Let's Go Michael Capuano

Right and left candidates for Senate and the House are announcing their nominations in so many elections it could make your head spin. Massachusetts is no exception, more than a few candidates have announced they will run for U.S. Senate against Republican Scott Brown. What's missing, however, is a candidate anyone has ever heard of.

Here is the current list of Democratic hopefuls running for their party's nomination:
Thomas Conroy, State Representative for the 13th Middlesex District
Marisa DeFranco, immigration lawyer
Alan Khazei, City Year founder
Bob Massie, entrepreneur and 1994 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor
Herb Robinson, Newton engineer
Setti Warren, Newton mayor

Some people might recognize Alan Khazei's name from the ballot of the 2010 special election primary. But he's probably only a hazy memory. He certainly had nothing close to "front-runner" status during that election.

What I am waiting for is a Michael Capuano-type figure. Scratch that. I am waiting for Michael Capuano.

Michael Capuano, who represents Mass. 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House, placed second in the Democratic primary for that 2010 special election and there is no doubt in my mind he would have won the general election had he placed first in that primary. He would have run a real campaign, instead of mocking Scott Brown for "standing outside Fenway Park...In the cold...Shaking hands" like someone you may vaguely remember named Martha Coakley once did.

I met Mike Capuano at a fundraiser in November 2009 when he was running for that special election. When he spoke he was eloquent and it was clear he knew what he was talking about.

If he runs for Senate in 2012, and he should, he would instantly become the Democratic front-runner. People like him. And maybe more importantly, people know him.

He's a fantastic campaigner.

He was mayor of Somerville, Mass. for nine years (1990-1999) when he ran for Congress in 1999 to succeed Joseph P. Kennedy II against former Boston mayor and U.S. Ambassador Raymond Flynn. In other words, it was Capuano, the mayor of a moderate-sized city, against Flynn, a former mayor of Boston and a freakin' U.S. Ambassador. Suffice to say there was no question that Flynn was the front-runner from the get-go, but Capuano is not someone to sit around and kick and moan because someone more famous the he was running.. He ran an active campaign, most notably a very extensive TV ad campaign to get his name out. He won the primary with 23% of the vote to Flynn's 17% in a crowded field.

Want a list of positions Capuano takes? Try this from Project Vote Smart. Or try his campaign website which goes into detail his views on issues. He's straight forward. He let's you know what he believes and he never waivers (take note, Mitt Romney).

He's a stand-up guy. And he would win the 2012 Senate race.