OK, this sounds more like it … [press release, no link]
Medford, MA – Rep. Ed Markey (D-Malden) today announced that powerhouse leader Sarah Benzing will be managing his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Benzing managed the winning 2012 Sherrod Brown for Senate campaign in the tough battleground state of Ohio. She joins Elizabeth Warren for Senate campaign finance veterans Colleen Coffey and Michael Pratt on the Markey campaign.
“Sarah is the best choice to lead this campaign of big issues and ideas,” said Rep. Markey. “Her proven track-record managing grassroots campaigns shows she has the leadership, know-how and passion to lead this campaign to victory. I am excited to have Sarah join us as campaign manager.”
Now, you can’t argue with results; Sherrod Brown (a fine progressive) won his race easily, though against a GOP candidate widely regarded as not the sharpest tool in the shed. But Ohio is indeed a tough, competitive state, and one would at least figure this shows that Markey is preparing for a competitive race here.
Here’s a 2009 fluffy profile in The Hill of Benzing. Cute.
There was a write-up about Coffey and Pratt in the Globe this morning. Obviously they were part of the operation that raised a lot of money, though I would chalk most of that up to Warren’s nationwide profile.
Still, this is something. What is still missing from the picture is a field structure and significant outreach to grassroots, which is what made the Patrick and Warren campaigns so powerful — and what made the candidates resilient to the inevitable dings and dents of a tough campaign.
Bob Neer says
The Tea Party has Fox and lots of money, but their ground strength is thin in MA because they are so extremist, dysfunctional, and irrational. That’s why Brown had to rely on supporters from Virginia and even farther south — “I drove 10 hours to strike a blow against Barack Obama!”, etc. — to beat Coakley. We the People is the power that will send Professor of Ethnology “As you can see, she’s not” Brown down in defeat twice in a year. I really would love for a reporter to ask the former junior Senator to deliver an assessment of Rep. Markey’s racial and ethnographic background, based on his appearance, for the record.
annewhitefield says
Why am I imagining a basketball challenge from Brown to Markey? Who’s taller?
David says
that Sarah Benzing sounds like a good hire. So, that’s encouraging. Looking forward to hearing about the plans for a first-rate field operation…
lynne says
a netroots plan.