Who do you support today for Mayor of Boston on 11/3?

Ponies for all the little girls and boys!

Menino's endorsements include:

• Victory Boston: A five-union coalition, with 15k+ members, including 1199 SEIU, SEIU 615, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, UNITE Here Local 26, and IBEW Local 103.

• Boston Building Trades Council: 19 unions, and 35,000 members - all happy that Menino has vastly increased the pace of development in Boston

Flaherty's, by contrast, fall into two groups.

• Public safety personnel: Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, Boston Firefighters Local 718

• Other unions miffed at Menino: IBEW 2222 (upset over slow expansion of FiOS in Boston), Utility Workers 369 (thinks he's too close to NSTAR, hasn't done enough to support their strikes), and Postal 103 (upset Menino wasn't there for them during negotiations, when Flaherty was)

The bottom line is that the only people willing to cross Menino are those with whom he's already openly feuding - and, with the exception of the public safety employees, most of those aren't directly at his mercy. Organized labor is solidly in Menino's camp; and a victorious Flaherty would be indebted to unions - cops and firefighters - who have been fiercely battling much-needed reforms.

There are lots of other reasons to support Flaherty/Yoon, but this ain't one of them. Menino's not going to feel particularly indebted to unions for his victory - he'll reasonably conclude that he would have won in any case, and that labor is sufficiently cowed by his entrenched power that he can afford to bruise some feelings without costing himself the next election. Flaherty/Yoon would be far substantially indebted to a small subset of workers, and would have to work hard to curry favor among the mainstream unions to fend off challengers for re-election. In this one respect, it's actually useful to have an incumbent - with an independent power base, it's much easier to challenge organized labor when it's necessary to do so.

I don't think that Yoon could be a bonafide City Manager unless Boston changed its form of government. That is a big deal, and I do not think that the city can do that entirely on its own accord.

Um I don't know, a good politician does not mean he will be a good city manager.

We only elect one mayor - and if you check the box next to his name, it will be Flaherty. Boston doesn't have a Plan E system; there won't be a real city manager, whatever title Flaherty chooses to grant Yoon. And if they disagree, or have a falling out, Yoon will soon be shown the door while Flaherty continues on.

The real significance of the announcement isn't in terms of the shape of the eventual administration, but as a signal of intent. By saying he's running along with Yoon, Flaherty is symbolically embracing his relatively wonkish approach to city policy, and trying to tell voters that he'd be more than Menino-redux. That a Flaherty administration would be capable of incorporating bright, capable administrators and public servants who don't themselves hail from South Boston. There'd been substantial reason, until now, to doubt that that would be the case, so it's an important signal.

But let's not get too focused on defining the role that Yoon himself would play. It'd be about as significant as the role played by Joe Biden - tasked with assignments concerning which his boss doesn't feel too strongly, and allowed to do as he pleases so long as he never disagrees with the top dog. Yoon wouldn't last long in such a slot. But it's not about Yoon as an individual - it's about Flaherty's general approach to governance.

Yeah. It's been years and years since Menino adopted new biking initiatives, or pushed for Beantown to become Greentown. There has absolutely been no progressive initiatives.

Getting rid of Menino is progress? This ignores the possibility that getting rid of Menino could be a step back.

Flaherty needed to court Yoon to seem progressive. Menino IS progressive.

hmmm...except that Flaherty is conservative. He plans to scale back on social services and cut budgets where we need them the most.

Progress and progressive mean 2 different things.

Progressive is Menino acknowledging race and the racial history of Boston while combating racial inequalities in all areas of city goverment.

NOT-progressive is Flaherty not understanding racism and subscribing to institutionalized racism by making comments along the lines of "you're black, so you're good at basketball"

NOT-progressive is only knowing the white Boston: BC High, Boston College, Southie (excluding Old Colony)

NOT-progressive is Flaherty assuming that all Latinas look like J-lo and therefore publically commenting that Barbara Ferrer and Daphne Griffen (two spanish-speaking Puerto Rico-born department chiefs) can't possibly be Latinas.

Progressive is Boston being the only city in the country with a clear blueprint for combating racial inequities in health.

NOT-progressive is Flaherty wanting to cut public health services and claim that youth violence should be dealt with entirely from the police department rather than understanding that it's a public health and prevention issue rather than a punitive one.

Progressive is Menino refusing to march in a parade that is openly homophobic (the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade)

NOT-progressive is both Flaherty and Yoon marching in this parade because they don't know how else in the world they can possibly attract southie voters

Progressive is Menino understanding that city government is here for the people of Boston -- and to provide opportunities for those people.

NOT-progressive is trying to use the position of Mayor of Boston as a political stepping-stone to the Senate.

Progressive is Menino supporting the working-class citizens of Boston, and in turn receiving the endorsements of the majority of local unions

NOT-progressive is encouraging your BFD supporters to swear at and intimidate the children of Menino supporters while outside the first debate location.

the claim was not that a deputy mayor is illegal...rather that it is illegal to "run for deputy mayor" because it would not be a position elected by voters, rather an appointment. This means Yoon would have no job security in the Flaherty administration.

It's a tactic to confuse voters. Appointments are appointments and elections are elections.

Yoon has said he'd be appointed as Deputy Mayor, not that he's running for it. But he *is* campaigning on behalf of Flaherty so you'll see him out there drumming up support for their mayoral team as a whole.

Think of it this way, if Menino did the same thing, then the guy he'd be rolling out there as his second-in-command is habitual public record law violator, Michael Kineavy.

They are conspiring with CHESTNUTs to make the trails in the Fells impassible, not to mention the havoc they wreak on sidewalks and under bike wheels.