Flynnslayer?

As Marjorie Clapprood pounds the stop-Ray theme, liberal activists are asked to pick a horse

Talking Politicsby Michael Crowley

Marjorie Clapprood has printed up new campaign buttons with a simple slogan: UNITED WE WIN, DIVIDED IT'S FLYNN.

Of course, by "united," Clapprood means united behind her. She has finally begun to articulate the message that it's time for a stop-Flynn movement to coalesce around one of the nine Democrats struggling to catch the former Boston mayor in the race to succeed Representative Joe Kennedy (D-Brighton). And after winning a major progressive endorsement last week, her campaign is spinning a game plan in which just a few more key backers could turn her into a magnet for anti-Flynn votes.

Flynn, whose 10 years at City Hall made him the race's instant front-runner when he joined it in April, is an impassioned populist who is as economically liberal as any of his opponents. But what worries local progressives is Flynn's social conservatism: Flynn is a committed pro-lifer who cosponsored strict anti-abortion legislation as a state legislator in 1978. And though he was considered an ally of the gay community when he was mayor, Flynn has shown little recent enthusiasm for the modern gay agenda: he's paid little attention to lesbian or gay activists in this campaign and, according to a top aide, declines to support the principle of gay marriage.

With just a month remaining until primary day and still no clear breakthrough performance by any of Flynn's rivals, it looks as though Flynn's small but solid base of supporters -- perhaps 20 to 25 percent of the vote -- may indeed carry him to victory over the splintered field. For his opponents, being cast in the role of anti-Flynn represents the only hope.

Which is why Clapprood, a former state representative and talk-show host, is crowing so loudly about a key endorsement she received last week from the Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance of Massachusetts. The 82 percent endorsement was a striking development: the group supported Clapprood over the openly gay Susan Tracy, a former state representative from Brighton, signaling that a recent charge of homophobia leveled against Clapprood by Boston magazine columnist Jon Keller has not struck a chord in the local gay community.

Tracy's dismal showing is a story in itself: she mustered a mere 6 votes out of 60 on the Alliance's first ballot, a possible sign of activists' dismay over her coziness with conservative House Speaker Tom Finneran. Some gay leaders also complain that Tracy has downplayed her own sexuality and her positions on gay and lesbian issues.

Whatever the case may be, Clapprood is making the most of the boost; she hopes other influential groups that have so far declined to back a candidate will soon get involved as well. "I am anxious to crack this iceberg of paralysis around the progressive community," she says. "I know that if nothing changes over the next few weeks, we're looking at the probability that Ray Flynn will be the next congressman -- and Ray Flynn is a real danger to the progressive community."

(In her impatience, however, Clapprood needs to be more careful. In a recent letter to Boston magazine, she claimed that she won a May straw poll by the Bay State Gay and Lesbian Democrats that "resulted in an endorsement." But the group's clerk, Mark Sinico, says that's not so; the group won't formally endorse a congressional candidate until August 26. "Certainly we didn't mean to use the wrong word," Clapprood says. "I was never told that it was anything but [an endorsement].")

With no sign that Flynn's support is fading, the goal for Clapprood -- and, indeed, for every other candidate -- is to define the race as essentially a two-person contest, giving voters a clear choice in a crowded field of lefty candidates who agree on most issues.

Hence the new Clapprood slogan. And hence her recent wave of attacks on Flynn, including a charge she made last week that Flynn has not strongly backed a recent congressional campaign-finance-reform bill because it was opposed by the National Right to Life Committee, which supports his candidacy.

Flynn, Clapprood says, is "anti-choice, anti-gay rights, and very cloudy and vague about campaign-finance reform." She also hints at a new line of attack against the devoutly Catholic former mayor: "We need to talk about the separation of church and state," Clapprood says. "Issues like prayer in school, public aid for parochial and private school. Can you leave your dogma at the door when you walk into the [House] chamber?"

The Flynn camp responds dismissively to Clapprood's barbs. Asked about her broadsides on abortion and campaign finance, Flynn aide John Nucci responds: "I guarantee you that Eighth Congressional District families will not be talking about this issue around the dinner table tonight. They'll be talking about paying their mortgage and their kids' education and their health care. Anybody who thinks that issues like this are going to decide the campaign hasn't been around the Eighth District long enough to understand it."

Clapprood's offensives, coupled with the Alliance's endorsement, have returned her to the headlines just as her campaign appeared to be in trouble. Her July 15 report to the Federal Election Commission showed only $100,000 raised since early May. (See "Clapprood Awakening," News, July 24.) Her claim on second place, established in early polls this spring, has seemed jeopardized by her dearth of financial backers, endorsements, and editorial cheerleaders.

"The Clapprood campaign's problem is that they're in second place in their mind only," says Nucci. "Marjorie's going to have to emerge from the rest of the pack before she can legitimately claim to be where she's at."

Indeed, just as Clapprood seeks to re-establish her potency and position herself as Flynnslayer, several other candidates will credibly challenge her for that mantle. Former Watertown state senator George Bachrach has money and experience. Somerville mayor Mike Capuano has a powerful base. And Susan Tracy's good standing among liberal activists may yet bring her a slew of late endorsements -- if she can overcome doubts about her electability.

In the end, it is the influential activists and interest groups who hold the cards in this game -- the aces of endorsements and public appeals. And with just four weeks to go until the decisive September 15 primary, the time has come for them to play their hands.

Michael Crowley can be reached at mcrowley@phx.com.