POLITICAL TALKING POINTS: SCORE ONE FOR HENNIGAN
BY ADAM REILLY, BOSTON PHOENIX
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2005
There won't be any mayoral debates. Maura Hennigan
made sure of that tonight by whipping Tom Menino in a "Boston
Mayoral Town Meeting" (questions from the audience, but no
direct candidate exchanges) that was televised on WGBH-TV's Greater
Boston.
Some of the credit goes to Hennigan, who'd clearly
prepped well and had her talking points down. In her opening statement,
she hit Menino on two issues--his broken pledge to serve only
two terms, and his failure to create a public-school system that
satisfies the city's families--and she stayed on the offensive
all night.
But Menino gave her plenty of help. Broadly speaking,
he used two strategies when members of the audience quizzed him
about problems in the city: blame someone else, or simply deny
their existence. Nathan Spencer, a Brighton resident, asked Menino
about skyrocketing housing costs driving out younger residents;
Menino said, in essence, that the problem really isn't all that
bad. Later, when Jadine Soo Hoo of Chinatown asked the mayor what
could be done to create affordable housing in her neighborhood,
he pointed the finger at other levels of government: "We
don't have the partners we had in the past, when it came to giving
us the availability of resources," Menino explained, sort
of.
After a while, Hennigan picked up on Menino's approach
and started to mock it. At one point late in the debate, a woman
named Jody Holden suggested that the city create an independent
review board to investigate tenant-rights issues. By way of an
answer, Menino told her that the existing city framework is adequate.
Hennigan's retort, which was directed at Holden, was spot on:
"Obviously, you don't feel city government is responding
to you, or you wouldn't have asked the question." After 12
years in office, Menino seems to be suffering from a Bush-esque
inability to process criticism. He doesn't listen to it and reject
it; instead, he just doesn't hear it.
Fortunately, the mayor had his machine to help him
save face. Audience and media members who exited WGBH's studios
onto Western Ave. were met by a throng of about 200 sign-toting
Menino supporters, packed uncomfortably close to the doors and
spilling out onto the street under the disinterested gaze of a
Boston police officer. Moving through this crowd was a bit like
running a gauntlet, and there was a definite intimidation component
at work. It was a fitting end to the evening. After all, Tom Menino
doesn't win elections with ideas--he wins them with political
muscle.