RUNNING FOR MAYOR of Boston is not child’s play, but a familiar jingle from a long-running children’s television show provides a useful template for considering how the candidates are positioning themselves to gain traction with the preliminary election less than two weeks away. 

A recurring feature on “Sesame Street,” used to help children understand how to distinguish among a set of items, is the song “One of These Things.” It has appeared through the years accompanied by a variety of images — from dogs of different breeds to shoes, colored balloons, and cereal bowls of different sizes. The lyrics put the test to children: “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others before I finish this song?”

How does a Big Bird-led ditty relate to the five-way race for mayor? 

While the song challenges kids to identify the thing that doesn’t belong with the others, earning that distinction by standing out from the pack in a multi-candidate field is exactly what the mayoral hopefuls want to do. That’s especially true — and challenging — in a race in which all five candidates represent a break with the city’s 199-year run of white male mayors and all are embracing, to one degree or another, a focus on racial justice and equity issues. 

Michelle Wu, who has been at the top of every poll from the start of the race, seems focused on establishing herself as the clear candidate of the political left. That has been most apparent in her embrace of rent control, a switch from earlier opposition to such a measure and a stand that she alone has fully embraced among the field. Meanwhile, Wu’s plan for a “Green New Deal” for Boston and long-standing advocacy on MBTA issues have given her traction with younger climate activists. 

If Wu is looking left, Annissa Essaibi George is clearly appealing to more moderate voters. That was on full display earlier this week when she toured the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood of Dorchester and touted her call to add 200 to 300 police officers, a stance that cuts against the grain of talk of defunding police. As GBH’s Saraya Wintersmith noted, Essaibi George’s position carries a strong echo of the moderate message that recently helped carry Eric Adams to victory in a big Democratic field in the New York City mayoral primary and saw Bruce Harrell advance in the Seattle mayor’s race. 

For Acting Mayor Kim Janey, there’s little doubt about the strategy for standing out in the race. It started with a ceremonial swearing-in that isn’t actually called for in the city charter when the city council president assumes the duties of acting mayor. From there, she has done her best to convey the idea that for voters eager to break historic barriers with the election of the city’s first woman mayor and first Black mayor, she’s already on the job and ready to continue the work.  

For Andrea Campbell, one of two Black women in the race, standing out from the pack has been a trickier challenge. She has been the most forceful advocate of sweeping police reforms, and has been outspoken on the need for a comprehensive solution to the problems centered around Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard. But she launched her campaign last September, expecting to be running against incumbent mayor Marty Walsh and Wu, a fellow city councilor. Her insurgent profile, formed from her 2015 election when she ousted a 32-year incumbent, now has her taking the most aggressive stance in the field toward Janey. 

John Barros can claim the most executive experience in the field, with a background running the nonprofit Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and seven years as the city’s chief of economic development under Walsh. But with polls showing him trailing far behind the four women in the race, the card he can play to stand out from the field doesn’t seem to be resonating with voters. 

There is much more to the candidacies of all the mayoral wannabes, but in a race where the top two finishers in the September 14 preliminary advance to the November final election, the goal right now is to carve out enough votes to be one of the two who move on. No one will get anywhere near 50 percent of the vote in what’s likely to be a low turnout contest, so figuring out how to stand out enough in the five-way field is the path forward. 

MICHAEL JONAS

 

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Boston eviction moratorium: Under pressure to take action, acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey orders an eviction moratorium in Boston. A copy of the order was not available and city officials said details would be forthcoming. A federal eviction moratorium was shot down by the courts. Read more.

OPINION

Financial education: Annie Duong-Turner of John Hancock and Carrie Carlisle of EVERFI say financial literacy at a younger age should be prioritized. Read more.

Classroom discussion: Todd Gazda, the executive director of the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton, says there is nothing wrong with critical thinking and schools should be having serious discussions about race. Read more.

 

FROM AROUND THE WEB

 

BEACON HILL

Lawmakers are holding a hearing Wednesday on a bill that would make it easier to retire for teachers concerned about a return to in-person learning. The bill would let teachers buy credits for years of service or age, allowing them to retire earlier with benefits. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, who chairs the school committee, files an order to let him begin searching for a new school superintendent if necessary; the current superintendent says he is playing politics. (Telegram & Gazette)

Hundreds gather in Lawrence to honor Johanny Rosario Pichardo, who was killed in Afghanistan. (GBH)

The Williamstown Select Board says it lacks the authority to fire a police officer who kept a picture of Adolf Hitler in his locker — as a joke, he says. (Berkshire Eagle)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Around 400 employees at Baystate Health write a letter to the CEO urging him to reverse the organization’s vaccine mandate. (MassLive)

The nurses’ strike at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester is now the longest strike in state history. (MassLive)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Nearly all abortions are now banned in Texas as the US Supreme Court took no action on an emergency petition to block the law from taking effect. (New York Times) 

The Cape Cod Times examines what the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, meant for a generation of millennials. A series by the Providence Journal talked to New Englanders about what 9/11 meant and how it shaped our lives. The series looks at issues related to memorials, grief, security, and comparisons with the COVID pandemic.

The Globe op-ed page features three views on the possible release on parole of Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, with Kimberly Atkins Stohr and Jeff Jacoby saying Sirhan should never walk free and Rachelle Cohen saying he meets the standards for release. 

ELECTIONS

Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins endorses Michelle Wu in the Boston mayor’s race. (Boston Globe)

Howie Carr ticks off the roster of who’s who among the aged politicos slated to make appearances at Thursday’s Cape Cod fundraiser for Gov. Charlie Baker hosted by PR honcho George Regan. (Boston Herald) 

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Business is booming at Boston-based Fidelity Investments, which plans to add 16,000 jobs this year — but few are in Massachusetts. (Boston Globe)

EDUCATION

With no options for remote learning this fall, some parents are turning to home schooling or seeking a slot in one of the state’s two virtual schools in the face of the Delta variant. (Boston Globe)

Faculty at Boston College think the COVID policies for the fall are too lax (Boston Globe), while students at Amherst College say they’re too strict and win some concessions. (Associated Press)

Rob and Donna Manning are giving the University of Massachusetts $50 million, with $15 million of it going to build the endowment of the UMass Boston nursing program. (Boston Globe)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

The federal government enacts new restrictions on lobster fishing to help protect the North Atlantic Right Whale. (NPR) Critics say the restrictions don’t go far enough. (Cape Cod Times)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

New FBI data show a decline in hate crimes in Massachusetts last year, even as the number of hate crimes surged nationally. (Salem News)

MEDIA

The editor of the Patriot Ledger explains what the newspaper and the Gannett chain that owns it are doing to address diversity and race issues. 

A measure that might be included in a big spending bill now before Congress would deliver a set of tax credits to help support local journalism, a move that the head of the nonprofit that now owns the Philadelphia Inquirer calls “potentially the most important legislation for local news in the last hundred years.” (Washington Post)