We’ve been calling for it. And we seem to be getting it. We’ve said that Rep. Neal needs a primary challenger, and Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke seems to be stepping up. Springfield Republican’s Jim Kinney reports:
“I’ve been meeting with supporters and potential supporters from around the district,” Morse, 30, said Monday. “I’ve been very encouraged by what I’ve heard.”
Morse would not reveal when he expects to make an announcement, nor would he commit to running. But he talked like a candidate who had passed a point of no return.
“I think this country is at an inflection point,” Morse said. “One where we need strong leadership out of Washington to move communities like Holyoke forward.”
I don’t know much about Morse, and certainly very little about how he feels about national issues.
We’ve called for a challenge to Neal based on a number of factors:
- His sluggish response to the thoroughgoing corruption of the Trump administration. We should have Trump’s tax returns by now, and that’s Neal’s job.
- His courting of special interests with lavish fundraising events;
- Relatedly, his privileging of a sketchy corporate agenda even above basic government oversight;
- And his tepid non-opposition to a Green New Deal — he had to be pressured into even that — when a Ways and Means chair really needs to be all-in. (Elizabeth Warren is right: Global warming is indeed a case of public corruption.)
We’ve contemplated some other names, like former State Senator Benjamin Downing, and current Senator Eric Lesser; there are doubtless other people considering it privately.
In any event, there’s no more surefire way to light a fire under someone than a primary. Game on.
doubleman says
I like it. Everyone should get challenged, and there’s more than a few MA Reps I’d like to see replaced with progressives (seniority be damned if you aren’t going to use it for good). Neal is up there, Keating certainly, and Moulton and Lynch as well. On Lynch in particular, although he is not my favorite, I think he has gotten better since being challenged. Maybe it was the challenge, maybe it was a change of heart, or maybe he just more aptly read the room.
One other note on primary challenges – Ayanna Pressley is showing that she is a verrrry different type of Rep than Capuano was (and I liked him!). All the votes cast would likely be the same but there is still a huge difference.
Her strength under the current attacks is remarkable, as are the 3 other amazing new Representatives. I wish more Democrats, especially the Democratic leadership would stand with them.
Christopher says
I don’t agree with “everyone should be challenged” just cuz. If someone is falling down on the job, is corrupt, or is a DINO that’s one thing, but I’d rather leave good officials alone and put our resources elsewhere.
doubleman says
What side of that line does Neal fall on for you?
I think we should always want the best representatives in office. We don’t have anything close to that now.
I don’t want a repeat of 2009/10 when we had the WH and both houses and got one major piece of legislation. With better Reps we could have made the generational change we should have and that we needed to.
Christopher says
Honestly, Neal may be the MA Congressman about whom I know the least. I don’t think he’s a DINO. I do wish he were a bit more aggressive on the tax returns, but that’s a leadership function rather than a representation function. Obviously primarying should always be a legal option, but I tend to give Dem incumbents a fair amount of leeway.
jconway says
I think he’s also been more centrist than Massachusetts on scores of issues from choice to regulating corporations. His last competitor was a no name who got nearly 40% of the vote. With mostly pork projects eliminated, there’s far less “bacon” to bring home. Seniority is only really a virtue if your using it for something.