For the man they call ‘Pags,’ it’s time for a full-court press
Celtics step up for Pagliuca campaign
Celtics coach Doc Rivers was driving home from his son’s Amateur Athletic Union game at the end of the summer when co-owner Steve Pagliuca called him, presumably to talk basketball. Instead, Pagliuca told him he was thinking about running for the US Senate.
There was a pause and a brief exchange - “Are you kidding me?’’ “No, I’m very serious’’ - and then Rivers gave him a full endorsement, the coach recalled last night in an interview at a Celtics-themed campaign fund-raiser in Boston.
Pagliuca had no shortage of things to do: two jobs he loved, as managing partner of Bain Capital and the Celtics, plus youth coaching and charity work, and no desire for attention. He wants to help, said Rivers, retelling the anecdote on stage as he introduced the man he calls “Pags,’’ for ease of pronunciation.
“Here’s a guy that wants to do something, and he wants to do it for the complete right reasons, and that is to better people, to better our kids, to better the community,’’ Rivers said at The Lansdowne, an Irish pub redecorated with balloons and campaign signs in the green and white of the Celtics. “I really hope everyone just stays behind him, gets behind him, and pushes his name out there, because it’s the right name. I just can’t pronounce it.’’
With the Celtics enjoying a brief lull after a season-opening eight games in 12 days, Rivers, co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, forward Glen Davis, and center Kendrick Perkins joined Pagliuca on stage last night before about 400 supporters at the pub across from Fenway Park.
Pagliuca is one of four candidates in the Dec. 8 Democratic primary to fill the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy, along with Attorney General Martha Coakley, US Representative Michael E. Capuano, and City Year cofounder Alan Khazei.
The money raised at the $100-a-head event last night went into the campaign coffers of the multimillionaire candidate. Guests mingled or moved in for autographs and photo opportunities with Rivers, Davis, and Perkins, as well as starters Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, who made brief appearances but missed the introductions and stump speech.
Grousbeck introduced Pagliuca as “all heart’’ and as a man of considerable intellect and ability.
“When I talk about politics to people, when other people talk about politics, it’s very common to say, ‘Why can’t we get the best and brightest to run for office?’ ’’ he said. “In this case, I believe we do have the best and brightest.’’
With the bar’s soundtrack turned down - political standards like John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the USA’’ plus local flavor (J. Geils, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones) - Pagliuca delivered a five-minute version of his stump speech, touting his experience growing companies and billing himself as the job-creation candidate. He wants to pass health care legislation to insure the uninsured and control costs, rein in budget deficits, and rethink an unemployment system in which, he said, $3.50 in benefits are paid for every $1 spent in Massachusetts on job training.
“This is what the politicians in Washington don’t understand,’’ he said. “We have to have job training, we have to have job [creation tax] credits, we have to have everybody have the right to a job in America, and we can do that.’’
Pagliuca switched to basketball, drawing grins from the players and laughter from the crowd with anecdotes, but quickly toggled back to campaign mode.
“As Doc and Wyc constantly tell me, there’s no prize for second,’’ he said. “We’ve got 29 days to move into first. I’ll be out there fighting every day.’’
Eric Moskowitz can be reached at emoskowitz@globe.com. 
