I think Sachem Head may be right that Tom Reilly is modeling himself into the new Finneran:
It seems clear to me that the cultural demographic that Reilly is trying to corner is the lunch-pail, Reagan Democrat type. He’s promising to “listen to the people” and cut taxes. And he says he won’t be beholden to the liberals of the party. But doesn’t that actually put him right there in the Finneran mold? Wasn’t it Finneran, in fact, who damned Reilly’s AG predecessor Scott Harshbarger by publicly hoping that Harshbarger wouldn’t fall in with the “loonies of the left”? Reilly’s candidacy isn’t really a Harshbarger reform type of candidacy at all.
Go read the rest of the post, which is quite interesting. The irony, of course, is that Finneran rarely earned much credit for the Legislature from the elements of centrism and ressentiment in the general public. He earned the support of the business community while Beacon Hill grew unpopular and while he served as a lightening rod for progressives’ antipathy.
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