Would Smoking Crack Force *Your* Mayor Out of Office?

With new mayors elected in Boston, Beverly and Lawrence this week, city chief executives have been in the news.

But the mayoral story to end all mayoral stories lies north of the border. That's where Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said he'd smoked crack cocaine "probably in one of my drunken stupors." 

So what happened to his approval ratings? Yup, they've gone up.

All of which got me wondering how tolerant residents of Bay State cities would be in the same situation. Voters do have a history of leniency when it comes to human foibles in their elected officials. Just look at Marion Barry, the former D.C. mayor who was infamously caught on video smoking crack, but has rehabilitated his image to become a "Ted Kennedy-style lion of the D.C. City Council."

I think many Massachusetts residents would, eventually, forgive their mayors for all sorts of bad behavior. But here's a red line that I don't think can be crossed: Can you imagine voters tolerating a Massachusetts mayor coming out as a Yankees fan?