Four Mass. Dems seek Kennedy's base

BOSTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The four Democrats running to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., are each playing to his liberal base, analysts say.

The four -- U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei -- met in a televised debate Monday and each sought to win recognition as Kennedy's heir, The Boston Globe reported.

The newspaper said Capuano positioned himself as a Washington insider who can get deals done, while Coakley sought to demonstrate her grasp of the issues. Both Pagliuca and Khazei, meanwhile, touted the benefits of being Beltway outsiders free from special interests' influence.

"We need to end the dominance of the PACs and special interests," the Globe reported Khazei as saying. "There's an old Italian saying, 'You can't get clean water until you get the hogs out of the creek.'"

The debate was held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and carried live on nearly every Boston-area television station, as well as on several radio outlets, the newspaper said, noting it held little friction and few sharp exchanges but was revealing at times.