The Tom Menino Endorsement Continuum

Governor Patrick is receiving Mayor Tom Menino’s endorsement this afternoon. It should not be surprising that a sitting Democratic governor would be endorsed by the sitting Democratic mayor of the state’s largest city and capital.

But the relationship between Patrick and Menino has been frosty at times. As an example, recall the GOV’s effort to fire Dan Grabauskas, who got a full vote of confidence from Menino at the time. Again, take the names out and consider the roles — Democratic mayor extends himself on behalf of Republican bureaucrat in opposition to sitting Democratic governor.

More recently, when asked to grade the GOV’s performance, Menino responded by giving him a ‘C’ for the first three years and a ‘B+’ more recently. In a state of backslapping pols where everyone is a “good guy”, that’s pretty rough intraparty criticism.

So, now the Mayor has formally endorsed the Governor. Watch the Mayor’s operation carefully — its actions speak louder than words at a press conference. A Menino endorsement can mean anything from simply the formal announcement all the way to full mobilization of his machine — donations, GOTV, signage, volunteers, etc.

My particular part of this fine city has almost no signs for Deval Patrick (nor for any other GOV candidates either), but there is evidence of the Menino machine in action — my neighbors who work for City Hall all seem to support certain down ballot candidates quite strongly. I’ll be watching to see if signs for Deval go up soon to see what exactly this Menino endorsement means.