Marty hearts Hillary

Hillary Clinton came to Boston yesterday for the kind of stop any Democrat running for president is eager to make — for a rally where the city’s mayor endorses your candidacy.

Before an overflow crowd at historic Faneuil Hall, Mayor Marty Walsh said he was all-in for Clinton.

“When you think about a candidate who has the experience and the resume for this job, there’s nobody ever in the history of this country that has the resume that Hillary Clinton has to run for president,” Walsh said. “I’ll do whatever, whatever needs to be done… I’ll do anything the campaign asks me to do. This isn’t just an endorsement in name only.”

It was a welcome embrace from a big-city mayor who may also have a legitimate claim on the unofficial title of “America’s labor mayor.”  Most observers still expect Clinton to be the Democratic nominee, but with Bernie Sanders running hard — and drawing large and enthusiastic crowds — she is facing a far more spirited challenge from her left than had been expected. Shoring up support among unions is one way for Clinton to hold back the Sanders tide. With his long background as a labor official, Walsh could emerge as the “de facto head of ‘Hard Hats for Hillary,'” says WGBH’s Adam Reilly. (Reilly speculates that the mayor’s ability to deliver tangibly for Clinton in New Hampshire and perhaps other battleground states could also make him “invulnerable” to a reelection challenge if she wins the White House.)

The Herald‘s Hillary Chabot says it’s too soon to declare Clinton the candidate wearing the union label in Massachusetts. Chabot writes that there is plenty of pop behind progressive union support for Sanders here. She goes so far as to describe yesterday’s rally, where Clinton touted a very labor-friendly infrastructure spending plan, as a “circle the wagons” exercise designed to “inject momentum” into a Massachusetts primary bid that isn’t proving to be the cakewalk that Clinton’s team might have hoped for.

Chabot cites two Boston unions — Ironworkers Local 7 and IBEW Local 2222 — that have endorsed Sanders. She quotes an unnamed “Massachusetts union insider” who says there is deep distrust for Hillary among some Democrats. “I can’t imagine going into the booth and voting for anyone but Bernie,” the official tells her. But that strong conviction was evidently not accompanied by a willingness to be identified.

While a spirited campaign is always fun to watch unfold, the two most recent polls of the Democratic primary match-up here show Clinton with big leads of 35 and 24 points over Sanders. Maybe that will change before the March 1 primary. For now, though, even if Clinton is losing the enthusiasm race to Sanders, Massachusetts voters seem to think she’s likeable enough.

—MICHAEL JONAS

 

BEACON HILL

Senate President Stan Rosenberg praised Gov. Charlie Baker‘s management skills and says he has a better relationship with the Republican governor than he did with his predecessor, Deval Patrick. (Keller@Large)

An increasing number of Lottery winners of prizes of $1 million are using trusts to collect their money and retain their anonymity. (The Enterprise)

The Cape Cod Times comes down hard on the Legislature, saying that state lawmakers have hardly “broken a sweat” this year.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

All the gripes about Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera that are fueling recall efforts are summarized and analyzed, with a special focus on hirings and firings of city workers. (Eagle-Tribune) Former mayor William Lantigua tells a radio station that he supports the recall effort, claiming Rivera is “disrespectful and irresponsible.” He also accuses the mayor of threatening people who sign the recall petitions. (Eagle-Tribune) An Eagle-Tribune editorial slams Lantigua, calling his criticisms of the mayor rich with irony.

Activists who vowed to issue a regular report card on Boston Mayor Marty Walsh‘s performance on diversity issues have dropped the ball, with some citing fear of alienating the city’s most powerful official as a reason. (Boston Globe)

The Attorney General’s office has written a letter to Hingham town officials expressing concern that selectmen may be violating the Open Meeting law by communicating to each other through the town administrator. (Patriot Ledger)

A federal judge dismissed a discrimination suit by a longtime Plymouth police officer against the department and town claiming she was forced back to work too soon after suffering a foot injury. (Patriot Ledger)

CASINOS

A traffic impact study for the proposed Brockton casino quotes public safety officials from communities with casinos around the country saying traffic is easier to handle around gaming facilities than sporting events or shopping malls. (The Enterprise)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The deadly shootings at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado the day after Thanksgiving have put pressure on congressional Republicans and anti-abortion activists to ratchet back their attacks and rhetoric on the women’s health provider. (New York Times)

World leaders gather in Paris for a climate conference. (NPR) Hillary Clinton, writing in Time, says the United States must lead the effort and criticizes “Republican deniers, defeatists, and obstructionists.”

Why Black Lives Matter protests remained non-violent in Chicago and Minneapolis and how the network carries on when it is out of the spotlight. (Christian Science Monitor)

Nicholas Covino, the president of William James College in Newton, says Thanksgiving is a time to welcome refugees. (CommonWealth)

ELECTIONS

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh endorses Hillary Clinton at a rally in Boston. (WBUR) The New Hampshire Union Leader endorses Republican Chris Christie for president.

Democrat Julian Cyr, a Truro resident who works at the state Department of Public Health, says he intends to run for Sen. Dan Wolf’s seat. (Cape Cod Times) So far, no one has stepped forward publicly to run for Rep. Tom Sannicandro’s seat. The Ashland Democrat announced that he does not intend to run for re-election in 2016. (MetroWest Daily News)

Reps. Katherine Clark, Joe Kennedy and Seth Moulton have lots to show in the fundraising department — which bodes well if they plan to seek higher office. (Associated Press)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

A developer backed off a “friendly 40B” housing proposal in Tyngsboro in the face of heavy opposition from local residents. (The Sun)

Maynard looks to hitch a revival on the comeback of its downtown. (Boston Globe)

An employment lawyer who has targeted Uber, Lyft, and other “sharing economy” companies says the firms are writing arbitration agreements into their contracts to try to head off potentially much more costly class-actions lawsuits over their classification of workers as contractors rather than employees. (Boston Herald)

Amidst Boston’s building boom, the Boston Redevelopment Authority is formulating new regulations to govern placement of big corporate signs on buildings, something a BRA official says the city would like to discourage. (Boston Globe)

US Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has started an inquiry into about a dozen private museums and galleries. He is looking into whether the benefactors of the museums and galleries are receiving unwarranted tax deductions. (New York Times)

Restaurant workers in the Lowell area want no part of a movement nationally pushing for a higher minimum wage while doing away with tipping. (The Sun)

The Lynn Chamber of Commerce questions a medical office building proposed near the city’s ferry dock, saying market-rate condominiums would be more suitable there. Officials also worry the building may turn out to be an addiction treatment center. (The Item)

EDUCATION

UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman has been silent since a report surfaced at the end of last week that UMass President Martin Meehan was looking to replace her. (Standard-Times)

There are signs of improvement at Boston’s long-troubled English High School. (Boston Globe)

A Harvard-developed survey of students at Triton middle and high schools in Byfield is destroyed after parents take umbrage at questions asking about them. A Salem News editorial questions how a survey with so many red flags passed the vetting process.

Talks are “ongoing” between the Fall River School Committee and Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown on a contract extension that could be finalized before Mayor-elect Jasiel Correia, who has been non-committal on retaining Mayo-Brown, takes office in January. (Herald News)

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environmental activists say city and state leaders have not done enough to prepare for catastrophic flooding three years after the region narrowly escaped the full wrath of Hurricane Sandy. (Boston Globe)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Calls to Boston’s 911 system are up — and response time to medical emergencies has slowed. (Boston Globe)

Governing examines how America is trying to fix its broken mental health system.

TRANSPORTATION

Keolis General Manager Gerald Francis, the head of the company that operates MBTA commuter rail, says that the T can be the number one commuter rail system in the US. Really. (CommonWealth)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

The former veterans’ agent for New Bedford was found shot in a city park and later died at the hospital, the fourth homicide victim in the Whaling City this year. (Standard-Times)

The Providence Journal has an extensive package on the difficulty in tracing guns because of the lack of publicly available information on purchases and ownership that is even limited to law enforcement agencies.

MEDIA

With more readers online than the New York Times, Jeff Bezos says he wants the Washington Post to become the new “paper of record.” (Nieman Lab)