Live Blog: Boston's Mayoral Debate

Strap in, Bostonist readers, because we are going to live blog tonight's Boston mayoral debates. Just a warning: We aren't the brightest on the block when it comes to local politics. If you're looking for insightful wonkery, go to BlueMassGroup. If you're looking for jokes about Menino's articulation or Michael Flaherty's tie, stick around here. As always, the most recent update will be on top.

7:55: Menino: "Bond rating," "neighborhoods," "diversity of our city": the outline of a drinking game begins to present itself.

7:54: Flaherty: Townies shouldn't be taxed! Tax the freaking universities already.

7:53: Yoon is back on the BRA and on Mayor Flynn. And he sounds like Peter Parker's uncle, with all the talk about power.

7:52: Menino says McCrea doesn't know what a city budget is. You've got to pay the bills. And Menino's wants to give him a "lesson."

7:51: McCrea: "Cost of living has gone up by 25%," and taxes have gone up more. McCrea: $120 million in the bank.

7:48: McCrea: "patronage=unjustified preemptive war" (The courage to stand up to patronage is like Ted Kennedy's courage when he voted against the war in Iraq.)

7:46: Menino: "Over half" of the people in Menino's cabinet didn't work on his campaign. No patronage there!

7:46: Yoon wants to end patronage in Boston. Does he also hate clam chowder?

7:45: Menino isn't really answering the question. His point seems to be that living in Boston is awesome! So live here, duh.

7:44: McCrea wants to back mortgages for city workers. Good one!

7:43: Flaherty wants "everyone to move back" from the suburbs. Not to JP, please.

7:42: Residency requirement for public workers. Do people who live here actually care about that?

7:40: McCrea with a shocker: The people who run the city get their kids into good schools!

7:39: Flaherty: Put the kids in the Garden! They'll fit. Also, poor people don't have the same educational success as more wealthy kids.

7:38: Menino keeps saying "kids." We can't understand any of the other words. Point Menino.

7:36: Menino: "Look, our schools are completely badass." (Well, not exactly.)

7:35: McCrea: "Let's cut the crap. Charter schools are bullshit." (Well, not exactly.) Longer hours, more discipline in the schools. He's just lost the under 18 vote!

7:34: Michael Flaherty slows things down and does a doe eyed thing. Flaherty is embracing charters, but, at first we weren't sure he wasn't saying chards.

7:33: Education. 8,000 people want charter schools. This is the kind of shit we just don't know about, not having kids. Yoon wants to lift the cap on charter schools, also thinks they aren't all that. "Smart Caps" has it both ways.

7:28: Did Yoon just call Menino a liar? The Mark Twain cherry has been popped. We can't believe it has taken the candidates so long to talk about the Globe story on Menino's development. Also: Nice invocation of Mayor Flynn. Burn. Like ten points Yoon.

7:27: Menino tells McCrea that his charges are "nonsense." Menino says BRA is helping homeowners and neighborhoods—playing to his base: people who live here.

7:25: Flaherty shouts out the artists who are moving to Providence. Don't do it, artists! It's stressful there.

7:26: McCrea says "corruption." It's on.

7:25: Was that Southie cheering the line "make government smaller"? Maybe our ears are ringing.

7:24: Yoon really nails the BRA. Are viewers following this? Good way to lay out the issue: It was Menino, behind the doors, with the money.

7:22: You've lost us, Mumbles. We heard "Legal Seafood" and now we want fish and chips.

7:19: Even Third World New Orleans has 311! Bostonist heard Menino say what the city's information number was, but we couldn't make out anything but the number three. We think.