Capone, Adrien, mayor’s campaigns race out of the gate
By JOSH RESNEK
All three mayoral candidates have jumped from the starting gate with vigorous campaigns, featuring highly professionalized social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram and websites – as well as videos, and press releases.
Early in the campaign visibilities by Adrien and Capone, that is, in-person early morning and during the day public campaigning in Glendale Square and door to door meet- ups with voters throughout the city, have raised eyebrows throughout the community.
Everett is a political community. City hall is important. Who sits as mayor is the veritable top of the mountain.
All three candidates want to get there.
The mayor very badly wants to remain there.
He has been ramping up his media machine for months. The staff devoted to his media runs into the hundreds of thousands in salaries.
The mayor has been using his office to propel his public relations in a variety of ways.
He publishes an informational newsletter with his photograph on it that is distributed throughout the city once a month. This costs the city $4000 a month. He claims it is not a political newsletter, but local voters are a bit more discerning than that.
He has his staff doing videos with city employees, introducing city employees to the general public, in this case, to the Internet public on Facebook.
He does the same for himself, making certain that his brand gets plenty of airtime on Everett Cable and his Facebook site.
He also controls the Everett marketplace of public ideas on development, parking, density, change, and the future.
Adrien and Capone campaigning simultaneously with vigorous, well-funded efforts, is a direct attack on the mayor that he has not experienced in 12 years.
Those close to the mayor, who does not communicate with the Leader Herald, claim he will be bringing in Boston media experts and highly paid crisis media relations professionals to manage his campaign.
“He will spend $300,000 or more to defeat Adrien and Capone,” said a source.
An early view of what has so far gone on since the official announcements were made two weeks ago by Adrien and Capone reveals a great deal of interest in their campaigns.
The early followers on their social media platforms number in the thousands and are growing daily.
This is a sign of widespread interest – with many hundreds of voters showing they are not afraid of the mayor to sign their messages on Facebook to show who they are supporting.
This draws publicity and interest away from the mayor, the way the vote will be fractured by these three when primary day arrives in September.
The mayor claims to have about 6,000 followers on his Facebook site.
Until two weeks ago, he stood alone in that arena, although the Leader Herald has a robust Facebook site with 3,000 followers and more activity than the mayor’s site.
All the early efforts of these three are to preserve their bases and to bring more voters to their side.
The mayor has not dealt with two opponents with money to run aggressive campaigns.
Adrien and Capone have already chopped away at the mayor’s base by announcing.
Defections have already occurred.
Political observers agree – the vote will not be split.
The mayor’s vote will be savaged in a political environment where the mayor’s opponents will be gaining votes at the mayor’s expense in a scenario where new votes will be difficult to organize and bring out on primary day.
In other words, if Adrien gains 500 voters and Capone gains the same, one must ask: where are these votes coming from.
The answer: the mayor.
Adrien will lock up much of the Black and brown vote, and the immigrant vote.
Capone will take hundreds of Italian votes out of the mayor’s corner. He will also receive Black and Brown votes, and women’s’ votes because of his reputation.
Women are key in this upcoming election.
Capone is not saddled with past sexual harassment allegations and court actions as the mayor is.
Capone has never paid a woman to keep her quiet.
The mayor allegedly has, as reported in great detail with investigative reports in the Boston Globe.
Ultimately the mayor will have to answer questions about these alleged incidents in public or during a debate if he consents to one.
In today’s political environment, who Everett’s women are going to vote for becomes a major issue in tracking the voting potential.