Is Newton Mayor Setti Warren saying different things to different reporters about his future political aspirations? Or does it come down to a matter of emphasis and interpretation? That’s what folks at the Newton Tab want to know.
After Matt Murphy of the State House News Service reported that some Democrats were hoping Warren would challenge Republican Senator Scott Brown in 2012, Warren told Tab editor Gail Spector there was nothing to it.
But Warren didn’t come off as quite so emphatic in a Boston Globe story today by Alan Wirzbicki, who wrote, “Warren said he was focused on his job, but did not rule out a run and attacked Brown’s record.”
Lacking the full transcript of either interview, it’s hard to know what’s going on. Warren’s quote in the Tab — “My intent is to finish my term” — isn’t exactly a denial. And the Globe quotes Warren indirectly, so we don’t know what he actually said.
My guess is that both stories are right. And that Warren will soon be issuing a clarification.
More: The Tab’s Spector follows up with Warren. And he won’t be pinned down.
Photo via the City of Newton’s website.
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Setti is a rising star, with a very bright future. However, he has been Newton Mayor for all of ten months. For him even to toy with the idea of moving on to higher office would be a huge mistake. First, he has to accomplish something. He should clear up the confusion about his comments pronto!
Word parsing aside, my own view is that Mayor Warren would not be able to mount a credible statewide run after what would be just two-plus years as mayor and that all this tea leaf reading just gives us political junkies something to grasp as we fight withdrawal following a year long roller coaster ride which began with the special senate election.
That said, right now, Warren spends a lot more time talking to the Newton TAB than the Globe. The minute that equation changes, we will know he’s made the decision to move onto the next thing.
Yes I’d agree with Greg and Margie; there’s very little upside for Mayor Warren to run against Brown. *Maybe* he would win, but why would he risk such a bright political future on such a risky venture?
@Shawn: If what you are saying (and I’m not sure that it is) is that losing an election can torpedo a promising political career, consider Obama.
I was just thinking that if Warren runs and doesn’t win, he may be left with an electorate in Newton that is unhappy he didn’t focus on the city at a time when it faced difficult problems. But yes, true, Obama rose very quickly and Mayor Warren could too despite that risk.