Flaherty + Yoon = Sound + Fury?

Unless you've been living under a rock, or in Somerville, you've probably heard about the new Flaherty-Yoon alliance. A "marriage," according to the Globe's Scott Lehigh, which weirdly echos something we overheard at Fenway Park yesterday. "You know, Flaherty-Yoon: It's like gay marriage, but for politics."

One obvious advantage to the "Floon" ticket (we're still trying to track down the blog or reporter who coined that one*): Flaherty doesn't look so much like mini-Menino anymore. CivicBoston thinks that the ticket might give Flaherty a decisive block of black voters; Adam Gaffin is skeptical.

Both the Herald's Peter Gelzinis and the Globe's editorial staff think the move is a bunch of malarkey. Gelzinis quips "If “Floon” wins, Yoon - who is not a lawyer like Flaherty - would stand to almost double his present City Council salary. Now, that’s change the Yoon family can believe in." The Globe, which sort of hates Sam Yoon, thinks that Floon's proposal to disolve the BRA is a bad idea and that Yoon's support for an elected Boston School Committee is an even worse one. The editorial closes with a zinger: "Two dogs, goes a folk saying, can kill a lion. Or they can just chase their tails."

Over at BlueMassGroup, the talk is the cacophony of Floon's message. Flaherty doesn't support term limits, for example, but Yoon says that they are a cornerstone of the ticket.

Dorchester Reporter's Lit Drop nominates "the Spice Girls' '2 Become 1' as the campaign song for Team Floon."

Over at the Phoenix, Adam Reilly is down with the ticket, musing, "It's also very possible that the image of the two young city councilors (Flaherty is 40, Yoon is 39) criss-crossing the city could have a Clinton/Gore '92 effect, of convincing the public to go with the new energy."

As for us? We're not political geniuses over here, but we do know a recipe for disaster when we see one. Regardless of our opinion about either candidate separately, they are weaker as one. Yoon would not be guaranteed a seat in Flaherty's administration, regardless of the will of the voters, and would serve at Flaherty's pleasure. He might be Flaherty's Kineavy with a fancier title, but that's no guarantee that he will influence Flaherty's policymaking to any great extent. In fact, the ideological differences between the two—Yoon wants to be rid of the "strong mayor" system; Flaherty doesn't—can't make for a comfortable environment when it comes to making decisions. Healthier, more open and democratic discussion would be good for Boston. Discord and resentment, not so much.

But then again, that might be overstating things. Flaherty has said that he will appoint Yoon to oversee advancements in Boston's constituent services, including implementing 311 and streamlining a computer auditing system for city departments. If Yoon's role is circumscribed to that extent, it's still Flaherty's party, but Yoonies will get some of their favorite goodies, courtesy of the guy whom they voted for in September.

But that doesn't change the name on the ballot. When we go to the polls in November, we will be voting for or against Michael Flaherty, not Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon.

*Update. According to Yoon staffer Jordan Newman, the term was coined by city councilor John Tobin in a Herald interview.

After the jump: Tell us how the "Floon" ticket changes things.