Whether you like his politics or not, it's hard not to feel sorry for Tom Reilly this morning. One of my Phoenix
colleagues likened following Reilly's recent travails to watching a dog
get hit by a car. Myself, I keep thinking of that moment in the Charlie
Brown Christmas special where C. Brown
thinks he's destroyed that little tree
and screams, "I killed it! Everything I touch gets ruined!"
To a large extent, Marie St. Fleur's abrupt exit has only reinforced a
preexisting concern about Reilly--namely, that he's a troublingly inept
candidate. But three aspects of today's coverage strike me as
noteworthy:
1. The Herald editorial page wondering if the St. Fleur debacle
points to a fatal Reilly character flaw.
2. The Globe's Joan Vennochi
suggesting that Reilly quit the race.
3. Most ominous for Reilly, unnamed allies
pointedy questioning his handling of the LG pick in a damning front-page Globe story.
Each of these represents a new twist, and each creates a new PR problem for the Reilly camp to manage.
Can things get any uglier for the AG? Hard to imagine. But then again,
no one could have predicted the train wreck that went down this week.