A group calling itself Dorchester Growing Together is advocating a YIMBY, or “yes-in-my-backyard” approach to development, calling on Dorchester residents to support the dense development projects commonly shunned by abutters in Boston neighborhoods.

Despite near-identical stances on numerous issues, at a recent event, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano and at-large Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley delineated differences in their leadership style and approach to the issues facing the people of the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District.

Oumou Kanoute, a black sophomore at Smith College, was quizzed by a police officer and a college employee as she studied in a dorm dining hall, after another employee reported a suspicious person laying down in the cafeteria to police.

The sophisticated voter must treat the September election as decisive. Since the candidates hold similar positions on the political issues, voters must decide whether the fact that Pressley is a woman and is black is sufficient to outweigh Capuano’s record of achievement.