August 28, 2008 — Fifty-five year-old Ed O'Reilly, a Gloucester lawyer running against John Kerry for the U.S. Senate, is everything Mr. Kerry is not.
Sitting in The Standard-Times' board room, Mr. O'Reilly seems like an animated leprechaun.
A diminutive look-alike for Joseph P. Kennedy III, in manner he's as quick-witted and mischievous as Sen. Kerry is dogged and serious.
"John Kerry lives in another world. He visits our world," says Mr. O'Reilly, playing on Sen. Kerry's reputation as an aristocrat.
"No one has ever said I saw John Kerry standing in line, waiting for a large coffee at Dunkin' Donuts," Mr. O'Reilly continues. "No one has ever said to me, 'Hey, I saw John Kerry up at Route 140 pumpin' gas."
Ed O'Reilly's resume reads like the script of a life well lived.
