Words of the moment: 'professional' and 'dispatch'

If Carol Shea-Porter has been successful at one thing, it’s getting things done her way. In 2006, she was a big underdog in the primary, yet defeated Jim Craig, the DCCC’s choice in the race. Then in the general glection she was severely under-funded against two-term Congressman Jeb Bradley. Bradley looked to be on his way to an easy re-election, but Shea-Porter did it her way and shocked the world, or at least the 1st Congressional District. Since she has been elected she has continued to be a maverick and is one of the few freshmen Democrats in the House who has opted out of the DCCC Frontline program.

There have been some interesting words over the last week which could cause Shea-Porter’s die-hard supporters to raise their eyebrows. Last week, it was announced that state Democratic Party communications director Pia Carusone left her position with the party to aid Shea-Porter’s campaign operations. Carusone is a skilled operative who would be a welcome addition to almost any political campaign. When asked, Carusone she said she was going to assemble a “professional operation" for the campaign.

This statement alone could raise eyebrows from the grass-roots activists for a grass-roots campaigner that got it done their way. If Shea-Porter wanted to assemble a "professional operation" in her campaign wouldn’t she have opted into “Frontline.”

Then this weekend the Nashua Telegraph's Kevin Landrigan reported Democratic State Chairman Raymond Buckley would “dispatch” Carusone to the campaign. While this was not a quote from Buckley himself, you add this to the professionalize statement and Shea-Porter longtime supporters may start asking what’s going on.

It will be fun to watch how this plays out inside Shea-Porter’s campaign where her and her supporters are used to getting things done the Carol Shea-Porter way.

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