Some of the same, good and bad, could be found at two other recent debates I attended.
In Lynn, Tisei and Tierney argued bitterly over genuine (if sometimes misrepresented) policy differences, along with independent Daniel Fishman, in front of a sizable crowd of mostly campaign volunteers. Few ordinary, undecided voters actually saw the debate, which was not carried on TV or radio.
And in Brighton, Bielat and Kennedy sat down for a half-hour (including commercial breaks) debate for WCVB's "On the Record." With no live audience, and a Sunday-morning airing, the brief sit-down was not likely to create any electoral ripples.
NEED MORE POLITICS? Get more of Bernstein's coverage and critique — including a dissection of the Rigmarole in Lowell and a full schedule of upcoming debates — at thePhoenix.com/talkingpolitics.
Related:
Running Outside the Box, The weird politics of this year’s ballot questions, Terry's Last Run: The only state senator in danger this November is the one who holds the place together, More 
- Running Outside the Box
Congressman Ed Markey's announcement that he will run in the upcoming special election for US Senate was quickly followed by a choreographed show of institutional backing, from Vicki Kennedy, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and even John Kerry, holder of the soon-to-be-vacated seat Markey desires.
- The weird politics of this year’s ballot questions
The only two contested referendum questions on November's ballot — physician-prescribed suicide and medical marijuana — are totally sex-free. But some of the donors trying to stop both are notorious homophobes.
- Terry's Last Run: The only state senator in danger this November is the one who holds the place together
Therese Murray took over as Senate president in March 2007, which means — under the eight-year limit adopted after William Bulger's two-decade reign — that she would have to step down just two months into the 2015-2016 session.
- Scott Brown's Beef
Incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown is hell-bent on branding his Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor of bankruptcy law, with a scarlet letter: H — for hypocrisy.
- In a Bind
"Binders full of women" were the social-media sensation of last week's presidential debate.
- An attack ad you’ll never see
Here's a Mitt Romney commercial that could topple the popular notion that President Obama cares more about vulnerable Americans than his challenger does.
- Electoral literacy
“Let me tell you about the very rich,” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in a short story. “They are different from you and me.”
- Thrill and Agony
The vote totals that poured in through the state secretary's office November 6 provided one set of winners (Elizabeth Warren, John Tierney, Joe Kennedy III, medical marijuana) and losers (Scott Brown, Richard Tisei, medical suicide). But there were plenty of other victories and defeats in Bay State politics last Tuesday.
- Him Again?
This was supposed to be the calm after the storm.
- Meet the Freshman class
Through much of 2012, the local political media — myself included — were a bit distracted by the big-name, big-money campaigns of Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, and Elizabeth Warren.
- Lessons learned?
I take the blackout as a sign that the universe wants these smart and savvy yet secluded and out-of-touch campaign elites to hold their tongues — and learn some lessons from what ordinary people have been trying, collectively, to tell them: that voters know more about the country's mood than the campaign strategists do.
- Less
Topics:
Talking Politics
, Talking Politics, Election 2012, news features, More
, Talking Politics, Election 2012, news features, columns, Less
