By Thomas C . Nash
Special to the Mirror-Spectator
BELMONT, Mass. — Sitting in a coffee shop on Belmont’s quiet main drag last week, Lalig Musserian greeted what seemed like every other person who came through the door with a warm smile and a wave. Like her neighbors, at first glance she seemed like any other urban professional on a coffee run. Hermuted demeanor gave her assessment of why she needed to take on a popular incumbent in a state representative race a matter-of-fact urgency.
“Ninety percent of our legislature are Democrats,” she said. “It’s a single-party state. I’m the candidate who is more concerned about the economic health our state. My premise is fiscal responsibility.”
“That is not Tea Party rhetoric,” she added, deflecting a recent barb thrown her way by the incumbent’s campaign. “It’s common sense.”
Musserian, 47, appears flustered at being lumped in with a national conservative movement known more for Sarah Palin than fiscal conservatism. Her platform, she says, comes from her experience in the field of project management, where maintaining a balanced account is critical.
“It’s not that we don’t have enough tax revenue,” she added. “We don’t spend it effectively.”
