Boston Mayor 2013

On Friday, I stopped by Mayor-Elect Marty Walsh’s press conference downtown, where he announced the "core" of his transition team, outlined his plans for the next few weeks, and took questions on assorted topics. Here are five things that stood out (at least to me) about Walsh's performance:

Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis and David Bernstein talk about whether mayor-elect Marty Walsh could stack up to Mayor Tom Menino in terms of mayoral longevity.

On election day, Adam Reilly and Peter Kadzis talk about some of the other races taking place while Boston chooses a new mayor.

WGBH News Political Analyst David Bernstein tells Morning Edition's Bob Seay that John Connolly needs to ride an anti-union backlash, and Marty Walsh needs to ride the sense of momentum his campaign has generated.

It's 8:45 a.m. I'm sipping an espresso outside Canto 6 on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain. You know the place, just across the street from the police station.

I'm talking to two black guys I see there once or twice a week. After we trade a bit of Red Sox banter (it's not unlike church, "The Lord be with you." "And also with you."), we move on to the Boston mayoral race.

As usual, I'm a bit tentative about asking them who they are or might be voting for.

Some people can be touchy about this.

WGBH News reporter Adam Reilly and contributing editor Peter Kadzis on the third and final debate between Boston mayoral candidates John Connolly and Marty Walsh.

KADZIS: Last night's final Boston mayoral debate between John Connolly and Marty Walsh left me with three over-arching impressions: 

1) Walsh put in his strongest performance yet, but Connolly still won because of a greater command of details, especially the punch lists he provided for what he's looking for in a Police Commissioner and a School Superintendent.

2) At this point, I doubt the debate will change many voter's minds, but it will influence journalists and political commentators, which might have impact.

3) It's clear that both candidates see the key to winning this election as two-fold, holding on to their respective bases while carrying communities that compromise the city's majority-minority neighborhoods -- particularly those of African Americans. Still, my eyebrows popped when Connolly and Walsh agreed that the police department was tinged with racism. I agree there are problems, but I thought the allegation of racism went too far. Perhaps I'm oversensitive. I cut my teeth as a young reporter during the busing years and saw real, unvarnished, overt racism in action. God knows, both the police and fire departments have serious diversity issues (as do the trade unions), but they are too complex to be boiled down to a single word.

Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis and David Bernstein talk about the week in the Boston mayoral race.

We're five weeks from electing a new mayor of Boston. This week, "The Scrum" - WGBH News' ongoing conversation about politics in Boston and across Massachusetts - looked at some of the polls in the Boston mayoral race, and how candidates John Connolly and Marty Walsh have been handling (or mishandling) controversial issues like the Boston Police Patrolmen Association's arbitration award.

WGBH News' political analysts David Bernstein and Peter Kadzis joined WGBH reporter Adam Reilly in the latest edition of "The Scrum."

Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis and David Bernstein talk about some of the Monday-morning quarterbacking after the Boston mayoral preliminary.