Reply #15: Ahm, well, I have heard these concerns elsewhere

[TayTay]

I love Setti. Great guy. However, there are problems with Setti making this run.

Setti has been Mayor of Newton for less than 2 years. He has a young child with another on the way. He has a chance, right now, to cement his reputation in MA as an achiever by finishing his job as Mayor. There are a lot of folks in Newton who are not happy Setti is making this run. (These are nice people who like Setti and see him as a asset for the Dems in MA for some time to come. These are not Repubs or enemies, but people who like Setti, liked his Dad as well, and wish the whole family well.)

There are a lot of rumblings, from other nice guys in MA, who are not jerks like Keller, on Setti. There are fears that Setti needs to finish the work on Newton, a currently troubled town with a $9 million deficit and a troubled history with a "taj mahal" type high school construction that is killing the budget. Newton needs a full-time Mayor right now. There is a basic sense of insecurity in MA that we elect people who then "abandon" us for higher office. (sometimes this fear is rational, sometimes it's just basic Mass insecurity with a fear of abandonment.)

I have decidedly mixed feelings on Setti running. In all honesty, I am not sure this is a good idea at this moment in time. It is hard enough to run for higher office in this country because the atmosphere is very poisonous. There are problems with this run, problems noted by people who really, really like Setti and are worried for him.

The meeting the other day was, ahm, interesting. Setti was a real pro in his presentation. He got a lot of "small" questions from people who were complaining about their specific situations. (a lot of govt workers are very upset over the recent labor redos and were asking Setti about it. This is not really the area of a US Senator, but he handled it well.) Setti was also asked, point blank, about running against a well-funded Scott Brown and if he could raise money, overcome the issue of being only 2 years into his term and if he could devote time to a run, what with having one small child and another on the way. In other words, is Setti serious and "all in" on this run. That is not an answerable question. (Show, don't tell is how you answer that one.)

Setti makes a superb presentation. (But, OMG, does he ever show his roots. His hand gestures, posture, manner of speech and so forth are reminiscent of someone else we all know and love. Remarkably so.)