February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
At a press conference last week, Flynn was joined by the man he defeated in the 1983 mayoral race, African-American activist Mel King.
The Flynn and King combo brought together former political rivals who represented two sides of the spectrum when they competed for votes 26 years ago: an Irish American Catholic from South Boston and a black civil rights leader from the South End of Boston.
“We are asking the people of this city to move the city forward just like you had the courage to move Boston forward in the most racially divisive period of 1983,” Flynn, who is also an Irish Echo columnist, said.
“We are here today because there is an awful lot at stake, the future of the city of Boston, and the future of our children and grandchildren.”
King, a former state representative, said that he was joining Flynn in his endorsement of Flaherty because the city had become one of “low expectations” under the leadership of incumbent mayor Thomas Menino.
A spokesperson for Menino, who is leading in the polls, said that the joint endorsement by Flynn and King paled in comparison to endorsements that Menino had received, including one from the gay group, MassEquality.
The group’s endorsement of Menino makes prominent mention of Menino’s refusal to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, ever since the South Boston Allied War Veterans banned the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston from marching in 1992.
Recent polls show that Menino holds a lead of anywhere from ten to twenty points, although that lead is apparently shrinking as the November 3 election nears.