The candidate who makes his stand with the unions and wins their support becomes the elected official who can't say no to labor costs. If he does, he becomes, like Menino, the target of union anger. There is merit to the counter-argument that mayors like Menino make value judgments, too, when they choose to spend taxpayer money on beautifying a city for a convention rather than paying police higher wages. Indeed, that is the debate that should have been argued and resolved long before Democrats headed to Boston to nominate a presidential candidate.