In the fifth district, I’ve received a number of rather odd mailings from a certain Dr. Sheldon Schwartz who is running in the Democratic primary against Katherine Clark. The most recent one reads as follows:
DR. SHELDON SCHWARTZ WILL TAKE ON POLITICAL PARALYSIS AND THOSE WHO ARE TAKING US FOR GRANTED.
Our Congresswoman is a career politician who blindly follows what party leadership dictates and takes us for granted. If we want to change Washington, we need to change the people we send there. It’s time to change Washington by sending a doctor to Congress. Dr. Sheldon Schwartz is not a knee-jerk Democrat who does only what the party dictates. He will break through political gridlock by reaching across the aisle to find meaningful solutions to our critical problems. In Congress, he’ll be the next Barney Frank or Bernie Sanders!
This is stunning in a number of ways:
- Does Dr. Schwartz really think that he’ll be the first medical doctor to join Congress? Perhaps, he has a deep abiding admiration for Senator Bill Frist, but there is no indication that being a doctor is any kind of improvement on, say, being a lawyer.
- Just what the hell does Dr. Schwartz think Barney Frank was doing since he joined the Massachusetts House in 1973? Rep. Frank was a career politician if there ever was one and he has been a damned good one. Bernie Sanders was first elected to office in 1981 as Mayor of Burlington. 33 years in public life sounds like a career to me.
- Rep. Clark is taking us for granted? Really? How? And no, one cannot blame actions of the Republican majority on a freshman Democratic Congresswoman.
- This is not the first mailing I’ve received from him wherein he describes his magical powers to “break through political gridlock”. This is sort of stunning. Is this political neophyte telling us he has some secret power of making Republicans un-Republican?
- In the current House, the minority’s ability to change things or get bills passed is sharply curtailed and party unity is pretty important. For example, when George W. Bush was pushing the idea of replacing Social Security with personal retirement accounts, it was Democratic unity in the House that scared Republicans enough to back off. The absolute last thing we need if Republicans capture both houses is some goofball in the House making promises not to be “knee-jerk”.
I got the Schwartz piece in addition to two Clark pieces, one which contained an Elizabeth Warren endorsement (a real one this time around). Needless to say, I’m with the Senator on this one.
I also got a piece from the Marian Ryan campaign that only mentioned her name on the address label part. The rest was all negative on Michael Sullivan.
I got a piece from Charlie Shapiro and also a letter from some of Marilyn Devaney’s council peers telling me that what was on Shapiro’s piece isn’t true.
I may have received others, but if so, they’ve burrowed themselves to the bottom of the recycle bag.
he’s faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Seth Moulton also claims he will single-handedly “break the partisan gridlock”. Maybe they are using the same publicist,
hand behind my back. And I’m not even young and good-looking.
neither, I assure you, is Dr. Schwartz
It is virtually impossible in Massachusetts to unseat a Congress incumbent.
Katherine Clark sent her own flier. Her claim to fame so far is sponsoring equal pay legislation, which has zero chances of passing Congress, and basically would open companies to lawsuits if minorities and women are underpaid relative to the average pay.
It is absolutely the wrong way to go about equal pay. What would work instead is to force transparency of salary pay, through making salaries non-confidential public record in tax reports.
I was kind to Schwartz the first time around, since he seemed to care about the issues and wanted to be involved. But I will say it again-we got a great incumbent. Now that he has gone negative, I won’t mince words. Katherine Clark is no entrenched incumbent-she has already forged key bipartisan partnerships advancing progressive legislation, has had votes on the legislation she is the lead sponsor for, and has been visible throughout the entire district, she goes home every weekend to be with her boys and catch up with her neighbors. And she doesn’t have the naïveté or malice to insult voter intelligence and pretend she can make Republicans sensible again . But she will continue to work with those that she shares agreement without compromising her progressive principles or integrity.
But what about the equal pay legislation?