# Convention snub fuels longtime feud



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Photo by Mike Adaskaveg 
Cold relationship: Insiders say Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign took a big hit when Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino failed to show up the state Democratic State Committee convention and endorse the longtime senator.

Longstanding bad blood between Mayor *Thomas M. Menino* and Sen. John F. Kerry is coming back to haunt the senator as he faces re-election and a primary fight for the first time in nearly a quarter century.
In a high-profile slap, Menino abandoned Kerry as the senator sought to block a primary rival from winning enough support to make the ballot at the Democratic State Committee convention in Lowell two weeks ago.
Not only did the powerful Boston leader fail to rally his political foot soldiers to Kerry's aid, he didn't even show up himself.
"We didn't twist any arms," one top Menino political adviser said.
Observers say it was a calculated snub that wound up hurting Kerry by helping his challenger, Ed O'Reilly, get 22 percent of the convention votes - far eclipsing the 15 percent he needed to get on the September primary ballot. It was a blow that means Kerry - who has sought to rebuild his national profile since his 2004 presidential defeat - will face a primary foe for the first time since 1984.
"There's just something there. Menino just doesn't like him," one operative close to Kerry said.
But Kerry's state campaign director, Drew O'Brien, said, "We recognize that the mayor had a previous commitment that day and that he and his organization went to great lengths to get many of their delegates to Lowell." Menino was giving a graduation speech at a Boston high school on the Saturday of the convention.
The long-simmering rift between the two pols can be traced to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston when Kerry criticized the mayor for stalled police contract talks and skipped a speech to urban mayors hosted by Menino.
Insiders say Kerry was fuming the contract dispute was overshadowing his coronation as that year's Democratic presidential nominee and that Menino took offense to the senator's attempts to intervene in the local fight. What resulted were some R-rated phone calls and ego blows, insiders say.
The relationship further soured this year when Menino backed Sen. Hillary Clinton and Kerry threw his support behind Sen. Barack Obama. Also, the mayor is reportedly unhappy Kerry has balked at joining his call for random firefighter drug-testing - a top issue for the mayor, but one that could hurt Kerry's union support in his re-election bid.
Menino aides say the mayor has grown closer to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and turns to him for help on local issues instead.
But O'Brien downplayed the rift, saying: "It's a good relationship. We've worked together on crime initiatives, housing and mortgage issues." A Menino spokeswoman declined comment.
Still, others say the strain is ego-driven and petty and some even suggest it might be rooted in class warfare. Menino is an unpolished, state college grad from Hyde Park while Kerry is a wealthy Ivy Leaguer with homes in Nantucket and Beacon Hill.
"Two more opposite people you couldn't find," said one city official.

http://bostonherald.com/news/region...ets_zero_help_from_mayor/srvc=home&position=0


----------

