What's in a Name?
SEPTEMBER 1, 2007 Listen to this Story
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Massachusetts's Fifth District is in the midst of a special congressional election. The primary is on Tuesday. There are almost a dozen people in the race, but two names stick out: Tsongas and Ogonowski. Weekend America reporter Sean Cole asks the question, "What's in a name?"
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I met Jim Ogonowski about a year after 9/11. He was still an air force commander then and had taken over the hay farm in Dracut, Mass., that his brother John left behind. John was the pilot of Flight 11, the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I produced a story about it with another reporter.
We did most of the interview in the barn, surrounded by all of John's equipment.
"I look for him in here when I come in," Jim said. "When I bale hay, the first bale goes on the ground. That's for John--if he comes he has a place to sit."
Jim had become the media liaison for the family. He was eloquent and collected right from the beginning. Even back then he sometimes sounded like a political candidate.
"When the Cold War ended we thought life was going to be beautiful, and that we had world peace. But the reality of how dangerous our world is slapped us in the face on September 11, and we can't for get that. Let's remember that and let's prevent that from happening again," he said at the time.
Ogonowski, now a congressional candidate, is retired from the Air Force. He still works on the farm. He also zooms around the district between hay deliveries, shaking as many hands as he can.
Many people in town knew his family before 9/11. And yet when he walked into the local American Legion Hall for a campaign stop, a supporter immediately called him John.
"That's okay," said Jim when the man realized his mistake. "That's a great honor." Another supporter did the same thing.
Ogonowski said 9/11 was a factor in his decision to run for Congress, but it wasn't the main one.
When he addressed the veterans at the American Legion hall, he didn't mention his brother at all.
"That's intentional," he said. "I like to talk about my whole life history. Yes, I've got a lot of name recognition because of the tragedy of 9/11, but that's only a percentage of who I am. I'm proud to say that I've served my country for 28 years. I started at the University of Lowell. I'm proud that I followed my Dad's footsteps into the Air Force. "
Of course, name recognition in politics usually deals with political ascendancy. I say this from the state that gave birth to one of the names in politics, the Kennedys. In presidential politics, we're courting the possibility of a name checkerboard "Bush, Clinton, Bush, and possibly Clinton."
But Ogonowski isn't a political name. It's actually more powerful than politics in a lot of people's minds. It evokes a day that changed the world forever. And whether or not that's a good reason to vote for someone, the reality is, votes are votes. And media attention is media attention.
Tony Accardi, who writes for a political blog that was born out of the Fifth District race, points out that the other candidates haven't appeared in the New York Times, except Nicki Tsongas, who's late husband Paul Tsongas used to hold the seat.
Niki Tsongas is one of five Democrats on the primary ballot. None of the other names are quite as potent as hers. Paul Tsongas was hugely popular, first as a House Representative, then as a Senator. He ran for president in 1992. He won the New Hampshire primary and a bunch of others. When he died of cancer in 1997, an arena was named after him.
I asked her if she thought people would be paying as much attention to her if she wasn't part of this particular family. "But I am," she said.
"This name became what it did through our joint efforts," Tsongas continued. "I could never do it if it was simply about Paul's life."
Jim Ogonowski wouldn't be running if he didn't have a bone to pick either. Name recognition is not all these candidates have going for them. But they do each have that going for them. And if Ogonowski and Tsongas end up running against each other in the general election, which name will have more influence?
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