We were at the caucus last Wednesday night in Waltham. Some of us were there covering it as a news story, one of us was there as a voting delegate. None of us were working for a candidate that evening (full disclosure – the one person who was a delegate did vote for Sean O’Donovan).

It was an experience being there – to watch a vital part of the democratic process – in full swing. There were people from all over the county ready to vote and stump for one of 13 candidates for Democratic Nomination for Middlesex County Register of Probate.

There was a story born that night, which has taken on a life of its own – a story that has been told and retold with several variations by people with their own personal and political agendas. When you read the Lowell Sun version, you can understand their sense of pride for their hometown candidate Maria Sheehy. Fair enough, but it’s when you start digging into the nominal and fringe weblogs and supposed ‚Äúnews‚Äù type online outlets that have twisted the story into something bizarre, you have to wonder why they go through all the trouble.

Then you see some of the names attached to these stories and comments posted here and there – like the one moron who keeps telling people he is with the press, and he isn’t – and you start to understand why things get carried away.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, the ‚Äústory‚Äù we are referring to, depending on whom you believe, goes something like: ‚ÄúSean O’Donovan told his supporters to trick delegates into voting for him, by having some of his workers go through the crowd waiting to vote and tell them Maria Sheehy endorsed him.‚Äù You can use your own imagination as to what has been said about Somerville politics and Sean in particular as a result (some of the worst and most delusional comments have been from people from here – hard to believe, isn’t it?).

Apparently, based on online accounts of what transpired that we could find, we (meaning The Somerville News) were the only legitimate news people directly in the middle of the supposed incident. It is for that very reason that we would like to put to rest some of the rumor and conjecture that is sure to continue to spread for some time to come – which will most likely include the other newspaper in this city.

There were two men seen and heard walking through the crowd saying ‚ÄúMaria Sheehy is endorsing Sean O’Donovan‚Äù for a grand total of one minute – from one side of the corridor to the other. Two minutes later, Maria Sheehy appeared in the corridor and in an elevated and angry voice, told the crowd (and a shocked Sean O’Donovan) that she was not endorsing Sean O’Donovan, but was in fact endorsing Tara DeChristofaro.

That was it – not much of a dirty trick, not much in the way of sneaky back room dealings, not much in the way of anything – and there are a few good reasons why. The thought by some that Sean O’Donovan or anyone associated with his campaign set those two men in motion in the hopes that they would be able to sway votes in Sean’s favor is so absurd its actually laughable.

You have to understand something about votes at this point at a caucus – it was statistically next to impossible for Sean to win, even if Maria Sheehy stood on the top of the voting table and said she endorsed Sean. Also, if a deal had been made, and there was a shot of getting every single Sheehy vote, then that’s exactly what they would have had her do – stand on a table and scream it at the top of her lungs (before the vote was called). To think that two undistinguishable people, walking through the crowd, three minutes into voting, would be able to swing enough votes Sean’s way to win, is absurd.

The point we are trying to make is simple – we were right there – in the middle of it, not in the bathroom, not in the auditorium, not distracted by something else. The thought of dirty politics and wheeling and dealing make for very curious and entertaining reading, so while we wish there was something that could be written that would expose a sinister and conspiracy-laden plot, the fact is that there doesn’t seem to be anything more than two people who probably overheard someone say something to someone else – and the rest has become a story of its own. To speculate that it was dirty, underhanded politics at its worst would be delusional and journalistically irresponsible.