However, both Davids seem equally eager to avoid confusion. David E.'s white-on-blue bumper stickers show the middle initial in bright red, while the other David's yellow--on--green logo emphasizes a gigantic 'J'. The 'J' stands for Jude, and a disc jockey friend of the candidate's has been playing "Hey Jude" on a local radio station.
Will D. Jude Sullivan make it bad for David E.? The challenger says David E. may lose fewer votes to confusion than he gains by telling constituents that he needs extra help this year because of the attack.
On the other hand, David E. has special reason to be nervous because of the city proportional representation system. It takes only about 2000 votes to elect a candidate, and most victories are by margins of a few hundred votes or less--so even a few cases of confusion could have a large effect.
Mayor Walter Sullivan, who, like David J., opposes rent control, is sanguine about the affect on his own campaign, although he says he has had to "work a little harder."
"I've always had a Sullivan against me," says the mayor--or "if it wasn't a Sullivan it was someone similar to." He says he first ran for Council against an impostor with the same name as his own brother--Edward J. Sullivan. "The CCA did that," he says, noting that he beat Edward J. by 5 to 1.
Despite his experience, the mayor says he doesnot see trickery in David J.'s campaign. "I thinkthe kid believes in what he's doing," says WalterSullivan. "He's a real sincere kid."
As one of the city's most popular figures,Walter Sullivan has little to worry about. He wasthe top vote-getter in the city long before DavidJ. was born, and he has held that position eversince--though his margin has declined slowly inrecent years as traditional voters die or moveaway.
Walter Sullivan campaign signs cover frontyards and windows all over the city. His campaignadvertisement features an endorsement from anotherbeloved Cantabrigian, former Speaker of the HouseThomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.
Unlike either of the Davids, Walter Sullivan isknown to avoid public speaking. He rarely attendscampaign forums, and his only visiblecontributions to most Council meetings arewell-timed strokes of the gavel.
Sullivan is said to exert his considerablepolitical power in quiet conversations behind thescenes. His campaign goes on at communitygatherings, wakes, weddings and funerals--oftenseveral in a day, the year round. WalterSullivan's declaration of campaign expendituresshows charity donations and florists' bills by faroutnumber the usual payments for bumper stickersor newspaper advertisements.
The mayor's family also contributes to hispopularity. Walter Sullivan's father, the lateMichael "Mickey the Dude" Sullivan, is stillremembered in parts of the city for his generosityto poor families during the Depression. Hisbrother, Edward J. Sullivan, is the MiddlesexCounty Clerk of Courts, and Walter himself holds asecond job as Assistant Clerk of Courts.
Though he is not related to the mayor's family,David J. Sullivan is a lifelong city resident, andshares something of Walter Sullivan's world. DavidE. Sullivan, on the other hand, could not presenta greater contrast.
As David J. indignantly points out, David E.was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and first enteredCambridge politics as a Harvard Law School studentwho discovered that he was not allowed to vote inCambridge. After working to get the vote forstudents, he stayed in Cambridge--and stayed incity politics as a liberal tenant advocate whoopposes university expansion