When one thinks of a precendent-setting local politician with a stake in this year's Democratic primary for president, they probably think of Governor Deval Patrick. But Boston City Council At-Large member Sam Yoon is also in the mix. Yoon became Boston's first Asian American in elected office when he won his seat in 2005. Since then the Princeton and Harvard alum has charted a progressive legislative track that's brought him much positive attention and......

Presidential candidate Barack Obama used lines that Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick used during his campaign for governor while Obama campaigned in Wisconsin over the weekend. Here's what Obama told Clinton: “Don’t tell me words don’t matter,” Mr. Obama said, to applause. “ ‘I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’ — just......

A few days ago, everyone cared about the Commonwealth. Senator McCain was here, Senator Obama was here, Senator Clinton was in Worcester, the Kennedys were everywhere. Now we won't even have our ex-governor parading around the country insulting us. It all happened so fast. To figure out exactly what went wrong, we headed to the epicenter of right-wing commentary: the National Review. And as it turns out, Romney's defeat was caused by something we're pretty......

Massachusetts' legendary senior Senator and national liberal icon, Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts' junior Senator and the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry. Massachusetts' precedent-shattering Governor, Deval Patrick. None of the endorsements were enough for Barack Obama to win the Massachusetts primary. While we gave a lot of attention yesterday to Senator Obama's epic Boston rally, Seth Gitell was reminding people that--press attention and celebrity status aside--the two strongest political machines in the state belong to Boston's......

Republican presidential aspirant and former Massachsuetts governor Mitt Romney is the projected winner of the state of Massachusetts over John McCain this Super Tuesday, according to CNN. And that victory was by no means a given since Romney didn't exactly leave Massachusetts wanting more. However, Romney is still fighting for states, and Mike Huckabee (plus buddy Chuck Norris) is racking up enough votes that neither one can catch up to the front-runner, John McCain. Huckabee......

Today is truly a day to end all days: Super Tuesday and Fat Tuesday unite as one, to reveal America for what it truly is: the Nation of the SuperFat (and the grammatically illicit double-colon sentence as well!). Bostonist encourages all of its readers to vote prior to partying (a couple of drinks might make you think Michael Cera is a great write-in vote--actually, he totally would be), and to party like it's 2009 and......

Watching elections returns is sort of like watching a sports championship except instead of blocks, pitch-outs, 20 yard passes, home runs and slam dunks you have... percentages of precincts reporting. And instead of talking heads who break down game strategy and player fatigue, you have guys in rumpled shirts carefully restating in different terms what they said ten minutes ago, when there weren't so many precincts reporting. If there is one group of people who......

Super Tuesday Obama? Clinton? Romney? Huckabee? Are you getting them all mixed up right about now? Try to get untangled because today is Super Tuesday and the Massachusetts Presidential Primary. Vote so you can at least weed a few of these candidates out. Find out where your polling station is. Girl Scout Cookies Warning: Expensive event ahead. For $45, you can find out what local chefs can do with Girl Scout Cookies, and proceeds will......

Is it even an argument at this point? Boston's Mayor Menino caused the Patriots' loss by planning the city's victory party a little too early and much too transparently. Last Wednesday, well before the unthinkable happened, the Herald was already proclaiming, "Tommy, you might as well have suited up for the hated Giants." While the mourning (and the blame game) continues, political life must also go on. With the Massachusetts primary being held tomorrow, the......

Deval Patrick has been making news lately with the State of the Commonwealth and his public support of presidential candidate Barack Obama. But what of Massachusetts' other top dog, Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi? Bostonist read Paul McMorrow's lengthy Boston Magazine profile of the Speaker of the House and found the article too interesting not to sum up. McMorrow shows how DiMasi's success has been the result of good instincts, understated intelligence, a quick......

Politicians will squeeze the juice out of pretty much anything, including the World Series and the Super Bowl. Only recently, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani made a legendary blunder when he said on a Boston trip that he was rooting for the Red Sox. Yankees fans were appalled, and Sox fans felt a little scuzzy. But former president and First Campaigner Bill Clinton was smooth 'n' silky when asked about his favorite for the......

Somebody better check on Mitt Romney because he's not acting like himself. The campaign bus for Mr. I-Eat-My-Wife's-Granola-Every-Morning pulled into a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Reporters rejoiced. The LA Times declared, "Mitt Romney is human!" That all depends on how you look at it. Plenty of people might argue that eating KFC indicates you actually have a Teflon tummy instead of a human stomach. But when Romney strays from the script, he doesn't go that far.......

Hot on the heels of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's endorsement of Barack Obama, Senator Edward M. Kennedy has also endorsed Barack Obama for president. Voters likely saw it coming when Kennedy told ex-president and First Campaigner Bill Clinton to stifle himself and let Hillary Clinton do her own campaigning. The Globe's Political Intelligence analyzes Kennedy's decision as a big "up yours" to the Clintons: The coveted endorsement is a huge blow to New York Senator Hillary......

--Last night, a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis was unable to get out of her home and died in a fire in Wellesley. Wellesley's fire chief said a space heater was the cause. [WCVB] --A fire broke out on the third floor of the Boston Marriott Cambridge last night. No one was hurt, but those who were evacuated were probably freezing. [Boston Globe] --A reporter checks in on the father of Alex Jimenez, the......

Hillary Clinton has a strong chance of becoming president, if it weren't for the continued momentum of Barack Obama. However, no matter how much hope and Oprah Obama ladles on the land, Clinton will always have one strong advantage--former president Bill Clinton. Is that entirely fair? Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy, who knows a thing or two about political dynasties, says no. Kennedy hasn't bestowed his endorsement on anyone, but he has, according to Jonathan Alter......

Political junkies have divided the last few months between obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire and complaining about how much energy is wasted obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire. Those states, the argument goes, are too white and too small and too rural to represent the country at large. But, while true, it always seems dismissive and elitist (possibly because we're writing this on a iPhone while stopped at a light in a Prius Zipcar.)......

--A man was shot yesterday afternoon on Dorchester Avenue in what the Herald describes as an "ambush from behind." The 20-year-old victim was taken to the hospital but later died from his wounds. [BPD News, Boston Herald] --Fallout from the BPD officer arrested for holding up a Roslindale gas station. The family of Michael T. Jones is surprised. His mother added a few more details about him and said that he took time off from......

Even though the guys who held up the "Iron My Shirt" sign during a Hillary Clinton campaign speech were determined to be pranksters from Boston station WBCN, people are still pissed at Adolfo Gonzalez Jr. and intern Nick Gemelli from WBCN's "Toucher & Rich" show. Apparently Gonzalez had several jokes up his sleeve when he was escorted out. The NY Daily News reported that Gonzalez told a reporter that his name was "Hugh Jas." Wonder......

It seems that Bostonist's call for submissions inspired you. Say hello to Gerard Sloan, who is already working the political beat! And we hope you'll meet more writers in the next week. Interested in joining the team? Read our call for columnists and e-mail jobs@bostonist.com. Despite polls showing large leads for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, the Granite State used its moment in the national spotlight yesterday to give Hillary Clinton a narrow victory......

Update: No winner for the Democrats yet, which makes CNN look bad because they were calling it for Obama all day. But, even more embarrassing, Rudy Giuliani is thisclose to getting beaten by Ron Paul, 9% to 8% as of 10:00 pm. Update to the Update: CNN has projected Hillary Clinton as the winner of the New Hampshire primary, a huge comeback after Iowa. (The "Iron My Shirt" dudes can stuff it.) Obama wasn't far......

Anticipation, anticipation … Let's see what fresh weirdness is unfolding up in New Hampshire. You can bet there's a lot of it. For starters, Dan McCarthy at the Weekly Dig witnessed the Republican debate at St. Anselm's and finds that no one will understand how much McCain despises Romney unless they see it in person. And the press area at the debate was "more ghetto than our hotel, the Econo Lodge, on Manchester's west......

Don't cry, Hillary. No, seriously, don't. You probably already heard that Hillary Clinton cried at a campaign event (Globe), and it took Bostonist a while to process. When a woman in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, asked Clinton how she stayed so upbeat, Clinton started crying and said (among other things), "It's not easy. It's not easy. This is very personal for me. It is not just political. It is not just public. I see what's happening.......

HubTrotter has a great report from New Hampshire. He paid close attention to the license plates and spotted a trend: "Looking around at the cars parked at the Clinton rally, there were quite a few out-of-state plates. Probably no more than two-thirds (and I think it was closer to one-half) of cars had "Live Free or Die" on the plates. And as is the case at many rallies, there seemed to be two reporters......

It's getting wild in New Hampshire! The primaries are tomorrow, and already some trippy stories are streaming from up north. Here's a few: --Dennis Kucinich proved that Mike Huckabee isn't the only one who has an action hero. Viggo Mortensen is part of the Kucinich "entourage." [Union Leader] --Who knew that John Sununu was a hero? [AP] --Team Weekly Dig is up in New Hampshire, and Chris Faraone enjoys a Bill Clinton Epiphany: "[His words]......

Don't cry, Hillary. No, seriously, don't. You probably already heard that Hillary Clinton cried at a campaign event (Globe), and it took Bostonist a while to process. When a woman in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, asked Clinton how she stayed so upbeat, Clinton started crying and said (among other things), "It's not easy. It's not easy. This is very personal for me. It is not just political. It is not just public. I see what's happening.......

The political epicenter has shifted from Iowa to New Hampshire, right next door. The state is erupting in general chaos as the politicians who are still in the race are fighting for attention. Every reporter, pundit, talking head, and his or her brother is in town. Eventually, New Hampshire might regret rolling out the red carpet for some of them. Bill O'Reilly just had a massive hissy fit at Nashua North High and attempted to......

First Night What to choose? Ice sculptures? The film festival? Harry and the Potters? Visit First Night's official site for a full schedule. Music --Bang Camaro will bring their huge band and their even huger metal sound to the Hard Rock Café. The Hard Rock should thank Bang Camaro for making them cooler. Hard Rock, 22-24 Clinton St., Boston, 8:30 pm. $20. --The Upper Crust will look bewigged, powdered, and bloody well gorgeous as they--ahem--rocque.......

The more we hear about Leeland Eisenberg, the disturbed man who took hostages at Hillary Clinton's campaign quarters in Rochester, NH, the more amazing it is that a) he wasn't already in jail and b) that he wasn't able to get help sooner. In an interview with the AP, Eisenberg said he wished the police had killed him. He also told the AP how he came up with the idea: "I'd see things on TV......

--John Edwards, the Harvard sophomore whose body was found yesterday at Harvard Medical School, committed suicide. People who knew him, such as a professor and his roommate are mystified. Eva Wolchover lists Edwards' many accomplishments. He was a top science student (and that's saying something around here), a stem cell researcher, and a guitar player. A Facebook group named "In Memory of John Edwards" has already been established. --Michele McPhee reports that a State Trooper......

Leeland Eisenberg has been named as the man who took staffers hostage yesterday at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters in Rochester, NH. He was already a man on the edge when he took the hostages. According to an AP report, his wife was divorcing him, and he was "due in court with her for a domestic violence hearing." He had a record for drunk driving and domestic violence, and he was involved in an odd incident......