Reply #2: I lived in Somerville when he was mayor too and thought he was awful.

[Gormy Cuss]

I don't know his record in Congress but I do remember the sleazy politics surrounding his first run for mayor office when a straw candidate with a surname similar to his biggest challenger diluted the vote enough for Capuano to win. There was a long article about it in the Tab or Phoenix IIRC.

I also have a vague recollection of his early campaign literature when he was running for alderman as being light on issues and heavy on pictures of his family and touting his BC credentials.

That said, there's no way he would have won the Tip O'Neill/ Kennedy seat without the support of the power brokers in the MA Democratic party.