Hennigan Mortgages Home, Still Can't Afford Compelling Message

As Boston Magazine has adeptly pointed out, there is nothing like living in a two-newspaper town. Although Bostonist has chided the Herald at times for its breathless, light-on-facts coverage, we must admit that the truth seems frequently to lie somewhere between the Globe's muted understatement and the Herald's bold generalization. Case in point: today's stories about Councillor Maura Hennigan's plan to mortgage her JP home to fund her flagging mayoral campaign. The Herald blames the Mayor, saying (without any confirmation or detail) that he has "put the $queeze" on would-be Hennigan donors, and depicts Hennigan as a scrappy fighter willing to risk it all. The Globe focuses on the fact that Hennigan, scrappy fighter though she may be, owns four properties in Boston with a total assessed value of over a million dollars, and places the blame for her paltry fundraising more with her lack of - how shall Bostonist put it? - a snowball's chance in hell. (The Globe does point out that former Mayor Kelly mortgaged his home to kickstart a successful come-from-behind run in 1983.)

What both papers, in their way, make eminently clear is that Hennigan doesn't really have any kind of, you know, message. The Globe comes out and says it: she "has been searching for an issue that will seize the public's attention." The Herald dances around the matter a bit, telling us that she pointed out "issues she is concerned about in a number of Boston neighborhoods" during a three-hour tour of the city she gave by trolley yesterday. What issues? Elected neighborhood groups (rather than appointed ones) should track development and the Mayor should agree to debates (which she said in Spanish this time). Not exactly hot-button stuff.

If anything, though, Hennigan has shown a flair for the dramatic, which will surely be on display if Menino ever agrees to debates. We hope very much that he will, because debates are fun and sometimes informative, and because well-contested elections make us feel like this democracy thing really works. Perhaps if a straight-up debate isn't the Mayor's style, he and Hennigan could meet at some neutral, non-Boston location for a freestyle rap battle. Bostonist will gladly provide the human beat-boxing.