Shaking hands over the body

The ultimate Boston Irish politician — James Michael Curley (1874-1958), who as “The Hub’s’’ legendary mayor spent a lot of time quietly campaigning at wakes. Read the novel The Last Hurrah, which is based on him.

“This tailgate is a Time – which is what Massachusetts politicians throw whenever they must once again run for office….A Time is usually a fund-raising dinner, but it can be a fund-raising lunch, a fund-raising trip to the ballpark, or yes, a fund-raising wake, where, very likely, Jumbo Jr. will be shaking hands over the departed Jumbo Sr. preparatory to a run for the Governor’s Council.’’

-- Charles P. Pierce  (born 1953) is a Boston area-based American sportswriter, political blogger, liberal pundit, author, and game show panelist.