quality is that he might have been degenerate gambler.
Okay, I’m still bitter….