Believe it or not, I still have some friends at the Telegram & Gazette. And because my heart is pure and I lead a good Christian life I’m always willing to help them out with a suggestion for an interesting story.
So I e-mailed someone I know who still talks to me and said, “I’ve got a great article for one of the reporters. Have him or her interview all the members of the Worcester City Council and School Committee and ask them who they support for the presidency in the November election.”
My thinking was that we are allegedly in the age of “transparency”(which is a cruel joke in this city’s politics), and it would be helpful for voters to know what councilors and school board members are thinking with regard to the highest office in the land.
She e-mailed me back and said it was a good idea, but it wouldn’t fly because the politicians in both those bodies won’t even identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats. Of course, you’d have to be completely obtuse not to be able to figure out the party affiliation of most of them. Some are as Republican as Jeb!, and others are as Democratic as Barack.
I guess I’ll just have to do this column myself, although I admit I’m at a loss because I don’t know all the office holders on either body.
But it will be fun to speculate, and we should include not only the Republican candidates who have survived to the present time, but also the dropouts—Huckabee, Santorum, Graham, Paul, Fiorina, and Christie.
Let’s start with the City Council and its two most belligerent and bellicose members, Konnie Lukes and Michael Gaffney.
You would almost have to assume that Mrs. Lukes would be a big supporter of Carly Fiorina. How hard is it to imagine Konnie saying the words “Fully Formed Fetus” in reference to what she thought she saw in a doctored video about fetal body parts. Speaking of videos, when is Konnie going to demand the release of the video of the Worcester police officer kicking a Black man on the floor of a prison cell and calling him a “nigger” while four other WPD officers looked on and laughed.
No doubt the day after her male counterpart on the council, Michael Gaffney, calls for the video’s release.
Who does Gaffney support? Chris Christie should appeal to the Gaffer, since they both share the dubious quality of being nasty and condescending, especially when they have a microphone in their hands. Then again, he could support and admire Ted Cruz, because Cruz is the most hated man in the US Senate and Gaffney is the least likable member of the city council.
You’d have to guess that Mayor Joe Petty would support Hillary Clinton, as well as councilor Kate Toomey and school committee member John Monfredo. We can figure on them being practical and pragmatic, putting winning with Clinton ahead of losing with the Sanders ideology.
The new councilor, Mo-Mo Bergman, who wants to kick people out of public housing BEFORE they’ve been convicted of a crime, without doubt supports Donald Trump and his ideas. Councilor Gary Rosen? Tough call, though he’s been hanging out a lot with the Gaffer, so take it from there.
Dianna Biancheria and Donna Colorio from the school committee? Well, the word on the street is that Ms. Colorio is a Tea Party advocate, like the Gaffer, and Biancheria has a similar mindset, so now that Carly has “suspended” her campaign they’re probably with Cruz or Trump.
You would think the Latina councilor Sarai Rivera would favor Marco Rubio, but he’s not really a Latino—he’s a LINO—Latino in name only. If Rubio (his name means “blonde” in espanol) gets the nomination not only won’t he win the Latino vote, he won’t even win the Cuban vote. Little known fact: in 2012 Barack Obama won the Cuban vote. Sarai is probably a supporter of Hillary or Bernie Sanders.
Enough for now. If anyone wants to add to this or disagree with my speculations, I’m open to corrections. Be my Valentine?
by 
Carlo, Carlo, Carlo. How could you endeavor to write such a column and leave out four councilors? I’ll pinch-hit for you THIS time, and complete the list as I see it.
Tony Economou & George Russell: Republicans, support Trump. Reason(s): Both are real estate tycoons, like Trump, and both have Catholic school backgrounds.
Khrystian King: Democrat, supports Hillary. Reason: Duh…
Candy Mero-Carlson: Democrat, supports Hillary. Reason: Has a hyphenated last name.
So there you have it – the completed analysis. Don’t thank me, I’m happy to help!
I envy your knowledge of and interest in the Worcester political scene. I know you have attracted some unwanted attention from that, and that I DON’T envy (insert smiley face). I just read and try to learn, because as they say, all politics is local. Tip O’Neill said that, I think. The Republicans know that, so they have been very clever in winning local contests, and influencing national politics that way.
Actually, Chuck, I wrote a column recently and said Tip O’Neil’s quote had changed, and that all politics is national. As an example I used Councilor Gaffney’s racial dog whistles directed at Black Lives Matter and Mosaic and compared it to Donald Trump’s “Mexicans are rapists” and keeping all Muslims (Arabs) out of the country. But the local can be national and the national can be local. It all depends on how they think they can use things to suit their purposes.