Who’s in charge here?
Diaz may have Winslow sold, but Second Suffolk voters will be harder to convince. Earlier this week, Diaz attended a meeting of Boston’s Ward Five Republicans, an affluent group of Back Bay residents who could play a key role in funding her campaign. Diaz’s speech was better than the one she gave at the Omni Parker House, but only marginally: she was still painfully tentative, and she still steered clear of specifics. (Asked for her thoughts on day care, Diaz said it should be “more affordable.”) It took some gentle prompting from the moderator for Diaz to discuss her METCO background; after complying, Diaz looked toward the woman and asked, “Anything else?”
Then Diaz took a seat while campaign manager Schneider outlined the campaign’s trajectory and asked for financial and logistical help. The contrast between the two women’s styles was striking: at one point, as Schneider addressed the audience and Diaz scrambled to find some business cards to distribute, it was easy to forget which of them was actually running for office.
The audience was friendly and gentle, but one middle-aged Republican couldn’t contain his skepticism. “When are you and your campaign going to stop using the ‘W’ word?” he asked Diaz. “Which is?” she asked. “Wilkerson!” he barked. “You’re doing it right here, and this audience is going to walk out of here thinking about Dianne Wilkerson. They’re not going to be thinking about you.” “Well,” Diaz ventured, “I don’t agree, but ...”
After Diaz wrapped up her spiel, this gentleman seemed decidedly pessimistic. “That’s as bad as John DeJong,” he said, referring to the Back Bay veterinarian who challenged then–Senate president William Bulger — another flawed, iconic Democrat — back in 1990. “All he had to say was, ‘Beat Bulger.’ And all anyone could remember was ... Bulger.” (DeJong lost badly, 35 to 60 percent.)
Wilkerson is nowhere near as powerful as Bulger was in his day, and the senator’s recent signature gaffe suggests she’s become dangerously complacent. That said, it’s hard to take Diaz’s candidacy too seriously. Her to-do list for the next six months is daunting: articulate a vision of Republicanism that makes the party of Mitt Romney (not to mention George W. Bush) attractive to minority voters. Sell herself to disenchanted Democrats — not just by criticizing Wilkerson, but through substantive discussions of what she’d do in the State House. And most important, dispel the eerie sense that she’s following a script written by somebody else. Unless Diaz makes some big changes, Dianne Wilkerson has nothing to worry about.
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Adam Reilly's Talking Politics blog: http://www.thephoenix.com/talkingpolitics
