Initially, the thought of having to face Christy Mihos in next year’s Republican gubernatorial primary produced some teeth-gnashing in Charles D. Baker’s camp.
But the thinking among Baker advisers has shifted: They now believe that having Mihos in the race could be a good thing, in part because a primary fight would give Baker a good tuneup for the general election next fall.
They say they have no plans to try to keep Mihos off the primary ballot.
Whether that’s a smart move remains to be seen.
Though Baker is the favored candidate of the Republican establishment, Mihos has millions of dollars at his disposal to spend on a campaign. When he ran as an independent in 2006, he used $4 million of his own funds, though he captured 6 percent of the vote.
Mihos also has a certain populist, antigovernment appeal that could play well against the Ivy League-educated Baker among some GOP primary voters.
“Anybody who underestimates Christy’s political prowess does so at their own peril,’’ said Kevin Sowyrda, who was Mihos’s communications director until last month.
His campaign team, including well-known Republican consultant Dick Morris, has been trying to get Mihos to pour as much as $15 million into this race, starting immediately. But Mihos has yet to pull the trigger. -- FRANK PHILLIPS
“Mayoral term limits fails by vote of 6 to 7,’’ Yoon tweeted on Wednesday, moments after his colleagues shot down his proposal to limit the mayor to two four-year terms.
Yoon had pushed the idea during his unsuccessful campaign to stop Mayor Thomas M. Menino, already the longest-serving mayor in Boston history, from winning an unprecedented fifth term.
Indeed, Menino’s lengthy tenure figured significantly during a two-hour debate on the plan as proponents argued that term limits would serve as a check on the advantages of incumbency.
“It’s the power of the office; it’s name recognition,’’ said Councilor-at-Large Michael F. Flaherty Jr., a term-limits supporter who lost his own bid to unseat Menino. “I say that the best candidate doesn’t always win.’’
Opponents argued that term limits would usurp the right of voters to choose their preferred candidate - no matter how long that candidate has served in office. “I don’t understand why all of a sudden we want to protect the voters from themselves,’’ Councilor Rob Consalvo said.
The result was not a complete surprise. Yoon had said two days earlier that he was one vote shy of the majority needed to advance the bill in the City Council. But the issue may surface again.
Several councilors, including Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, an opponent of term limits, said they would explore the idea of putting the issue on the ballot, and letting voters decide. -- MICHAEL LEVENSON
“They’re powerful, handsome, rich people, and they’re dead,’’ Brown said during an appearance on NECN. “And they can’t make a difference while I still can.’’
So what about Democratic nominee Martha Coakley? We asked about the historical figures she admires.
She first mentioned Abigail Adams. “I’ve always been intrigued by the role she played as a partner with John Adams in talking about ‘remember the ladies,’ ’’ Coakley said.
She then mentioned that she once lived in Dorchester, one street over from where Lucy Stone once lived. Stone was the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree.
Coakley also called Eleanor Roosevelt “a huge hero.’’
“I have her statue on my desk and I have a little picture of Eleanor saying, ‘You must do the thing you think you cannot,’ ’’ Coakley said. -- MATT VISER
Brown’s video with his daughters - Ayla, a former “American Idol’’ semifinalist and Boston College senior, and Arianna, a freshman at Syracuse University - attracted nearly 2,900 views in its first three days, through Friday.
By comparison, the top Coakley clip had attracted 1,974 views as of Friday afternoon. (It was her “Jane’s Story’’ ad about going after a predatory health insurance company, which has been seen on YouTube - and, of course, on television - since Nov. 3.)
In Brown’s video, he is flanked by Arianna and Ayla, a senior guard on the BC basketball team.
Ayla attempts to introduce them all but flubs her delivery a couple of times, prompting her to apologize and jump up and down in frustration - “shoot shoot shoot shoot,’’ she says - while her dad grins and bites his tongue. Then her younger sister takes over.
“We’re supporting our father, Scott Brown, to run for United States Senate, because he’ll be there for you,’’ Arianna says - “like he’s been there for us,’’ Ayla continues, before Brown finishes with a plug for his campaign site. -- ERIC MOSKOWITZ
“Even though the sun is out, I’m freezing my tookus off. Winter is officially here.’’
