After lagging support from unions - one of his vital voter bases - U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) said today he wouldn't run for the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat....
"The challenge of putting together the resources and organization necessary to wage a competitive statewide campaign in less than 90 days is insurmountable," said Lynch in a statement.
Here's the take-home lesson that a lot of Democrats, not just Lynch, need to take to heart (starting with a certain majority leader whose name rhymes with Barry Bead who will need on-the-ground labor support to make it over the hump in 2010). If labor support is a key component to your coalition, don't dither around on the public option.
So, that leaves AG Martha Coakley and Rep. Michael Capuano as the only elected officials in the race. What had once looked like it would be a 5-way frenzy of House members where the more moderate Lynch had a shot at sneaking through, instead has turned into a fairly easy shot for Coakley, the only statewide official in the running. Capuano's best bet is to try to consolidate Boston and Cambridge-area votes and outflank Coakley on the left (although Coakley is outwardly progressive, unlike Capuano she doesn't have a voting record to point to, so we have no idea how deep her progressive bona fides are). The only wild cards left are the entry of random rich guys who can fund their own way: City Year founder Alan Khazei confirmed that he's getting into the race, and Boston Celtic co-owner Stephen Pagliuca is also sounding like a candidate.
On the GOP side, state Sen. Scott Brown seems to be the Republicans' best bet... although he's attracting the kind of attention you don't necessarily want when you're running for Senate. Although, c'mon, we've all posed nude to pay our way through law school, haven't we? Uh... we haven't?
