Fueled By Outside Money, Boston’s Mayoral Slugfest Gets Personal

November 5, 2013 Black Truth News Community News, Politics, Recent Posts

Working America, the AFL-CIO-affiliated super PAC, has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a field operation for Walsh. The group has housed a small army of paid political canvassers at a Holiday Inn alongside a busy highway since early August. The PAC has also dialed up the class issue, producing a series of mailings in which salty-looking Bostonians claim that Connolly is “trying to fool people,” “doesn’t understand us,” and “isn’t one of us.”

Walsh has sworn off the negative mailers, but he’s also declined to ask the outside PACs to leave the race. Three-quarters of all outside money has been spent promoting Walsh’s candidacy, and in a tight race, it’s given Walsh a tremendous spending edge. In addition to Working America’s ground game, a pair of other super PACs has spent more than $1.5 million airing television ads on his behalf. Pro-Walsh PACs have spent 45 percent more on the race than Walsh’s own campaign committee has. Boston’s mayoral race has become a rallying cause for organized labor nationwide — a chance to flex its muscles and show it still has political juice, Chris Christie and Scott Walker be damned.

Groups like Democrats for Education Reform have lined up behind Connolly, and are spending money at a furious pace in the race’s final days, but they’ve been outflanked both on the air, and on the ground. And Connolly is expecting a crush of paid super PAC organizers to flood the streets on Walsh’s behalf on Tuesday.

“Boston campaigns are inherently local, so much of it has to do with field organization and message,” Connolly says. “That’s the good part. I don’t think any of this stuff is unexpected, with the outside money, but it’s sort of like watching the car wreck in slow-motion. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. I knew it would happen. Everybody knew it would happen. But you have to live with it. You just keep on moving.”