404 Object Not Found

4) Challenge Menino’s vision for the city. Menino has been dubbed the “Urban Mechanic” for his ability to keep the city running by focusing on mundane details, like potholes and snowplowing. Yet the Herald poll shows voters giving Hizzonah a meager C+ for his pothole efforts, and Davis-Mullen could draw attention to the chinks in his mechanic’s armor. But a more useful way to take on Menino is to challenge his overall vision, says Spencer. In this year’s State of the City address, he called for such programs as increased English training for immigrants, beefed-up teacher recruitment, and more after-school programs for youth — important, but not exactly bold. “The mayor has done pretty well with nuts-and-bolts issues, so she probably shouldn’t attack him on that,” says Saunders. But he sees an opening for her to articulate a larger picture of Boston’s future. “She could campaign on keeping a high standard for development and protecting neighborhoods,” he says. Davis-Mullen seems to agree. “We’ve had this incredible economy,” she says. “Do people feel they’ve had a seat at the table? Do they feel they’ve benefited?”

According to her poll, 74 percent feel they really haven’t — so she’s committed to building more affordable housing and preserving Boston’s uniqueness, which she thinks Menino is in danger of selling out. “This is a city that’s had a feel to it, a personality. I’m afraid we’re going to lose that, lose the authenticity,” she says. She’s critical of Menino’s insistence that the Red Sox’ new ballpark be located in the Fenway neighborhood, and of his handling of development along the South Boston waterfront. “It’s about a vision,” she says. “That waterfront is our ultimate opportunity, and could be the signature of our city. Taxpayers have spent millions, billions cleaning the harbor and taking down the Central Artery — for what, a plan that cuts off the people from our most precious resource? What we’ve been lacking is urban planning.”

Thanks to her years in government — not to mention her previous career as a counselor, mainly serving kids in a South Boston public-housing development — Davis-Mullen has credibility on the issues. She’s also noticeably more articulate than Menino, known widely as “Mayor Mumbles.” She’s almost certain to challenge him to debate, a wise move because it’s a no-win situation for Menino. As Berkovitz notes, “Being on the same platform as the mayor gives her stature; it makes her a competitor.” But if he declines, Davis-Mullen will be there to criticize him as unresponsive to the electorate. “I think the city has to have a civic discourse,” she says, “and we can’t have that with him in one place and me in another. With 85 percent popularity ratings, what’s there to be afraid of?” The director of operations for the mayor’s campaign, Michael Kelly, declined to comment on whether Menino would agree to debate. “I wouldn’t start to speculate on that until somebody jumps into the race,” he said. “We would welcome anybody into the race.” But the almost-challenge hanging in the air makes her seem that much more dangerous to Menino.

5) Target the voters. Even if Davis-Mullen manages to scrape together enough money, massage the media, and hone her message, that’s still not enough. The only thing that gets a candidate elected is getting supporters to follow through on Election Day. Although she’s indicated a desire to reach out to those who feel left out of the political process, it’s a difficult strategy because, as McCormack notes, “historically, those people complain but don’t vote.” It’s more realistic for her to concentrate on proven voters.

Unfortunately — according to her poll — 22 percent of them don’t like her. In comparison, only 13 percent don’t like Menino. Former city councilor Larry DiCara says he was “appalled” at her high negative numbers: “It’s alarming.” But it may be inevitable, given that Davis-Mullen is widely regarded as a love-her-or-hate-her politician. “Throughout her political career, she’s brought a voice to working-class Boston,” says Gary Dotterman, who served as an aide to former city councilor David Scondras and now teaches in the labor-studies department at UMass Boston. “Sometimes people have found that hard to understand, because one day she may appear to be a little conservative, and the next day she may appear to be too liberal.” She has taken controversial stances that don’t jibe with traditional political ideology — she’s scored points with the conservative crowd on her support for neighborhood schools (as opposed to busing kids across the city to achieve integration), but she’s become a hero to many liberals because of her commitment to gay and lesbian rights. “I’ve not stifled what I had to say,” admits Davis-Mullen — and she believes that will resonate with voters this fall.

With 260,000 registered voters in the city of Boston, the prospect of turning out the voters who agree with her could seem daunting. But low turnout for city races makes her job easier — four years ago, only 68,000 ballots for mayor were cast. Even better for Davis-Mullen, during that election — when the mayor ran unopposed — nearly 20,000 people preferred to leave their ballots blank rather than vote for Menino. That’s a built-in core of dissidents who might be receptive to her message. She can probably also count on members of the firefighters’ union — who number 1600 members and 800 retirees, plus their families — because of their bitterness toward the mayor over stalled contract talks. The union has recently engaged in a series of high-profile pickets, from their screaming protest outside Menino’s State of the City address in January to a more subdued appearance at last week’s opening day at Fenway Park.

She might be able to woo other unions as well, since her poll data showed that union households gave her higher-than-average favorability ratings. Though Menino presided over successful negotiations with the teachers’ and policemen’s unions, Davis-Mullen is optimistic that they’ll remember her support. She says the Boston Teachers Union, for instance, “is very aware of who opened the door for them when they were about to go on strike.” BTU president Ed Doherty agrees that “she has been a strong supporter of the public schools and teachers all the years she’s been in office.” But the mayor is also looked upon favorably, he says, so the union probably won’t get involved in the race: “Members will probably make up their own minds.” That means the votes of the BTU’s 7000 members could go either way.