is up for grabs in tomorrow's primary, it has been to say the least a somewhat lackluster campaign over all, none of the captioned democrats in the race impress or inspire. None of them seem to be able project force into the relevant precincts in Arlington other that the usual last minute flurry of mailings. All these leads one to wonder if any of the democrats in this race really want to see a big turn out from Arlington.
Margaret Hegarty Belmont Town Meeting member seems to have the longest resume and some street cred in Belmont politics, she has served as an ADA and as an Assistant Attorney General. Moreover the rump of the PUMA/Hilaryista faction seems to have warmed up to her late in the game with endorsements coming from Arlington's Diane Mahon & Clarissa Rowe along with former state rep Ann Paulsen. It is assumed that she is the front runner at this point although no polling buttresses that claim. She is otherwise bright, personable, well informed even charming, but the whole thing faintly suggests ticket punching of the most obvious sort.
Dave Rogers an attorney from North Cambridge is a bright even funny guy, he is determined to win the primary as the hardworking shoe-leather insurgent liberal who comes from behind at the last minute to upset the insiders. This is how Jim Marzilli did it in 1992 and it works if you have the volunteers, the campaign organization, professional management and the money....So far it seems like Dave Rogers has none of that to draw on save the earnest liberal fervor. Ideologically, Humble Elias is likely the best fit with him, but Rogers is trying to win in a district where Belmont is the main electoral factor, long odds indeed. He has however, picked up a number of useful endorsements within the democratic heirarchy in Arlington...then again so did Mark Roosevelt.
Bobby Reardon just does not impress, he is twenty two or so and looks like he is eighteen quite frankly his platform seems reliably liberal but other than youth and good looks nothing much seems to recommend the Belmont town meeting member for the office. There has been talk around the district that Reardon is trying to flex his electoral muscles a bit to see what kind of numbers he can run town wide in Belmont in preparation for a different race down the line. Of course, Sean Garballey won at a similar young age but then again Sean ran an energetic campaign I'm just not seeing the same pace here.
This ends the way it began, "A Battle For the Soul of Belmont Mass" which is a thought to chill the blood in every way. A lot depends on unseen factors, can Reardon turn this into a house to house fight against Hegarty in Belmont such that Rogers is able to run up a plurality in a three way split? Nothing that I've observed suggests this is gonna be a tight race (if it was, we'd see more effort committed to the outlier precincts and wards in Arlington and Cambridge) but then again exactly who is the front runner if anyone is a mystery...
At this point I enter the voting booth undecided in this democratic primary....Sad admission on my part but true.
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