Mike Connolly, an independent candidate for Massachusetts state legislature, said he didn't call the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks "a gimmick" during a debate on Tuesday. Connolly's two opponents, Democratic state Rep. Tim Toomey and Republican Thomas Vasconcelos, attacked his refusal to accept campaign contributions as "a gimmick." Connolly then launched into a comparison of his in-kind contributions and his opponents' cash donations, calling Parks' 1955 refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white passenger "a gimmick," according to BostInno.com.