As I’ve said a few times before, I’m glad Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan is running for mayor because I believe democracies thrive from the public debate that comes when qualified candidates challenge incumbents.
I still feel that way. I’m still glad he’s running.*
But here we are two months after Hess-Mahan announced that he was running and one month before the preliminary election and Hess-Mahan’s actual campaign seems, well, invisible.
There’s no campaign website (Hess-Mahan told me last week that it’s coming). There’s no campaign Facebook page. And while I’ve seen plenty of “Re-Elect Setti Warren” lawn signs across Newton, has anybody seen a “Hess-Mahan for Mayor” sign? Has anyone encountered a volunteer canvassing or raising money on Hess-Mahan’s behalf?
What we have seen so far is someone who is using the media and blogs to criticize the mayor for, well, just about everything.
This maybe the right strategy this early in the contest. Elections are referendums on incumbents. So if you’re challenging a popular incumbent (and Setti Warren is very popular) you’re going to need to define what’s wrong in order to get voters to even consider you.
What I haven’t seen is Hess-Mahan articulating his own agenda, visions and goals. Maybe that’s coming. Or maybe this is all Hess-Mahan has.
Which leads me to wonder: Is Hess-Mahan truly campaigning for mayor or just using the soap box that comes with being on the ballot? What’s really behind his running? Is it genuine disagreement with the mayor? Is he setting himself up for a future election? A mid-life crisis? Or am I just being impatient, with a full blown campaign just around the corner?
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*This is not an endorsement. I have not endorsed any candidate for mayor.
Here’s a formula for consideration:
Ted gets 25% of vote; that support is solid and remains until the next campaign.
If the incumbent does not run next time, voters need to decide who gets the 75%.
If THM can gain a mere 1/3rd of the 75%, he’s Mayor.
Easy peazy? (Greg, If he put up a website, what would the “Donate” button say?)
You are impatient.
What’s next Greg – a blog about Jackie Gauvreau Sequeira ?
Ted is afraid to honestly tell you what he stands for, because if he were to be completely honest, even the liberals in Newton would cringe. For starters, as I like to remind everyone, he and Linsky tried to push a bill through the BOA which would invite a confirmed member of a terrorist group to settle in Newton when released from Guantanamo. This was because he felt bad, and still does, for this poor individual. Forget about the risks to Newton residents. We don’t count in his left-wing vision of Newton and the US. The BOA soundly defeated it.
So, for now, he’ll harp on minutiae of certain construction topics, and attack Setti relentlessly, as if he would be in any way better.
@Barry: I’ve seen nothing to make me believe that Hess-Mahan is reluctant to tell people his opinion about anything. You clearly are in that slim minority will forever be hung up on the Guantanamo issue. I frankly don’t think that’s a liability for him.
The Iraq war veteran and leaf blower war veteran square off…
Greg,
What you said is an unfortunate commentary on local thinking.
“You clearly are in that slim minority will forever be hung up on the Guantanamo issue. I frankly don’t think that’s a liability for him.”
I’m not “hung up” on it. I just think it reflects poor judgement and lack of concern for the people he should really care about. If that isn’t a “liability”, then what is?