In response to all the flak that Congressman Meehan has been taking lately for not dishing out enough money, I feel compelled to point out the following:
1) Meehan has contributed $125,000 from his own warchest to the DCCC, and raised an additional $240,000.
2) Many members of Congress (68 Democrats in the House, to be precise) have done far less than that, so why are you all spending so much time picking on Meehan? Because he has such a large warchest? Let’s face it, he is running for Senate, and that’s not cheap. It is understandable that he hold onto a lot of money for his own race. He will have a lot of competition, and running for the United States Senate is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I would do the same as he is. Besides, the people who contributed to him were contributing to HIM, not the DCCC.
Furthermore, Meehan is doing plenty to help everyone’s favorite gubernatorial candidate. For example, tomorrow he is hosting three events for Patrick in his district. And I’m sure that Deval Patrick would be encouraging everyone on BMG to focus on unity rather than attacking other democrats for not doing enough, when in fact they are doing plenty.
I would also like to point out that in this post from earlier today, the voting options left something to be desired. Here’s my vote: I’ll remember that he gave plenty, that he could have given more, and that I don’t really care, because he is under no obligation to give away millions of his own dollars just because a hand full of bloggers want him to.
as to #1, those are dues. Good for him for paying up, and shame on those who didn’t (your #2 point). But this is about going beyond the dues. Doesn’t he think it’s sufficiently important that Dems retake the House that he’s willing to go beyond?
<
p>
Plus, come on. Markey and Frank, to name just two obvious contenders, are probably running for Senate too; they’ve got less cash on hand than Meehan; yet they’re participating. Does Marty Meehan really think he’s the only acceptable choice for Senate, to the point that he’s not going to do what he can to help the Dems retake the House? Such vanity is unbecoming…
Yes, why oh why would would BlueMassGroup focus their energies on the Massachusetts delegation? Is that a serious question?
<
p>
Sure, Meehan is probably running for Senate, but Markey probably is too, and Ed has ponied up his 30%. Will there be a credible Republican running for that Senate seat? No. The race will be in the Democratic primary. Meehan vs Markey . . . and guess who has my vote.
…BMG only gets a couple of thousand readers a day…and who are they? Nobody important–mostly from Massachusetts, mostly activist who do the heavy lefting for campaigns like phone calling and we’re nearly all Democrats. Except in 2 more years, there will be about 5,000 regualar readers at BMG.
<
p>
Reminds me of the line in Spinal Tap…”Boston’s not a big collge town.”
Look, I have a soft spot for Marty Meehan. He called bullshit on Bush’s pathetic claims that Air Force One was targeted by terrorists – in September, 2001, probably making him the first publicly elected official to point out that Bush was either confused or a liar. I won’t forget that, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s inoculated him against some of the dumb things he’s done (Wikipedia and term limits, to name a couple).
<
p>
But let’s be clear. He’s not running for the Senate. He’s in an unopposed Congressional race. If he thinks money is more important than good will, that’s his prerogative. If he thinks he doesn’t need to go above and beyond right now, when it can make a difference, then that’s his call.
<
p>
But I’m damn sure going to remember that when he does run against Kerry, or Frank, or somebody else who stepped up to the plate right now. Right now, when it makes a difference.
Not to mention…Deval Patrick.
Meehan has got more money than Lynch by a factor of, what, ten? And Lynch actually has a major party challenger on the ballot this cycle. Meehan will be alone on the ballot. He’s saving the money for 2008, which he’s entitled to do, but we’re also entitled to disagree.
<
p>
As for Deval Patrick, despite what the polls might say, he actually has a competitive race this very year. Not only that, but his funds are state-level funds and cannot be transfered to federal candidates without being restricted by campaign finance law.
<
p>
Meehan’s warchest, on the other hand, can be transfered in unlimited amounts to the DNC or DCCC. That’s the campaign finance loophole. He’s an obvious target because he’s the House member out of all 435 with the most money and fewest challengers (that is, none).
I’m not saying Patrick should transfer funds, I’m just saying that he’s a contender for an open Senate seat, and reason for Meehan to want to hold onto as much cash as possible. Lynch may have a major party challenger, but no real threat.
<
p>
I do hope that Lynch’s seat opens up, though. I’d like to see Rep. Marty Walsh get a crack at Congress. Nobody would fight harder for organized labor in this country.
If Deval Patrick is a contender for a Senate seat in 2008 (assuming Kerry retires), one way or another, I’m going to be upset about it. If Meehan is worried about saving his money until 2012 (when Kennedy’s is up again), well, I think he can probably restock his campaign fund in six years, no matter how much he donates to the DCCC.