Tip of the hat to Ed Markey.

“They may tell me where to sit but nobody tells me where to stand.”

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p>From the November 22, 1976 Harvard Crimson:

But the key factor for Markey was television. While in his second term in the State House, Markey pushed for passage of a bill to eliminate part-time district court judgeships in Massachusetts. Part-time judgeships were lucrative for judges, who were allowed to maintain private law practices, and for politicians, for whom they were patronage gold mines. It was no surprise, then, when the House leadership, under Speaker Thomas McGee of Lynn, fought against Markey’s bill. It passed despite their objections, and McGee, known around the State House for his pettiness, gained his revenge by throwing Markey off the Judiciary Committee, and having his desk moved out into the hall.

All this happened last January, and because of it, Markey received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Legislator of the Year award and was praised in many editorial columns. Looking for a theme for an advertising campaign, Markey’s political strategists pounced on the Judiciary Committee incident.

Markey’s one television commercial opened with a narration of the desk-in-the-hall scene along with a shot of Markey standing in front of a desk placed incongruously in a State House corridor. At the end of the spot, Markey folded his arms across his chest, looking stern and tough. “They may tell me where to sit,” he said, “but nobody tells me where to stand.”

After that spot first appeared, one of Markey’s opponents unsuccessfully copied Markey’s tactic. The opponent, State Senator Steven McGrail, ran a film of himself in the State House chamber delivering a speech. He tried to look tough and dramatic, but, lacking the kind of spectacular incident that Markey had focused on, he failed to make a similar impact.

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p>My kind of guy.