On today’s NYT op-ed page, Gail Collins gives her whimsical take on the Mass. 5th (reg. req’d).
This primary — an almost sure ticket to a safe Congressional seat — is going to be held on the day after Labor Day. There is an old saying that the only people who show up for special elections are the kind of compulsive voters who would turn out in a hurricane. For this one, they’re going to be down to the folks who would go to the polls even if God scheduled the Rapture….
Nobody here needs to be jealous of the attention voters get in Iowa and New Hampshire. If you were a resident of Lowell or Lawrence and expressed a willingness to show up and vote on the day after Labor Day, you could get any one of five Democrats to volunteer to drive you to the polls, bring you back home, cook your breakfast and tutor your oldest child for the S.A.T.’s.
Pretty good lines. And she’s got a few more:
The election date is due to timetables the Democrats set up in 2004, when they were looking forward to the triumph of a president-elect from Massachusetts and trying to make sure Mitt Romney would not win the newly opened Senate seat. To summarize: Like most undesirable political developments, this can be blamed on John Kerry.
Heh. The only candidates mentioned by name are Niki Tsongas and Eileen Donoghue, and the column focuses on the experience vs. name-recognition question.
Either woman would undoubtedly do fine in Congress. (Vote on the day after Labor Day! The stakes are low!) But you can understand Donoghue’s frustration. Paul Tsongas recruited her to run for the Lowell City Council. She has put in nearly 12 years, four as mayor, and Lowell is looking pretty good, its downtown speckled with art galleries and coffee shops that lend the former mill town a fragile panache. Now, she’s running against someone who wants to revert to the old tradition in which the only women who ever got to go to Congress were the widows of former incumbents.
Unfair? Well, it’s tough to argue seriously that Niki Tsongas would have been holding the lead she’s had all along if she had a different last name. That’s a peculiar commentary on our political sytem.
It would also be tough to argue seriously that because she has a famous last name she is a less viable/less qualified candidate. She has a resume that is as impressive as any of the other candidates, just one that doesn’t contain elected experience. She is also on the right side of a lot of the most important issues, Iraq especially.
<
p>
Name recognition is a major asset in politics and one that I would imagine is factored in when someone runs for something. But you could make the same argument for personal wealth. Would Donoghue be breaking away from the pack if she hadn’t spent almost half a million dollars of her own money, most of it on TV commercials? Probably not, that doesn’t mean she is any less viable of a candidate.
<
p>
The only way to trump both of those things is with grass-roots campaigning, the kind of thing that Deval did successfully and that does not seem to be working for Eldridge. Probably the short time frame of this election is making the kind of massive voter IDing required impossible.
Dick Howe, Lynne, Mike and I were talking a bit about this on on our last LeftAhead podcast; the name-recognition thing only gets you so far. Tsongas hasn’t done much, in my opinion, in terms of explaining her positions. I think she’s been intentionally vague so as not to alienate voters. They trusted her name up front and she’s said nothing that scared them – so, in terms of being a candidate, she’s done a lot to keep herself in play. You have to give her kudos for being a smart politician, even if she’s still a vague one.
<
p>
People know – and don’t care to know more – that she’s for Universal Health Care and against Iraq. That’s all they’ve heard and they trust her – like Connecticut voters trusted Joe Lieberman in the General (I bet they wish they could take their votes back). The details of her health care and Iraq plans aren’t, well, very detailed… and she’s not going to push them into public debate as much as others (ie Eldridge) would want, because that would only serve to weaken her candidacy: she doesn’t have the strongest positions in both those fronts. Everyone here probably knows she’s worked on the Board of Fallon Health Care and thinks the private system is just swell to keep down costs (and is against single-payer), but I bet most don’t know that at the Iraq forum she said she wouldn’t vote against funding because of the troops. Meaning, she’d join the ranks of a sad majority of Dems on the hill who are continuing to give a blank check.
<
p>
So, she’s “against the war” in terms of flashy slogans, but isn’t willing to make the tough decisions that will actually bring this country out of Iraq before we get a Democrat in the Oval Office. But, since she’s been a smart politician, only political geeks like me would know that – which is why she’s in such a good position.
I’m not sure how it’s a particular commentary on our system:
<
p>
<
ul>
<
p>
<
p>
<
p>
<
p>
<
p>
<
p>
Ours is not the only system that seems to delight in relatives of famous and successful people. It seems to be a human condition.
<
p>
In Argentina, the current president looks to be succeeded directly as head of the party (and head of the country) by his wife
<
p>
Recall James Rhodes, Governor of Ohio during the Kent State U shooting. He was term-limited out after two terms. After which he got his wife elected governor. And after she sat for one term, he ran for two more terms. Why could he do that? Because the Ohio state constitution basically said that a governor could not server for more that two consecutive terms, but it did not forbid someone from serving for more than two non-consecutive terms.
Jim Rhodes was married to John Gilligan? I never knew that…
…and I’m getting a little tired of your snarky attitude toward Niki Tsongas. She deserves better than that from you.
<
p>
Tsongas has an impressive resume, even without the last name. She is a good, progressive Democrat, and yet, you and the editors of this blog continue to put her down.
<
p>
She is a Smith College graduate, she has a law degree from Boston University, she started Lowell’s first all-female law practice, and she is a Dean at Middlesex Community College. Not to mention the connections and the experience she gained as the spouse of a United States Congressman, a United States Senator and a serious Presidential Candidate. Her life experiences would make her a great member of Congress.
<
p>
Why is a Lowell City Councilor or a State Representative more qualified to be elected as a member of Congress?
<
p>
There are a lot of good candidates for the 5th Congressional seat. I am hopeful that the Democrats will hold the seat, be it Tsongas or someone else. I don’t have a problem with any of the candidates except for Miceli, who is a conservative, and Donoghue, who supports Romney Republicans when it is convenient. Eldridge and Finegold are both great candidates…but so is Tsongas.
<
p>
That being said, I am tired of these continuous swipes at a very good candidate (Tsongas) and a very good Democrat. She may not be your favorite candidate, but she doesn’t deserve the treatment she has been getting from you and Charley.
<
p>
Did I say she was unqualified? Not at all — in fact, I said not one word about her qualifications (Gail Collins may have, but she’s the one writing in the NYT). What I said — and I stand by this — is that she would not have been holding the lead she has been holding all along were it not for her name. Can you seriously deny that? If it weren’t for her name, she’d have been starting as a virtual unknown to most of the voters in the district, despite her qualifications, whereas Donoghue would be known to many in Lowell, and Eldridge, Finegold, and Miceli at least to the voters in their respective state rep districts. Read the post before flying off the handle.
I was complaining about your attitude toward Tsongas and the frequent digs at her by you and your fellow editors on this site. No where did I accuse you of saying that she was unqualified…
<
p>
My point is that I am tired of those on this site, including you and Charley, who find the need to take swipes at a good, qualified, progressive Democrat. Support whomever you choose in the 5th…just stop swiping at other good candidates.
from my point of view, tsongas is a disastrously non-responsive player. why do i say this? she would come to bmg, drop press release-like diaries written in the 3rd person, then on top of it all never bother to follow up with discussion. if she gets elected, is this the sort of (non)responsiveness her constituents can look forward to? even finegold or his staff took the time to come back with responses, albeit often illogical and vacant (see H fuel cell comments), to questions raised on his posts. eldridge was an excellent and thinking correspondent here on bmg. but tsongas? she was always just happy!!! and excited!!! in her posts…and utterly non-responsive. obviously this was a major turn-off for the likes of me.
I'm really more interested in a Congressional candidate's take on bringing the troops home from Iraq, equality and civil rights for all citizens, health care for all, etc., than I am in how he or she responds to a handful of posters on a blog.
I have seen numerous debates and position papers and candidates answering questions during this 5th district race. These are more important to me than how some staffer defines a candidate's position on a blog.
I guess we have different priorities in deciding how to select who we vote for.
but it has nothing to do with the fact that pols who post diaries are asking a time/attention investment from the blog participants. it is just plain bad manners to ask for readers’ time on in interactive forum and not follow-through. it indicates a “something for nothing” attempt, and/or a real lack of understanding about the community they are addressing. how do you know there is sincerity behind your candidate’s positions on the issues if they can’t even maintain the simplest of conversations they themselves initiated? sure, this is just one minute piece of the puzzle. but it is a piece nonetheless, and one that tsongas configured herself.
I just don't look at pols posting blog diaries, which are likely written by their staffers, as a deciding factor in who to vote for. As you say, it is just one minute piece of the puzzle…and for me, there are far more important pieces to consider.
Sorry if you took my comment as a slam…it wasn't my intention. Actually, I think you are one of the best posters on this site, and I find myself agreeing with you 95% of the time….just not on this issue.
Experience is a legit issue to review, debate and eve have some fun with. As I have said before, expect the Republicans ro be far tougher on Niki than the Democrats in the primary (if she win, that is).
I haven't noticed that taking swipes at good progressive candidates is off limits here. Anthony Galluccio, another progressive with a voting record, has had more then his fair shre of swipes. Comes with the job.
to take my swipes at the multitude of Republicans, conservatives and lousy Democrats out there…not the good guys/gals.