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Pronouncing The Candidates' Names: A Primary Primer

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Which pronunciation is correct? According to the candidate, both.
Which pronunciation is correct? According to the candidate, both.

It's hard enough keeping track of all the candidates for Senate — now try pronouncing their names.

At Downtown Crossing last week, we asked a half-dozen voters to take their best shot at Pagliuca, Capuano, and Khazei. Not one person pronounced them all correctly:

When Paul Tsongas, the late Massachusetts senator, ran for president in 1992, America — not to mention the press — had trouble pronouncing his name. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote of him: “Never mind character flaws. Is America ready for a President with a peculiar consonant cluster?”

This program aired on December 7, 2009.

Andrew Phelps Reporter
Andrew Phelps was formerly a producer and reporter for WBUR.

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