Do I need to worry about this? Richard Tisei’s got $256,000 in the bank for running against John Tierney, who has $441,000. Tisei’s moderate; Tierney is weakened and relatively low-profile in any event.
Does Tisei have a chance? If he’s going to have a chance, he need to answer these two simple questions:
- Will you vote for John Boehner for Speaker? Eric Cantor for Majority Leader?
- If not them, then who?
If he can’t credibly answer those questions, then the district really ought to be yellow-dog Democrat. I’d love to hear that Tierney is better than a yellow dog, but I wonder.
Someone tell me something good.
Please share widely!
Christopher says
There are a fair number of Republicans in the county state legislative delegation. Even assuming he votes for Boehner and Cantor, which I do assume, he has a shot. It wasn’t that long ago that Peter Torkeldson represented the district, who I believe voted for Newt Gingrich to be Speaker.
jconway says
I would add Torkildsen served exactly two terms and was defeated by John Tierney who successfully tied him to Newt Gingrich. He also flip-flopped on abortion while in office which might have alienated some of the conservative Catholics who were motivated to support him, and his first race was against a Congressman directly tainted by scandal.
That said what Tisei has is statewide name recognition and a statewide fundraising network, alongside a record as a moderate and independent thinking Republican. It would be interesting and I would think fair game to force him to defend the leaders in his party who have made it the anti-gay party versus his own opinions on the issues. Another fair question is how he would vote differently than Tierney on several issues, this is probably the most liberal Republican to run in any district in quite sometime.
mandeville says
It is not clear to me why you characterize Tierney as a “yellow dog democrat.” Speaking as a very progressive activist on the North Shore, Tierney has been a reliable ally. He is responsive, readily accessible and votes consistently with the progressive block in Congress. CQ’s Politics in America describes him as “an unwavering liberal.” We would view his loss as a significant blow to a progressive agenda and intend on investing in an all-out effort to see him re-elected.
The main reason he is somewhat vulnerable results from his wife pleading guilty to tax fraud. It is important to note that the fraud did not consist of non-payment of taxes; it consisted of “willful ignorance” of the source of her brother’s income. The U.S. Attorney claimed that Patrice Tierney mischaracterized her brother’s profits as commissions. She thought the source of his income was as a consultant to the gambling industry and not as the owner of an off-shore gambling company. In a very tough and open session Tierney recently met with local Democrats and fully explained and convincingly answered all our questions. He had no role in the reporting of his wife’s brother’s taxes.
In the 2010 election Tierney played a critical role in assuring that Governor Patrick won the North Shore and he played a similar role in assuring Barack Obama’s victory in 2008. Yes…there are a lot of Republicans in these parts and the redistricting added some potentially Republican votes to the District. But Tisei is beatable and the effort to do so is worthy of the support of progressives all over Massachusetts. We should not lose an important ally in Congress.
MassMinister says
Are you confusing “Yellow-dog” with “blue-dog?” Blue-dog Democrats are the more conservative ones, the yellow-dogs are the ones who would “vote for a yellow-dog” before a Republican.
hlpeary says
You wrote: “In the 2010 election Tierney played a critical role in assuring that Governor Patrick won the North Shore…” Actually the truth is visa-versa…local Democrats working to elect Patrick-Murray ticket also pitched in to save Tierney. Although Hudak was a whacky opponent, Tierney (who lacked a field organization) needed and got a huge boost from local Democratic elected officials and their organizations to save the seat. This time will require the same effort but will be harder because Tisei is no Hudak and will be a much tougher opponent.
john-e-walsh says
The 2010 Coordinated GOTV effort in John Tierney’s district was managed by his campaign in cooperation with the Mass Democratic Party and other Democratic campaigns on the North Shore.
In fact, the very FIRST discussion about the potential for a statewide Coordinated GOTV plan was a meeting in Lynn between me and representatives of the campaigns of John Tierney and the Patrick/Murray ticket. It is not an exaggeration to say the IDEA for the statewide 2010 Coordinated GOTV effort began with John Tierney’s campaign in a pivotal role.
More important in analyzing the effectiveness of a coordinated campaign effort is it works best when campaigns up and down the ticket work together. On that score, John Tierney is a rock star. His work ethic is unmatched and his reputation with the best Democratic organizers on the North Shore is stellar.
This November, with so many important races on the ballot, the REAL question confronting voters will be “What kind of country do you want to live in?” To answer that question, voters in this district will have a clear choice between re-electing John Tierney who will continue fight for the values we all believe in or sending the Tea Party Republicans in Washington reinforcements in the person of Richard Tisei (who accomplished exactly what in his decades on Beacon Hill, btw?).
I am confident that, in what will be a hard-fought election in Massachusetts this year, John Tierney, his record, his energy and the experienced, effective coordinated efforts of his supporters will be an asset to Democrats up and down the ballot.
John Walsh, Chair
Massachusetts Democratic Party
mandeville says
My mistake.
edc says
actually I’ll tell you several things based on what I’ve observed as chair of a North Shore/Merrimack Valley Democratic Committee
1) Tierney will wage a very vigorous campaign
2) He has been responsive to constituent needs regarding local and National issues
3) Contrary to what the Hudak crowd liked to say back in 2009 and 2010, he has been very accessible in Town Hall style events and local events. And contrary to the lack of common sense that led Hudak to promote himself inappropriately at a Memorial Day commemoration event, Tierney does so with dignity and respect.
4) He will be effective in explaining his wife tax issues and blunt any potential impact to his campaign.
Should be a fun campaign! I’ll miss Hudak.
merrimackguy says
What does that make the rest of the MA COngressional crew, many of whom are generally considered “better” (subjective I know) than Tierney.
Superstars?
Megastars?
Popes?
Gods?
and then that calls into question where the rest of the Dems in Congress from other states rank. All below the MA delegation?
Clearly this is a Lake Wobegon “where all the children are above average”
PS Apparently the Re-districting committee didn’t feel Tierney was so hot when they turned down his requests to have Haverhill and/or Lawrence added to his district.
jconway says
He is an old school pol who has never missed a wake and a solid progressive who took a lot of low profile issues regarding human rights and US foreign policy and made some waves with them. Also there is something to be said for a Congressman who makes it his job to be a good Congressman and isn’t always jockeying for higher office. These ethics issues are suspect and I am not quite convinced that the distance is true, and that is his biggest vulnerability. And while I do think it would be good for the GOP if the Rockefeller Republicans were revived, and Tisei would be a solid progressive on a host of issues, he would still be a vote for Boehner and the Tea Party for House Leadership and would hurt the Presidents agenda. Its good it will be a fight though.
writtenwithoutwax says
I am resident of John Tierney’s district. I am very proud to have him as my Rep, and I’m working hard to ensure he is re-elected…for many reasons.
He has worked to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
On environmental/agricultural issues…
He shares our views on making sure that the EPA is fully funded. He cosponsored a bill to ensure that our drinking water is not poisoned by hydraulic fracturing. He shares our views on the Keystone XL Pipeline. He cosponsored a bill to protect local farms and local food and a bill to end the overuse of animal antibiotics.
On taxes…
He shares our views on tax fairness, voted to end oil subsidies, and sponsored a comprehensive tax reform bill to end certain oil, coal, and agribusiness subsidies, modify accounting rules, and reform corporate taxes.
On education…
He shares our views on making education affordable and accessible. He worked in committee to create income-based repayment options, reduce student loan interest rates, to increase loan forgiveness programs, to increase Pell grants, and to make education tax deductible.
On privacy and civil liberties…
He shares our views on civil rights. He has voted to preserve the privacy and liberties of all Americans throughout the War on Terror, voting against the Patriot Act and its reauthorization. He has consistently advocated for the protection of our privacy.
On recent issues…
He shares our views on consumer protection, and helped introduce us to Elizabeth Warren by interviewing her while she was still creating the CFPB. And he opposes SOPA/PIPA.
John Tierney has represented our views diligently and consistently in Washington. John Tierney is our voice in the House of Representatives.
merrimackguy says
Well certainly the views of BMG.
This sets up the debate about whether a Congressman only needs to represent the interests of the most motivated parts of his 50% + 1 or whether a more balanced approach might truely “represent” the district.
As jconway points out above the existence of a Rockefeller wing in the GOP would probably have some appeal, just as the return of the blue dog democrat would as well. Some might remember Bill Clinton came from the moderate DLC wing of the party, and was considered to be more well placed than his rivals. Paul Tsongas was considered centerist as well.
Instead most Dems end up like Tierney and very liberal, and most Republicans end up very conservative (or gone, like in most of New England).
mandeville says
Clinton – isn’t he the fella that signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law? You know, the Act that repealed important segments of Glass-Seagall. Tierney voted against it. Why in the world would we want to replace someone who represents the interests of 99% of his constituents with someone who represents the interests of 1% of them regardless of what party they are in?
merrimackguy says
It’s just been the case in MA that representing the middle hasn’t been necessary. Like I said just motivate the active part of your 50% and you’re in. Tisei might change that equation for Tierney however.