Given the low standards that pass for acceptable political behavior, I’m not entirely sure why I was so offended by Paul Loscocco’s decision to bow out as independent gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill’s running mate.
But according today’s Boston Herald, I’m not alone. “What a snake! What a betrayal!” said erstwhile gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos. Added WRKO talk-show host Charley Manning: “In all the years I’ve followed politics, I’ve never seen someone leave a ticket like Paul Loscocco did.”
Jon Keller calls it the “final blow” to Cahill’s gubernatorial campaign. But Cahill never had a shot, and unless Loscocco is delusional, he knew that the day he joined the ticket. This race was always going to come down to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick and Republican challenger Charlie Baker. That’s what makes Loscocco’s act of betrayal so loathsome.
Nor can you compare this to high-profile consultant John Weaver’s recent resignation from the Cahill campaign, followed by his endorsement of Baker. Consultants come and go. Loscocco is a candidate for a statewide constitutional office, joined at the hip to Cahill. The only honorable path before him was to stick it out until the end.
Perhaps the most laughable aspect is that Loscocco hasn’t ruled out accepting a job in a Baker administration, the Boston Globe reports. Well, maybe Baker will throw some sort of bone to Loscocco if he’s elected governor. But I think Baker would want to be very careful about letting a backstabbing weasel like Loscocco get too far inside the tent.
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The most despicable part of this despicable act is putting out the press release before telling Cahill. That’s two knives in the back!
DK – ‘LostCausso’ will find his ‘return’ lukewarm at best. Some members of Mass GOP still holds grudges about who supported Weld over Steve Pierce, so memories are very long. His runway walk asking to be chosen for Lt. Gov. by Baker, followed by his decamping to Cahill, followed by his re-decamping won’t be forgotten.
In fact, in the words of Dorothy Parker, “Women and Elephants never forget.” This makes a case that Republican women are especially dangerous, but it holds true for other Elephants as well.
Baker has already shown his position by appearing with Loscocco to accept his endorsement, so as far as being careful, that ship has already sailed.
PS Hope the elbow is coming along well.
“Perhaps the most laughable aspect is that Loscocco hasn’t ruled out accepting a job in a Baker administration”
Is “laughable” really the right word here? I would expect there to be a job offer somewhere in there, if not from Baker, then from the Republican party. In politics where there’s a quo there’s always a quid at least when it comes to the pros. (Or something like that.)
I would also think the same holds true for Weaver and Meldrum, although their “offers” were probably along the lines of “if you ever want to work on a Republican campaign again…”.
Even a rat knows that staying on a sinking ship is not the wisest of moves.
I have no surprise or problems with Loscocco’s perfidy as I have little trust in the roles of third-party candidates claiming the mainstream and offering comparable platforms as being anything other than spoilers.
Ethics and politics in this state were divorced long, long ago. For that matter they have been divorced throughout the world for an similar length of time.
Not just the Boston Herald but also Republicans are criticizing Loscocco’s endorsement of Republican Charlie Baker.
So why is it that Jon Keller seem to have no problem with the defection… and instead seems to be offering Baker campaign consulting advice?
I would say that Jon Keller is as free to give his opinions as, say, Dan Kennedy might be.
He has made it rather clear over the the years that he is conservative in his leanings, and still has gained the reputation of being a fair and honest reporter, much more fair and much more honest than the great majority of those in the journalism profession.
L.K.
Generally agree I with you about third party candidates. However, you seem to soften Loscocco’s role as a third party candidate. He was one and knew what he was getting into.
Did he really think that they had a great chance from the beginning? He had to understand that the chances of that ticket playing anything other than spoiler were very small.
Given the amount of lint some of them have on their own blazers, (e.g., Kaufman, Finneran), don’t be surprised if a lobbying firm picks up Loscocco off waivers.
During the fight with then, acting governor swift about firing Bechtel on 2001 and 2002, Paul loscocco was working with the corrupt administration while seemingly working the inside at the mass turnpike authority— we gave him the moniker LostCauso because he could never be trusted to do the right thing—Charlie should have been in a different time zone while this happened.