Well, it wasn’t Marty, but it might as well have been:
BOSTON – U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan said he could not endorse any candidate in the race to succeed him in Congress because of his pending move to academia, but his wife did the next best thing on Wednesday, announcing her support for Niki Tsongas.
Ellen Murphy Meehan, a health care consultant and native of Lawrence, said she was backing the widow of Sen. Paul Tsongas because “she has a keen sense of the district and a passion for the issues that I believe in.”
OK, let’s get some opinions on this: on a scale of 1-9, how much does this help Tsongas? 1 would be “Tsongas is now the shoo-in”, 9 would be “destroys her candidacy”. Take the poll.
Please share widely!
You know, I don’t think this endorsement will mean very much. It is coming from Rep. Meehan’s wife, which holds no weight with most district voters in my view. Even if Marty came out and endorsed Niki himself, I still think it would do little to guide her to the victory. One thing I learned early on in politics is that it is very difficult for a retiring incumbent to hand off his/her seat to someone else unless that person shares their name.
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If anything, I think Ms. Meehan’s endorsement symbolizes exactly what is wrong with Niki’s candidacy. I have been incredibly unimpressed with her, and I view her campaign so far as the beginning of a five-month-long victory lap. I think because she offers so little in the way of substance, she is banking on Senator Tsongas’ last name, piling up the endorsements of establishment people and gushing Globe articles, and hoping she can hold onto the 25-30% she has now until primary day arrives.
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In fair disclosure, I am strongly supporting Jamie Eldridge and I intend on volunteering for his campaign when time allows. Additionally, let me say this is my first post to BMG. I think BMG has a great community, and I am glad to be a part of it.
Increasingly, I see the value of endorsements not in terms of voters saying “huh, I like him, and he likes her, so I like her.” Rather, they seem to be useful in terms of the endorsee receiving any institutional strength of the endorsing candidate.
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Does Tsongas get access to Meehan’s voter lists, organizers, maps, and other goodies like that? How significant, if at all, is any type of Meehan machine?
endorsements are usually worth a whole lot. In the end people decide for themselves who to vote for. I suppose it doesn’t hurt, but I don;t see how having the outgoing Congressman’s wife will really make a big difference. However, it’s not going to be easy for any of the candidates to beat Tsongas.
It’s not some newspaper or police chief… it’s the popular congressman who’s seat is about to be replaced. Is it a make it or break it? No, but it will count more than just a newspaper. Plus, it’ll line up any institutional support that wasn’t already obviously in her camp anyway, because now people who weren’t wanting to support her are going to have to seemingly go against Meehan and Tsongas, not just Tsongas, and I’m sure his name will count for a lot in the Lowell area for a long time coming in terms of the political scene. A former congressman, current UMASS Chancellor is a very powerful figure.
The only thing popular about meehan is his 5 million dollar campaign account. It’s what’s kept him elected over the past four cycles. heh, popular. ROFLMAO
This further proves it. Eileen Donoghue is the Dem establishment’s choice in Lowell and Mahty’s support to Ms. Tsongas further shows that he is not in with that establishment.
In a few years, when Marty decides to leave UML to run for Senate, many of us in Lowell will not forget this latest move.
Is Eileen related to the Lowell Donoghue family. Attorneys, Nike, Kennedy, Halifax?
those guys. Is she related to theM?
She is originally from Holyoke. Not the same family.