Rep. Capuano is a fantastic Representative. I think he is one of the best progressives in the entire House. He is the only person considering running for the Mass. Senate seat who could even begin to fill Teddy's shoes.

Don't kneecap him now and give us moderate, uninspiring Hillary-endorser Martha Coakley or conservative pro-life Dem Stephen Lynch!

All Capuano said about the public option was that he would make up his mind on the final bill:

"That's why we used words like 'robust' -- because it's in the eye of the beholder," Capuano told Roll Call. "We'll make our independent judgments."

I don't see how that is somehow a big deal, especially right now when we don't even know how hard Obama is going to fight for the public option. John Kerry was much more explicit at his recent town hall in Somerville that there was no guarantee we could get a public option through the Senate. If we get everything but the public option and have a trigger mechanism, I would consider it a huge victory for progressives. You saw what Sen. Baucus proposed today, and he's one of the 60 votes we'd need to get a full bill through the Senate.

Capuano will definitely be a strong progressive voice in the Senate. He's a scrappy fighter with working class roots and former mayor of Somerville. He's got an incredibly strong progressive record, and I know how responsive his office is to grassroots efforts, having worked on some related to Darfur and foreign aid. His weekly newsletter is extremely informative. You can't say that for anyone else in the race. I plan to support him and work as hard as I can for him in the primary.