A survey revealed that 72 percent of Bostonians are largely happy with the way mayor Tom Menino has been running things. In fact, the Globe headline declared the city was "smitten," which is not a word Bostonist would use to describe how the city's residents view the mayor. Then again, he appears to be quite a hit with the ladies. Compared to what mayors in other cities get embroiled in (shoutout to SFist!), Mayor Menino......

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president. He made the leap early, and it's a little surprising given that Patrick worked for the Clinton Administration. Obviously, Patrick is a plum catch for any politician running for office. A good word from him can mean a lot. Patrick's decision gives Obama access to the Massachusetts political treasure chest and gives him a publicity boost for the primaries in New Hampshire. It also......

Maybe someday, when all this is over, we'll sit down with (or maybe without) Terry Francona and we'll all have a good laugh out of all of this. Because when it became obvious that Curt Schilling didn't have it (and he was OK, but clearly didn't have his A game, or even the B+ game he's been getting by with), maybe a different manager would have gone to Jon Lester, or Julian Tavarez (whoops! he's......

Our long national nightmare is over. The polls are closed, the kind of people who care about this can cheer or mourn, and the rest of us (who think it's kind of ridiculous) can have a quick item to note on the offday between games 1 and 2. That's right, Red Sox Nation (shudder)! Jerry Remy is your new President! Deadspin has the best artistic take on the whole silly, silly business. It's still better......

A man is as good as the company he keeps, right? If so, then former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney needs to make some new friends as soon as possible. Last week, someone linked to Team Romney was accused of putting up a website called "Phoney Fred." The website criticized fellow presidential candidate/TV actor Fred Thompson, who is already smoking Romney in the polls. The site offers the many moods of Thompson, including......

The Cambridge Chronicle and Blue Mass Group are reporting that Anthony Galluccio won the State Senate seat vacated by Jarrett Barrios in today's special election. While Tim Flaherty had the most backing and Galluccio was saddled with a drunk-driving record, Galluccio also had the name recognition since he has been involved with Cambridge politics for so long. The only thing that matters is getting people to the polls and having them remember your name once......

We hear Mitt Romney doesn't do caffeine. That's a Mormon thing, but it's not unusual – plenty of non-Mormons eschew caffeine. But there's more to the no-caffeine-Romney connection than dietary choices. Now that Romney has taken the lead in the New Hampshire polls, people are starting to wonder if he is the real deal – or if he's like caffeine-free Coca-Cola. --Whether he's the real deal or not, he's launching a soda-pop-worthy ad campaign and......

Anthony Petruccelli defeated his other Democratic opponent, Dan Rizzo, in the Democratic primary for who would replace Robert Travaglini (aka "T-Vag") for State Senate. The primary turned out to be the real deal since Republicans couldn't find an opponent. Raja Mishra of the Globe reported that Petruccelli, currently a representative of East Boston, won 59 percent of the vote according to the latest tallies. The Herald noted that Petruccelli took 85 percent of the vote......

Seemed like a good political move. Romney and Healey Introduced a proposal in 2006, nary ten years after Republican Governor Bill Weld removed the tolls from the Pike west of the Palmer exit, to remove the tolls west of Weston. The elimination of the tolls on the road was a long standing promise that seemed unlikely to be honored (for a while it seemed unlikely that the far west tolls would be removed, but......

In national sports news, there's a new star in heaven today. Kentucky Derby winner Barabaro lost his long battle with leg injuries and was put to sleep. We feel really sad losing an old friend - not so much the horse, but the easy go-to "I hear he's in stable condition" joke that served us so well, and now will have to be shelved until another thoroughbred is in trouble. Alas. Not ready to......

Tonight the State of the Union speech will be delivered in our nation's capital. While we're hitting the booze and playing the State of the Union drinking game, the media will talk about possible ramifications of the President's statements. But the focus has already started to shift from the current commander-in-chief to who's going to take over his job. The Democratic field of contenders is growing fast. Below you'll find Bostonist's guide to the field......

Kerry Healey may be doing miserably in the polls, but the gubernatorial race is still very much a live issue in this East Somerville home - notice the defiant, handmade Deval Patrick sign in the front window. We like to think that this photo captures the political awakening of the next generation: Although mom and dad are G.O.P. stalwarts and proudly display their allegiance in the front yard, Junior is struggling to make his......

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),......

Last night's Massachusetts gubernatorial debate was almost as much fun as a pro-wrestling cage match. Right from the start, the debate promised to be a good one. The moderator was none other than the pugnacious and cadaverous Chris Wallace, who recently got his comeuppance from Bill Clinton during an interview for Fox News. The opening credits also made it sound like each candidate was a prizefighter. All the audience needed was for the candidates to......

We knew Deval Patrick was in the race last year – he threw his hat in early. If it weren't for that pesky Romney character we would have known Kerry Healey was in the race earlier. After primary voting yesterday it finally became clear who the front-runners in the race for Governor would be. Deval Patrick picked up 50% of the democratic primary vote to beat out his challengers Chris Gabrieli and Tom Reilly. There......

We've been asked a couple times about the particularities of voting in the primaries tomorrow. Bostonist doesn't claim to be an authority on the subject, but we've taken a stab at answering a few questions below. I'm registered Independent (or Undeclared). Can I still vote? The most common question we've gotten is if it's possible to vote in the primary if you're registered as independent or undeclared. Sure. Pick a party and vote in that......

The $3.5 million dollar question on the ballot this November is if supermarkets will be allowed to sell wine in their stores. Currently weird restrictions remain for grocery stores selling wines. Chains are only allowed to sell wine in no more than three their stores. For instance, Trader Joe's is only allowed to sell wine in their Brookline, Cambridge, and Boston locations. It forces Back Bay 'Joe consumers to take a ride on the Green......

Today is primary day in our sister state of Connecticut, and the Democratic nation turns its lonely eyes to Joe Lieberman, the incumbent Senator. Lieberman, as you've likely heard or read, since the national media are in an absolute frenzy over this race, is trailing but getting closer in the polls to the smarmily named super-rich anti-war challenger, Ned Lamont, because voters are fed up with Lieberman's being such a, you know, Republican. Lieberman has......

Yesterday passed without a single major media picture of John Kerry after Ash Wednesday services. The solidarity he showed with his Catholic faith on the election trail might not have been something he needed to flaunt, or wanted to, this year. When in competition with Bush it seemed an important political message to show that he was a bit more moderate than the ‘Massachusetts liberal’ he’d been portrayed as. This year, Ash Wednesday came and......

The funny thing about Massachusetts politics, Bostonist has found, is that even when we are distracted by exciting stuff like the repatriation of accused murderers/internet smut-peddlers/would-be patrons of escort services, the internecine squabbles keep cooking along. So as you spend the long weekend in reverent remembrance of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, don't forget that today is also the 385th anniversary of the election of the first military captain of Plymouth Colony. With that in mind,......

Super Tuesday it ain't. Cities around the Commonwealth go to the polls today, but the big excitement seems to be in other places. To be sure, today is a big day for Maura Hennigan and her supporters (most of whom, from what Bostonist can tell, live along the Jamaicaway and have the most gi-normous lawn signs ever). But Bostonist still doesn't know quite what it is that makes Councilor Hennigan a better choice than Tom......

There are those who say that voting is a hollow exercise because one vote is but a drop in the ocean, and unlikely to make a difference. Bostonist doesn't think this is a good attitude in general (what's the alternative? Using money to control large blocks of votes, giving undue influence to those with greater resources? That would be terribly un-American), but in today's preliminary election in Boston, it's not even true! Since this election......

To continue with the theme of sugar-packed fatty goodness...the Scooper Bowl is finally here. The Scooper Bowl isn't a health conscious event, but that's why Bostonist will be wearing the big pants to work starting today, June 7th thru the 9th. While it might not help you lose the weight this upcoming summer season, it will help others' health seeing as all the money (7 dollars for adults) goes to The Jimmy Fund and......

Boston College officials just released the tuition costs for next year's 2005-06 students and some have started to question if this Chestnut Hill college scene is actually worth it. BC hiked it's current tuition of $39,642 to $42,268 for next year, a 6.6% increase, blaming the high prices of New England. While Boston University used to take the cake of having the most expensive undergraduate sticker price, Boston College has definitely outdone BU, which now......

Poor John Kerry. First he loses the presidential race and now he is calling polls "irrelevant." Kerry met with Tim Russert on "NBC News' Meet the Press" on Sunday morning to discuss a few things, like Iraq, President Bush, etc. According to Russert in a poll done by Boston's own Channel 7, Massachusetts isn't as enamored with Kerry as we used to be. When asked "Should Kerry run for president in 2008?", 33% of Massachusetts......