Life of the parties

Perhaps it was inevitable that Manchester Mayor Bob “Breakaway” Baines would fly the Queen City coop in the last week of July to attend the Democratic convention in Boston. After all, Baines is both an elected official and a Democrat, and Beantown is conveniently close by.

But his mayoral duties must have seemed too confining to hizzoner during the Republican convention as well.

Baines – ironically, the first Manchester mayor elected via the city’s “non-partisan” elections — just had to go down to New York to join with other Democratic mayors in telling the world how the Bush administration has failed them and the nation.