Did you watch the mayoral debate last night between Annissa Essaibi-George and Michelle Wu on CBS Boston last night? If you missed it, topics from the debate included housing, education, Mass + Cass, police, rent control, in addition to pot holes, dirt bikes, Boston Green New Deal and more.
The debate was moderated by Jon Keller and aired on television for the first half hour. Without warning, the debate went to commercial and then Jeopardy filled the screen. Uhmmm…wut? A little warning would have been nice but you could live stream the second half of the debate via CBS Local website.
Essaibi-George came out fighting, appeared strong in her delivery, confidently mayoral and spoke directly into the camera to the voters watching at home.
Wu did a fine enough job and consistently articulated her campaign messages of equity, housing, partnerships with community etc.
CBS Local has a recap here.
The Boston Herald has a recap here.
The Boston Globe graded the two candidates performances here. Wu got an A because according James Pindell all Wu “needed to do to win this debate was to show up, pretend her opponent wasn’t there, and take up as much time as possible to say as little as possible.”
Although, Essaibi-George is considered the underdog, after watching the debate – she isn’t going down without a fight. It’s still very much a race for mayor.
You be the judge, you can watch the full debate here. Let us know what you thinks in the comments!
Odds + Ends
Essaibi-George’s Boston accent seems to have taken front and center stage the past few days. The New York Times covered it and in a column in the Boston Globe, the Boston accent is compared to a “dog whistle.” Wow, Really?
In a recent poll by WBUR, Wu has a large lead over Essaibi-George. You can read all about it here.
The most important thing you can do as a resident of Boston is vote! In addition to the mayoral race, here’s a roundup of who’s running for City Council too!If you don’t vote, you honestly can’t complain about City of Boston quality of life issues. So vote! It’s important!
Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.
