I gave Ed Markey a lot of crap this year for aggressive fundraising when, it seemed to me (and the election results bore this out), he was never in any serious danger of losing his seat. One of my criticisms was that I wished he had spent more time fundraising for people who really were in tough battles, instead of for himself.
So credit where credit is due: I’m very glad to see him pitching in to help raise money for Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who (since nobody got >50% as is required in Lousiana) is facing a runoff election to keep her Senate seat. Other Senators are on the bandwagon as well: just today I’ve gotten emails from Senators Tom Udall, Al Franken, Joe Donnelly, Sherrod Brown, and Ron Wyden, in addition to Markey, asking for contributions to Landrieu’s runoff effort.
It of course remains to be seen how hard Landrieu’s fellow Democrats actually work to keep her in office. Fundraising emails are nice, but cheap; in contrast, the DSCC apparently cancelled a bunch of reservations for TV ads, though they didn’t actually say they were “bailing” on the race (in contrast to the flashy Politico headline). Here’s hoping we see lots of follow-through on this one.
By the way, if you would like to help out, you can do so at this link!
JimC says
I joined you in whacking him, and I will join you in praising him.
hoyapaul says
since I like Landrieu and hardly begrudge a Democrat helping out another Democrat in need.
But if we’re going to criticize Markey for aggressive fundraising because it is a waste of money better spent elsewhere, doesn’t the same apply to the Louisiana runoff? Based upon the runoff results, Landrieu has virtually no chance of winning — probably the same or less as Markey had of losing. If the Senate majority was at stake, obviously that’s different. But it’s not in this case.
Wouldn’t the money be better spent building up resources for 2016?
JimC says
I might agree if it were “virtually no chance.”
But she has at least a puncher’s chance. I think this is a fight worth fighting.