The defeat of State Rep. Vincent P. Ciampa was a shock to the casual observer of city politics. But, the readers of this space will remember we have repeatedly warned old school Democrats that the progressives are playing for keeps.

Despite the progressive tag, the new man, Carl Sciortino, ran a campaign that more closely resembled how old school Democrats used to campaign. The Sciortino team knocked on doors, made phone calls and mailed out thousands of postcards and flyers. Then, on Primary Day, they took out their voter id list and did a thorough drop and drag.

In other media outlets, we expect the headlines will trumpet that Sciortino’s victory as a victory for the anti-Finneran camp and endorsement of legal same-sex marriage.

What then will they say about the triumph of State Rep. Timothy J. Toomey Jr. over Avi Green?

After such a spirited campaign, will the progressives concede that after they made their case for the expansion of abortion rights, more restrictions on gun ownership and for the defeat of Speaker Finneran—the Democrats of the 26th Middlesex rejected them?

For the mayor, the results were a push. He endorsed both Toomey and Ciampa; but, these are veteran politicians who were responsible for their own campaigns.

Over the next two years, there will be more surprises. When he spoke at our contributors meeting, Sciortino had very reasonable ideas about economic development and education. His open-mindedness betrayed a reluctance to march off the ideological cliff.

Wouldn’t that be something? The progressive, who ran an old school campaign, turned out to a politician?