I wanted to give us a little time to bask in our one year birthday before business as usual. Thanks again, everyone, for making this place what it is.
So…back to business. As I’m sure some of you already know, Sam Yoon lost last night. He had 21% of the vote compared to Michael Flaherty’s 24%, so Flaherty will be running against Menino in November. Not only did he lose the mayoral race, but he also now becomes a lame duck councilor who will lose his seat in January. You can see his concession speech above (or here if the embedded video doesn’t work). As all of you know, bigWOWO readers contributed $250 for Sam, and we were working hard to get him a win.
Sam, if you’re reading this, you the man! Don’t let the media tell you otherwise.
Thank you for your courage and outspokenness. I have all the faith in the world that you will re-emerge after all of this is done, and I have no doubt that your name will be in the headlines again very soon. You’re a superstar, and this is just a small hurdle in your journey. We put time and effort into promoting you here, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. You said you have no regrets about running for mayor, and I have no regrets about supporting you. The world needs people like you, Asian America needs people like you, America itself needs people like you, and even if this campaign didn’t secure the win we were hoping for, you’ve helped raise awareness of Boston politics to a level not seen in a long time. You’ve also inspired Asian Americans across the country.
Peace be with you, and get some much needed rest. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you again in the very near future.
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Sam Yoon daring to challenge the entrenched working class Irish and Italian political establishment machine of Boston was pure, classic David versus Goliath. He is an inspiration and we definitely need leaders like Sam Yoon, unafraid to put themselves out there.
Complacency is one of the biggest downfalls of our community. We don’t have that luxury. This country was founded upon a motto: Join or Die. This country, whether you like it or not, forces you to fight for every little scrap of dignity and respect. We remain complacent at own peril.
Sam may not have won. But he lit a fire under many complacent asses. He fought the good fight. I pray this is just the beginning for a long and distinguished career for Mr Yoon and that he will continue to make waves in the Boston political scene.
2009 Boston Mayoral Preliminary Election
254 of 254 PRECINCTS REPORTING
Thomas Menino 41,026 50.5% X
Michael Flaherty 19,459 24.0% X
Sam Yoon 17,179 21.2%
Kevin McCrea 3340 4.1%
I’m so proud of Sam and his campaign!
I was a volunteer and his career can go anywhere from here!
I didn’t think Sam Yoon could beat Menino even if Yoon won the preliminaries. Just look at the percentages. A lot of Flaherty supporters would have to turnover for Yoon if Yoon had made the final two to have a shot of winning the whole thing.
But I could not have foreseen this. Sam isn’t done yet. Looks like he’s teaming up with Flaherty as one ticket to go up against Menino. Looks like they are trying to combine their support bases. They are scheduled to make an official announcement Tuesday. Interesting, but I really don’t know what to think about this.
Yup, I just got this in my mailbox:
“That is why this morning, I will be joining Michael Flaherty in front of City Hall, not just to endorse his campaign for Mayor – but to join it, and to work with him to bring the changes to Boston that we fought so hard for over these past months.
Starting today, I will campaign alongside Michael Flaherty as his future Deputy Mayor. This is a first step that will change Boston politics for good.
I realize that for Boston, a joint campaign, a Flaherty-Yoon “ticket,” is new and different. But we have always said that Boston politics has been too much about taking credit, and not enough about collaboration. So Michael and I will be working together to make the changes that we need in city government.
”
This could work. Sam had 21%, and Flaherty had 24%. That’s 43%, compared with Menino’s 51%. I know it doesn’t work this way–some Sam supporters probably prefer Menino to Flaherty–but who knows?
B.