Politics Etc.

Globe weighs in on Delahunt's sabotage

Is that Delahunt's big foot on Keating's neck?

Retired Congressman finagles to undo his party's incumbent

In today's Boston Globe, Frank Phillips reports that former Congressman William Delahunt has privately met with his successor's Democratic rivals in the new 9th "Coastal" District which replaces the former 10th District with Wareham to Fall River thrown in.

Those were the days my friend...

But boy, did they sure end. Just last year Bill Delahunt was ready to give Bill Keating the shirt (and tie) off his back, but now it's more like a knife stab as a grimacing Rob O'Leary smirks on right. Paul Rifkin photo.Phillips reports that Delahunt dined with Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter in Quincy just before Sutter entered the race, and he has also had conversations with former State Senator Robert A. O’Leary of Barnstable, who is considering a run.

Both Delahunt and O'Leary have offered Keating their unqualified support in the past.

While it is not known what was said in those meetings, it is evident that Delahunt is churning up the political waters, apparently to undercut Keating’s re-election bid.

“He can’t resist being involved,’’ said O’Leary, a Delahunt ally who fell just short of beating Keating in a spirited primary fight in 2010.

O’Leary said that his meeting with Delahunt had been to talk about a potential second run in the district that will now include the Cape, much of Plymouth County, and the South Coast, including New Bedford. Asked if Delahunt has urged him to run or offered him support, O’Leary demurred. “He is expressing his insight and wisdom,’’ he said.

“He obviously sees himself
 as the king maker.’’
             - Walter BrooksSutter, who dined with Delahunt at Alba restaurant several weeks ago, also declined to describe the conversation or say whether he got any encouragement from Delahunt.

“I really enjoyed it,’’ Sutter, of Fall River, said later. “I thank him for his wisdom.’’

Keating boosters see Delahunt’s involvement as the latest chapter in what is said to be a long-standing quarrel that grew out of the jungle that is Norfolk County politics.

“He obviously sees himself as the king maker,’’ Walter Brooks, editor and publisher of the news site CapeCodToday.com, said of Delahunt. Brooks has been a sharp critic of the former Congressman.

Read the rest of the Frank Phillips expose in today's Boston Globe here. It might cost you a buck to get a month's access, but it's well worth the price.

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