I was in Lynn today, holding a sign with a big crowd for Congressman John Tierney, when a friend told me that WBUR/MassINC came out with a great poll for the Congressman. The poll asked who people were going to vote for, then pushed for leaners.
The first set of numbers looked good for Tierney, with him up 7%, but put in leaners and suddenly that lead increases to 12% — at 46%-34% with 11% undecided.
So, you’d think WBUR’s story on the poll would be overwhelmingly positive for the Congressman. Well, you’d think wrong.
The short article is a bit of a hatchet job, leading with his wife’s very old story, then quoting more Tisei people than Tierney people, and somehow concluding Tierney — who has a +5 favorable/unfavorable rating (better than the President) — is “not well liked.”
Yeah, um, okay. That’s pretty much the things the media and the Tisei campaign have been saying all cycle, yet with polls like this, it’s obvious they’re living in a bubble… even when the media is the one doing the polling.
Whether Tisei and the media like it or not, people generally like John Tierney, think he represents their issues well, and they want to vote for him.
Of course, no one should be complacent — polls like this will just make the Karl Roves of the world dump millions more into this race in negative ads. We all know there’s lots more of those coming, since Tisei infamously refused to enter into the People’s Pledge.
But, still, you don’t need to be an All-Star mathlete to know Tierney’s in a good place to be. Moreover, he’s been taking these hits all campaign season and he’s made them bounce off like Teflon.
Well over half the district has a good idea about the ins and outs of what went on with his wife… and they’ve rationally weighed the issue and have decided to move on. I’d welcome the media and Tisei to move on, too, so we can have a substantive campaign about the issues, instead of rehashing old ones.
Quite frankly, it’s starting to make Tisei look desperate. Then again, what else does Tisei have? The fact of the matter is Tisei, a lifelong politician with no legislation to show for it, has hitched his wagon to the Tea Party types — and that’s not the kind of thing people in the 6th District want in a politician.
That’s why Tisei’s gaining no traction in the campaign; people want a Congressman who’s going to fight for them, not fight for Wall St., to destroy Medicare or so employers can deny women the right to contraceptives.
Below is a video of the guy I’m voting for, proudly so. Watch it and it’s easy to see why Tierney’s on the road to closing the deal with the voters in November.