More free entertainment for 2008!
Republican Jim Ogonowski, who narrowly lost a congressional race to Niki Tsongas in October, is preparing to challenge U.S. Sen. John Kerry, The Associated Press has learned….
Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president four years ago, hasn’t faced a serious challenger since he fought off former Republican Gov. William Weld in 1996. The state GOP had no candidate against Kerry in 2002…. Emboldened by the results of his first run for office, the Dracut farmer said Kerry is not out of his league.
“We started a movement,” the retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel said. “After my campaign ended, I’ve been very active throughout the state. I want to continue my public service.”
But wait — there’s more! If you act now, we’ll throw in a Battle Of The Consultants, absolutely free!
Tobe Berkowitz, interim dean of Boston University’s college of communications, said Ogonowski’s chances of unseating Kerry are “slim to slimmer.”
He said Kerry will benefit from high turnout for the presidential election.
“Turnout will be huge. It’s going to be a walk for him. I don’t see this as much of a workout for Kerry,” said Berkowitz, who has worked for Democrats.
Ogonowski “did better than expected” against Tsongas, Berkowitz said, but Kerry’s stock is “at a pretty good level with the voters of the Commonwealth.”
Republican consultant Charley Manning disagreed, saying Kerry’s record of delivering for the state is remarkably thin because he’s been more interested in national and international issues.
“I think people are kind of tired of John Kerry being our senator and I think he’s ripe for the picking,” Manning said.
Manning said Ogonowski’s “regular guy appeal” is a major contrast to the patrician Kerry. That, combined with the electorate’s general desire for change in Washington, could boost Ogonowski.
“It might be the right time and the right place,” Manning said.
Here’s a few words of advice for Jim Ogonowski, if he doesn’t want to embarrass himself. First, give up your recently-discovered obsession with illegal immigration. You couldn’t win a special election in the conservative 5th District by making that issue your centerpiece; you certainly can’t win a regular election statewide on it. And, as the implosion of the Tancredo and Romney campaigns (along with the recent success of John McCain) suggests, even among Republicans that issue generates a lot more heat than votes. Second, don’t let Jim Idon’tknowski show up this time. You lost a lot of credibility (and, I’d wager, a lot of votes) over your absurd refusal to declare which way you’d vote on President Bush’s SCHIP veto. If you’re casting yourself as a pol who will level with your constituents, the least you can do is tell them how you’ll vote on important issues.
Oh, and one more thing: this time, don’t kick us out of the debates! đŸ˜€
Immigration seems to be #1 issue on the MA GOP Website.
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p>Low appetite on GOP side for a Weld “social liberal/moderate, fiscal conservative” campaign. Gerry Callahan remains face of MA R’s for now.
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p>Ogo won’t take your advice…unless, perhaps, you throw in a SET OF FIVE STEAK KNIVES, ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Despite EaBo’s claim that Kerry and Ogo are sound alot alike, Ogo is a world away from “social liberal/moderate, fiscal conservative.”
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p>For a guy who did a lot of mumbling about being non-partisan, he has close to boilerplate GOP positions across the board, especially on social issues. He favors a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, is against gay marriage, is “pro-family”, etc., etc. Add in his “I’m more anti-illegal immigrant than anyone in the world” message and this independent is left going “ick.”
Ogo and John Kerry sound a lot alike. I said Ogo and McCain sound a lot alike. Please re-read the link you put up.
I don’t think he’s that close to McCain, either, but not really the point.
I really don’t want to listen to Ogo spin and propaganda all summer/fall. I also don’t want to listen to the pro-Ogo sanctimony and manufactured outrage that Ogo supporters will spout at every perceived Kerry transgression. I could not wait for the incessant MA-05 race to end.
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p>Now it looks like additional months of existential blogosphere torture. “There’s no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS – OGO’S PEOPLE!” lol. How much can we at BMG donate to the Ogo campaign to keep his name off of this site?
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p>It’d be much more fun if they imported Alan Keyes to run like they did against Obama. Now that would be a treat.
Even worse, we’re going to need to listen to John Kerry for months now too. Oh the humanity.
He came close enough against Tsongas that he should have run against her again and again and again until he wins. I could even see next years race going better for him than last time around. He could make the argument that she’s yet another MA-Democratic voice that hasn’t been able to make the difference on Iraq or Health Care or whatever other issues that actually matter to the people of his district. (A totally stupid argument, given that she’s in her first term, but one that might have some traction.) Instead, he’s running a campaign against an entrenched state-wide politician, making a fool of himself in the process. This is a dream come true for the Democrats.
If this holds true, Niki Tsongas catches a huge break — 2008 is the last, best chance to dislodge her, since it’d be her first general election.
Maybe we should encourage him to run for President, then.
Im sick and tired of John Kerry being my senator and I am sick and tired of the dumb ass version of the GOP that we have had to endure since the Ford years ended.
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p>The sensible, moderate, Eisenhower-Rockefeller wing of the party has a voice that is sorely needed to be heard but unfortunately has been drowned out by the extremism of the parties conservative positions on a lot of issues.
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p>If a sensible GOPer like Baker would run it might get interesting. Even Kerry Healy freed from having to defend Romney might make a good candidate, I always felt like her part of that legacy with Mitt and her reliance on old campaign tricks that dont work anymore sunk her candidacy.
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p>Oh well looks like we’ll get stuck with Ogo instead. I really thought he could have a lot of interesting potential and I’ll admit I initially had a bit of a pro-Ogo bias in my coverage of that race but he lost my vote or any semblance of credibility on the issues when he went haywire over what is essentially a non issue, illegal immigration. I honestly think the GOP squandered a pick up opportunity in that race to instead use the race as a litmus test for this years wedge issues, and no Mr. Rove it isnt going to work this time.
Ed O’Reilly Might wanna check him out.
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p>I’m pretty sick of Kerry too, but I’d grow more sick of Ogo. What a horrible choice to have in November.
Our national infatuation with “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” is a wonderful thing, but we’re fully through the looking glass when Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson are running as “outsiders.”
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p>Ogo may have a slightly better claim, but frankly I don’t care. His campaign made a big deal out of his 4 years running the family farm and his 28 years as an Air Force officer, but I fail to see how it helps him once he gets to Washington.
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p>Even if I thought Ogo’s background made a difference, his association with the National Republican Campaign Committee makes it all seem a bit forced. The NRCC even tells their candidates to run against Congress and the party, as needed:
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p>http://www.nrcc.org/news/view_…
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p>Despite the candidate’s efforts to run more as an independent than a Republican, Cole suggested that Ogonowski’s campaign could be a template of how House Republican candidates run in 2008. Cole said he is counseling Republican candidates in 2008 to run against Congress – and even put some separation between themselves and the national Republican Party if necessary.
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p>”I tell candidates all the time that you ought to be running against all of Washington, D.C., and that includes us,” Cole said. “Because we have not ourselves, in every case, lived up to the things that we wanted to accomplish as a party.”
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p>I want a Senator who can get things done. At the risk of echoing Hillary, there’s something to be said for experience.
This should be the question asked in the primary and general election.
I had absolutely no issue with John Kerry until his Iraq war vote and I still think he’s a decent Senator. There was a lot of Republican trash talk about his effectiveness, but I’ve yet to see a valid attack on that basis. I may be alone in that opinion. We shall see.
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p>Ed O’Reilly’s site leaves me cold. I like some of his positions, but the videos are gawdawful. Maybe he’s better on the stump. Can’t tell. “Gloucester School Committee” trumps “Gentleman Farmer” but there’s nothing that says “Oh my God, this guy is gonna make an AWESOME US Senator.”
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p>Jeff Beatty’s site is everything I left the Republican Party for.
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p>I think I’ve made my feelings about Ogonowski’s candidacy clear. I personally find his positions repugnant and his supporters worse. The mere thought of wading through another round of EaBo Clipper’s mash notes to Ogo makes me queasy.
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Well, if a moderate Republican cannot replace him, perhaps we can get a Whig or a Federalist to run.
Certain birdies have told me that Charlie Baker does not want to run for Senate because he has his eye on running for governor in 2010. Also, there already is a Republican aiming to challenge Kerry, Jeff Beatty. So that’s two elections he would have to go through.
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p>Additionally, some observers (i.e., EaBo; sorry for putting you on the spot) are of the mind that in the event of a Hillary Clinton nomination for president, her coattails would be much greater for another female candidate for national office. Thus, Ogonowski does not think that he can beat Niki Tsongas again, or so it would seem.
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p>He probably should keep trying for the House seat, but that’s part of the problem with the current crop of Republicans: it’s almost high office or bust for them. At least that’s how it seems to me.
I am proudly voting for Ed O’Reilly along with Barack Obama in the upcoming primary.
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p>And in the general I would only vote for Ogo is he made substantial changes to his campaign instead of running the tired old song.
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p>Jeff Beatty has a lot of interesting national security credentials and a fairly sensible plan for Iraq, more detailed than Kerrys or any of the presidential candidates. But he is very anti-immigration and is endorsed by former Col. Hunt who is a crazy John Bircher and friend of Howie Carrs. He seems too conservative for Massachusetts.
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p>And he also has a lot of early support for the nod and I doubt a primary with Ogo would be fruitful.
Unless we get 15% at the convention, voting for him may not be an option.
He can’t run again and again until he wins. The first re-election bid is always the toughest, but soon Niki Tsongas will find herself in the same position as Meehan when he left. That is, the seat will probably be hers for as long as she wants. Democrats in MA will benefit from having a Presidential race on the 2008 ballot, however.
does not guarantee future irrelevance.
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p>Alas.
Kerry can’t be that lucky, can he?
Jeff Beatty is already running as a Republican for Kerry’s seat.
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p>www.jeffbeatty.com
It reeks so much of testosterone that one might not notice that it is otherwise pretty empty.
I don’t think women are part of this dude’s universe. There’s a rather uber-masculine feel to the thing.
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p>Word of the day: sublimation.
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p>Food for thought, that.
I am surprised that Ed O’Reilly has not been mentioned as a challenger to our Junior Senator in the Democrat primary.
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p>Kerry’s negatives are running at a career high, and all a challenger needs to do is point out what little work he does for the business sector in Massachusetts. The icing on our rancid cake is the loss of Federal research contracts over the years, even with our superior academic and business infrastructure. This loss is due primarily to the conduct of our congressional delegation that chooses to stick its thumb in the Administration’s eye at every chance.
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p>The Left rejoices at every insult, but the working people of Massachusetts would be outraged to learn that their dwindling circumstances are the result of this childish game. They would rather be known for gnawing on the President’s leg rather than bringing home a major research contract.
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p>Massachusetts has lost more than 300,000 residents (i.e. taxpayers) since 2000. I am gratified that we will lose one congressional seat in 2010, but it would be extra delicious to lose two.
That just weakens our clout even further. The only answer I can come up with for this question is that you are a Republican putting party over state, in which case shame on you.
Which dems would be pitted agaist each other. Also to see what the new district maps would be gerrymandered.
…Bart Simpson. Unless he’s in a hurry–or unless the Republican party has a dearth of candidates against Kerry (which is likely)–he probably should run against Tsongas in the general.
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p>Who is sponsoring him, anyway? And how many of them are from out-of-state? Farmers usually don’t have enough money on their own to do two runs for congress in a short period of time.
in this state than Bart Simpson as well. Other than being a sad commentary on the state of the electorate in Massachusetts what bearing does it have.
when the Simpson’s were first a 30 minute sitcom will be 29 this year by election time.
Is your hovel in Wellesley a cave?
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p>…considering the percentage of peopl in the neighborhood who take walks through the neighborhood.
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p>Aside from that, (a) Bart Simpson is not 30 years old, which is a constitutional requirement, and (b) I wonder what the name recognition is of Nancy Cartwright. If you don’t know who she is, do a google search.