When Having a Progressive Record Isn’t Enough

Updated at 2:16 p.m. ET

Mike Capuano has been a progressive force for decades. The Massachusetts congressman backed “Medicare for All” well before it was fashionable, and he led the effort to make Somerville a so-called “sanctuary city” more than 30 years ago. His speech berating bank CEOs for their role in the last recession was immortalized in a 2010 documentary. And Trump? He’s supported an impeachment vote.

Nevertheless, progressives want more.

Ayanna Pressley, a 44-year-old African American woman and a Boston City Council member, is running against Capuano from the left. Perhaps because there’s not much daylight between them policy-wise, Pressley and her backers insist the primary race is about much more than policy: “This was the seat held by John F. Kennedy, so having a progressive voting record is baseline,” she told WBUR in July. “That is not necessarily a profile in courage.” Instead, they say, the race is about perspective and representation.

Pressley’s challenge to Capuano offers