Many of you are aware of the “use it or lose it” campaign started by Chris Bowers to ask democratic congressional candidates in unopposed or safe seats to reach in and give more of their campaign money to the DCCC or the DSCC. In Massachusetts, I am happy to say that many have responded — including Ed Markey.
The odd man out is Marty Meehan. Please help call his office. I think it makes him look bad for any future statewide race.
At a time when thousands of rank and file Massachusetts democrats are scraping any money they can to throw into our expanding number of congressional races around the country, Meehan, sitting on $4.8 million, and totally unopposed, is doing absolutely nothing with this appeal. Disgraceful. And something to remember. Please join me in calling Marty and telling him to act like a true democrat.
btw, my Act blue page is www.actblue.com/page/toby
From Chris Bowers at MYDD
Barney Frank, Mass. (4) MA_04 giving on hand $821,196
Martin T. Meehan, Mass. (5) MA_05 No Republican opponent 978-251-3151 202-225-3411 NOT GIVING – on hand$4,886,325
Edward J. Markey, Mass. (7) MA_07 giving on hand $2,360,862
Michael E. Capuano, Mass. (8) MA_08 giving on hand $535,536
…who demonstrated his committment to term limits by giving the Speaker of the Hosue a written, post-dated resignation to PROVE that he wouldn’t run for more than two terms?
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And then welched anyway?
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And you’re SURPRISED by his porcine behaviour?
Oh, wait — I agree with you on this one. Definitely a classic example of flagrantly breaking a campaign promise.
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Don’t vote for him.
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Let’s see if we can get his non-vote total higher than his vote total.
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Won’t happen but……would be interesting to see a blank vote or “OTHER” vote come close to 50% đŸ™‚
But according to Bowers, Ed markey raised a million dollars for the DCCC the other day and plans to follow with more from his campaign account.
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Meehan on the other hand, doesn’t think a Democratic majority is important enough to dump some of his future-Senate warchest.
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Guess which way I’m leaning should they both run to replace Kerry?
<a href="http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_4554107"Muggers.org
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Give us your money or else. That’s the threat from MoveOn.org, the ultra-liberal political blog, to U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan.
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For a week now, MoveOn.org’s political extortionists have mounted an Internet campaign against Meehan because he refuses to accede to their wishes. They want Meehan to open his $4.9 million campaign war chest to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is trying to win back the House from Republicans.
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Meehan has resisted, and rightly so.
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But what began as playful politics has escalated into a nasty MoveOn.org shakedown.
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First, the bloggers sought a $1.2 million contribution from Meehan. They called him “cheap” when he didn’t budge. Next, they ratcheted up the pressure, urging Democrats across the nation to e-mail Meehan. On Tuesday, they trotted out a Meehan supporter who has a son serving in the U.S. military in Iraq and fed the father to the press. The Lowell man implied that if Meehan didn’t help the Democratic cause, his son might not come home on schedule. Yesterday, MoveOn.org’s coordinator Adam Green sent an e-mail to Meehan’s Lowell district manager, saying if Meehan forks over $250,000 “there is still time to make this a net positive instead of a net negative for Meehan.”
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Just think, like a political Mafia, MoveOn.org is willing to settle its score with Meehan for $250,000. But it’s an offer Meehan can — and should — refuse.
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Do 5th District constituents want a congressman in office who kow-tows to irresponsible bully bloggers? What’s their next strong-arm campaign — U.S. citizenship for Guantanamo detainees?
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The attack on Meehan has exposed MoveOn.org for the cheap-shot blog artists they truly are. Most of what they spew on the Internet isn’t even credible. In Meehan’s case, the facts show he’s done his fair share for the DCCC and party candidates.
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First, the DCCC assessed Meehan $125,000 in party dues for the 2005-2006 election cycle, and the congressman paid up in full.
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Second, Meehan also raised another $240,000 for the DCCC. On the local level, Meehan has raised $25,000 for gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick and has two more fundraisers scheduled.
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Third, Meehan was the first Democrat in Congress to write a comprehensive Iraq war exit strategy for U.S troops. He doesn’t have to pay up-front money to MoveOn.org to prove his point.
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Meehan is a convenient MoveOn.org target because he has amassed the largest campaign war chest in the House and doesn’t face a November challenger. But the bloggers overlook a crucial point: Donors contributed to Meehan because they support his political beliefs. Why should their donations go to a far-flung candidate who can’t be expected to put the interests of Meehan’s donors above his own?
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If anything, MoveOn.org would be better served to go after Democrat deadbeats. Sixty-eight House Democrats have failed to pay their DCCC assessments, totaling an astonishing $8.6 million.
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Meehan supporters should be outraged by MoveOn.org’s heavy-handed tactics.
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To think that these Beltway fakers, who call themselves Democratic activists, would reach into the pockets of 5th District Democrats by attempting to embarrass a sitting congressman into submission shows just how rotten these political scoundrels have become on the campaign scene.
Sorry didn’t want to make it seem like these were my words. I must have deleted the link to the actual editorial.
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It can be found here.
that’s hilarious. Thanks for posting it.
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“irresponsible bully bloggers” — I LOVE that!
I hope the Lowell Sun realizes that MoveOn is trying to get money for the DCCC, not for itself.
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And anyhow, isn’t this what you’re supposed to do when you want your legislator to do something? Call and write them. “Don’t contact your Congressman! He knows best!” is that where the Sun is going with this, I wonder?
Eeekkkk!
The people who read MoveOn.org are no more robots than members of the AARP, NRA, NAACP, Log Cabin Republicans, whatever. The people who read MoveOn.org agree with the premise — that guys like Meehan will be far more effective with a Democratic majority. And thus, the people are calling Meehan and asking him to contribute.
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This is a well functioning representative democracy. The people call on their representative to take an action. He may, or he may not. The people then process that information, and take it to the ballot box next time ’round.
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It’s no more extortion than voting a guy out of office because he doesn’t support the party (cough… Lieberman) or because his votes on issues aren’t the way the people would like them to be, or because the people are unimpressed with the Congresscritter’s behavior around women, children, or the dinner table.
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It sure appears that Meehan is more interested in being a Senator than being an effective legislator. That appearance is why he’ll likely never have my support.
I never knew Meehan’s money was somehow the 5th Congressional District’s money. the editorial speaks as if it’s tax dollars or something – or as if having congressman with 5 million dollar warchests is a GOOD thing.
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CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY.
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No congressman or woman should have more than a million dollars on hand. If a congressman has more than a million, people shouldn’t donate to their campaigns – unless it’s a political season and they’re facing STIFF competition. Otherwise, huge warchests don’t serve anyone’s interest but the Congressman’s.
What Marty and the Lowell Sun don’t get is that the reason the democrats are hopeful today and may actually win an election cycle is because a bunch of us got off our asses after the 2004 debacle and swore that we would never again allow the party to become the playground of cynical insiders and political hacks who care about incumbancy more than any program or principle.
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Meehan doesn’t get it, and neither does the Lowell Sun. This is not a “shake down” — it is a request that Meehan join the people’s movement that is re-energizing the democratic party and taking it out of Washington.
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The same people who applaud Meehan have attacked Howard Dean for his 50 state strategy– but on Nov. 8th, that strategy may very well give us 10 additional seats — the difference between a razor thin majority and a governing majority.
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Meehan is like Lieberman in this respect– he feels entitled to his position, so demands that he do something different appear disrespectful and in his face.
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In many ways, this is the total opposite of Deval. Remember– Deval was also first embraced by grass roots democrats who saw in him a different kind of leader– one who listens; who wins, who doesn’t think the world revolves around him.
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Like I said, in my opinion, Meehan is history!!
We need to be honest… he’s not history if he just stays in the House. However, if he runs for Senate this pretty much is the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of winning netroot and grassroot support. Even his own constituents may go with guys like Barney Frank in a Senate Race over Meehan.
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There are three people I’d vote for in a Senate Race that are in the House today: Frank, Tierney and McGovern. That’s pretty much it. It would be interesting to see somoeone like Silbert jump in a race like that – if she were the only female, she’d have a better chance than she did for the Lt. Governor race… and she’s fiesty. I’m a fan. But I also love Frank and the other two…. so hard to pick! So many good candidates =p
I get his email updates about what he’s doing and I’ve agreed with almost everything he’s done. I think there’s been at most 1 or 2 votes of his I didn’t like. His explanations in his emails always make sense. And he mentions how he votes on every bill that I’ve heard about and cared about. I would support him going to the Senate.
Capuano’s record in congress has surprised people in Somerville who saw him as an enemy of progressive causes (and of progressive people). I imagine a lot of that would come up again if he tried to move up to the senate, especially considering how few years he’s been in Washington compared to the others on this list.
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Markey, Frank and Meehan and I don’t want to comment on them right now (even though Meehan is thread topic). I figure we all have opinions on people who have been in the public eye for years.
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The more I see of Mike Capuano the more I am beginning to realize that he is a real stand up guy. I am really glad he hung in there and won that congressional seat.
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He could have been passive in the primaries but he took a chance with Deval.
I don’t know much about Capuano. I’ll keep an open mind.
…about chasing young female interns after hours in bars. And no, I CAN’T give you a citation because it ran 2 – 3 years ago.
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I bet somebody else can, though, if he decides to step up in rank. He’s not my congressman, so at the time, my reaction was more…well, well!
Marty Meehan wants to be the next US Senator from Massachusetts (if John Kerry decides not to run in 2008). So do a couple of other current members of Congress. But without a free ride, like what would have happened if John Kerry had been elected two years ago, several of them won’t want to lose their current seat.
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Barney Frank said on Saint Kermit a couple of weeks ago that, if the Dems take control of Congress in this election, he will ascend to a significant committee chairmanship, which he clearly stated he won’t want to give up. To a lesser extent, the same thing might apply to Ed Markey. So, with his major congressional colleagues facing significant upgrades in their status, Meehan clearly wants to block out all other competition before they even try to raise money by making it look like a fools errand.
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It is simple to say you will remember Meehan’s decision not to give money to other Democrats, but what does that really mean? Will you give your time and money to draft another Democrat to run? If Meehan gets the Democratic nomination, would you dare vote for someone who isn’t a Democrat (I’m not saying you have to vote Republican)? If you can’t answer yes to both of these questions, then Marty Meehan has no reason to be concerned about any unhappiness generated by his decisions.
but seriously, is Meehan going to need $5million to run a senate campaign in MA? He’s a democrat for petes sake and it’s a small state.
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m.
Good point about Barney and Markey passing and leveraging their House power. But open US Senate seats don’t happen very often around here (last one was 22 years ago) and Meehan is not going to get the treatment Martha got this year. Caupano and Lynch may jump-in, maybe Tierny or McGovern? Tim Cahill can now raise big money and would not be gambling his seat. And howabout Martha, she was all set to run if Kerry lost? While I hope he doesn’t, what about Deval? Never mind a wild card like Ben Affleck.
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Nope, I think the folks who will be looking for payback with Marty will have plenty of primary choices to pick from.
Meehan still has a $5 million edge over all of these folks. You may be right, but are the other, less well-funded congressmen going to risk their seats when they are well behind in fundraising, even if folks are complaining about Meehan? Cahill and Coakley would be interesting wild cards, though.
Hello Meehan:
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I strongly suggest YOU open YOUR wallet or YOU might just see the biggest SURPRISE at YOUR dinner table.
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200 Mothers for dinner!
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Most Sincerely,
Concerned Mother
Mother of US Special Forces Soldier
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Not a member of MOVEON Blah………put believe in moving the Democrats back into office NOW!
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Did you want re – elected next election in the state of MA?
It might as well have been written by Jeff Jacoby – (why the globe even runs his op/ed’s I’ll never know)
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Tomorrow’s fish wrapping.