Welcome to the Home Stretch

Now that the kiddies are back to school, it's time to get the focus on electoral politics. If you need a reminder, the primary election is two weeks from today.

The best kickoff of the stretch run comes this Thursday night, when Save Fitchburg, "Politically Speaking," FATV and WEIM host the first Democratic state representative candidate forum. You can watch and listen live at 7 p.m. on FATV (Channel 8) or WEIM (1280 on the AM dial) for the 90-minute discussion.

Also, Jason and Ralph Romano will be on WEIM tomorrow morning, from 7 to 7:30, talking about the debate and what's at stake for everyone.

It'll be the first three-way event between Councilor Stephen DiNatale, former councilors David LeBlanc, and former Mayor Mary Whitney. We'll cover the expected ground, and we'll be interested in not only hearing how they stand on the issues, but also gauging their depth of knowledge not only of policy, but of Beacon Hill politics.

Our advice: TiVo the dem governor's debate, fire up the popcorn popper, and settle in to get a firm handle on an important state rep election for Fitchburg.