Kerry: N.Y. won't have a Super Tuesday/Super Bowl Parade issue

January 29, 2008 03:08 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

The prospect of a Patriots Super Bowl victory parade through downtown Boston during next Tuesday’s presidential primaries has one Bay State politician cracking jokes.

Senator John F. Kerry, a supporter of Barack Obama, packed five one-liners into a six-sentence statement when asked what impact the parade could have on the primaries.

“The really good news is that New York voters don’t have this problem because there is no chance of a Giants victory parade,” Kerry said.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a Hillary Clinton supporter, told the Globe yesterday that if the Patriots win the Super Bowl, there would be no choice but to hold a victory parade Tuesday. The players would not be able to get back from Phoenix early enough for a Monday parade. And a number of Patriots have to travel to Hawaii on Wednesday for the Feb. 10 Pro Bowl.

Governor Deval Patrick, another Obama supporter, declined today to discuss the impact that a parade could have on the primaries when asked today by a reporter at a press conference. Patrick said he had discussed the issue with Menino, but he did not say whether he thought a throng of Patriots fans would help or hurt Obama’s chances to win Massachusetts.

The parade idea raised concerns by Secretary of State William Galvin. The state could see a record voter turnout on Tuesday, much like many other primary states in this energized political year, but Galvin feared that a parade would deter some voters, possibly creating a traffic mess and distracting people from going to polling places.

Kerry agreed with the traffic issues, but in a good-humored way:

“Yes, this could cause the worst gridlock since back when the Republicans controlled Congress.”

Two other one-liners in Kerry's statement:

“On February 5th we can all be like Mitt Romney and have it both ways.”

“I just hope this can be worked out, because Senator Obama being elected president is an historic first, while the Patriots Super Bowl victory parade is an annual event.”