“Big turnout in Newton (and Brookline) is bad for us; we need the rest of the district to have a huge turnout.”
When I was a student, I lived in Brookline. They made it basically impossible to register to vote there, even though I had a 12 month lease.
Students could sway these election easily, and Brookline has a great Orthodox community.
Brookline’s vote percentage in the past three presidential elections:
2000: Gore 74.32%, Bush 16.68%, Nader 8.19%
2004: Kerry 78.87%, Bush 19.55%
2008: Obama 80.74%, McCain 17.39%
So please forgive me if I’m not too optimistic about Brookline’s Orthodox Jewish voters coming to the rescue. Borough Park it ain’t.