There's a story in the Massachusetts 5th Congressional District special election that's picking up steam. Frontrunner Niki Tsongas has been misrepresenting herself. Misrepresenting with a claim of representing. The Boston Herald today reports that a YouTube video is making the rounds of Niki Tsongas saying at a forum, "I’ve spent 35 years in this district, living here, working here, raising a family here. I represented it in Washington for 10 years. I know how Washington works." From the Herald:
The clip, which has surfaced on YouTube.com, apparently refers to the time she spent in Washington with her late husband, Sen. Paul Tsongas. Niki Tsongas has never held elected office.
The video, posted below, is from a candidate forum a few weeks ago at the Greater Lowell Non-Profit Alliance.
I'm not sure if this story will have legs, but it was already picked up in the Herald, the major daily papers in the district, and is getting play on the Mass. political blog bluemassgroup.
It's not quite as damning as a Macaca moment, but I think it draws some parallels to Biden's '88 campaign, where he has to resign because he was caught plagiarizing lines and making up false claims about himself in his stump.