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Talking Politics

Six for the seat

STEPHEN PAGLIUCA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BAIN CAPITAL (D)
DECLARED? No, but sending clear signals
Reported to have personal wealth measured in the hundreds of millions, Pagliuca has to be taken seriously — even if nobody yet knows anything about his political ideology or ambitions. Sources say he will run as a classic liberal, and, presumably, as someone who understands the economy. He is assembling an impressive campaign team, and certainly comes with a stellar reputation in the field of leveraged-buyout financing.

But it's far from clear that voters are feeling positive about private-equity tycoons — or wealthy gadflies whose interest flits from co-owning the Celtics, to bidding for the Boston Globe, to trying to buy a US Senate seat.

There's also the little matter of his past support for Republicans, including the 1994 bid to unseat Ted Kennedy by Pagliuca's Bain buddy Mitt Romney. That'll be a tough one to explain to Massachusetts Democratic primary voters.

HE'S NO TED KENNEDY, BUT . . . he's a rich liberal.
HOW HE WINS His ads blow everyone away.
HOW HE LOSES He fails to live up in person.