The Globe Giveth and the Herald Taketh Away

The Globe ran an interesting piece about the fireman’s union today today:

Embroiled in a longstanding dispute with the mayor, Boston firefighters have not just endorsed the mayor’s challenger, Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty Jr. They have inserted themselves deeply into the campaign, boosting Flaherty when he is low on funds. But their actions have associated Flaherty, at times uncomfortably, with a union that is controversial because of the high usage of sick leave by firefighters and the union’s resistance to mandatory drug and alcohol testing without more pay.

So far, not too bad, even if the reporter, Stephanie Ebbert overstates the Union’s credibility within the City limits:

But the firefighters have positioned themselves as an uncommon force to be reckoned with, and they are using the campaign to amplify their grievances against City Hall. One early success: Firefighters waged a postcard campaign that prompted so many people to e-mail WCVB Channel 5 before the Oct. 1 televised debate that they succeeded in persuading the debate moderators to question the mayor, on-air, about why the Fire Department has no dedicated hazardous-materials unit, a favorite issue of the union.

Of course, being the Globe, they tend to forget that campaigning on the Net is not necessarily the same as grassroots and the core Channel 5 audience is in the MetroWest suburbs.  Still, all in all a good piece given the institutional limits of Globe political reporting.

Unfortunately, the Herald pissed on their parade.

The Floon saga: I hear crickets chirping

Ray Flynn and Mel King just endorsed Floon, and the Dog is totally underwhelmed. 

All that happens is to further seal Floon into JP, Southie, and lace-curtain Dorchester.  Field reasonance in the black, Latino, and Asian communities will be zero, none, nada.

Purely for the humor relief, I’m working on a somewhat more comprehensive overview of the cultural dynamics of this election, to be posted within the next few days, with the working title of  Float like a butterfly; sink like a rock: the Floon saga.