Published Oct 01 2010, 08:07 PM by David S. Bernstein
Thank goodness Paul Loscocco finally did something interesting enough to write about, so I can have fun with his name. (Side note: If the Flaherty/Yoon "ticket" was called Floon, then the independent governor ticket was "Cacocco".)
What he did, of course, was humiliate his running-mate Tim Cahill by bailing on him a month before election day to endorse another candidate -- specifically, the one he originally wanted to be running-mate for, but who turned him away: Charlie Baker.
Loscocco says he left because Cahill can't win, but that's what we in the journalism business call a "load of crap." It may be true that Cahill can't win, but there's not much new reason to think that today than oh, say, at any other point in the entire campaign. Cahill just got $700,000 in public funding, has $2 million to spend, and has better name recognition and base of support than just about any independent candidate you could hope to be on the ticket with; did Loscocco just now figure out it's tough to win as an independent?
Cahill, the Patrick team, and the Mass Dems, have all been suggesting that Baker and Loscocco made some back-room deal for the defection; it makes sense as spin, but I don't think those partisans should have said it -- because everyone was going to think it anyway, without them dirtying their own hands.
More:
http://thephoenix.com/blogs/talkingpolitics/archive/2010/10/01/cuckoo-for-loscocco-puffs.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed%3A+phxtalkingpolitics+%28talking+politics%29#ixzz11E8lpFjkHat-tip to:
http://twitter.com/#!/erin_connolly/status/26190800307