I recently contributed to Senator Ed Markey’s re-election. I wanted to do it even though it’s a diversion of resources from the campaign to put a Democrat in the White House. And that’s only part of the problem with Joe Kennedy challenging Ed Markey. In addition to money, Ed’s reelection will also divert time and energy from helping Elizabeth Warren or any other Democrat defeat the most corrupt President in our history. Joe should take his boyish Kennedy looks and famous Kennedy name and help defeat Republicans around the country instead of attacking a good, solid Democrat at home.
These are desperate times, not a time to countenance blind ambition. We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. Ed Markey is serious. He has decades of dedication to working families, women’s rights, gun safety – and the environment.
That’s why Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Ed Markey. Earlier this year she and Ed co-authored the Green New Deal, but Ed’s commitment to this cause goes way back. Almost 40 years ago, he urged “a new energy vision” for America at the 1980 Democratic National Convention. “Within 20 years renewable resources could deliver more than one-quarter of our nation’s energy, and within 50 years we could be a truly solar society,” he said, adding that power from the sun “will leave our earth unravaged.”
Here in the Berkshires, we know Ed’s with us, too. In January 2017, he joined 2,000 Trump resisters in the Four Freedoms march in Pittsfield to protest the hate and bigotry emanating from Trump – even before he was sworn in. In addition, Ed is a long-time supporter of the assault weapons ban and is endorsed by NARAL. For all of these reasons and more we need Ed Markey. So, let’s return Ed to the Senate, where he can continue fighting for our families, our values, and our planet.
And what has his nearly 50 years in Congress have to show for it? There were times when there were Democratic presidents and Senators. He’s done far less in his 50 on his single issue than Teddy did in his on a multitude of issues from health care to immigration to the environment.
Was he a co-author or just the Senate co-sponsor? A lot of that bill was written by her green to Congress DSA staffers who gave a lot of easy targets to Republican attacks with a not fully ready for prime time proposal. Maybe someone who’s a better communicator who has crossover appeal with moderates and independents can actually pass it. You’re right swing state Democrats love to have Joe campaign for them, maybe he convince GND critics that this is an old school Democratic jobs program rather than an unreachable DSA wishlist.
As a Vox analyst and GND supporter conceded:
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If this really is an emergency, and I believe it is, then we need leadership capable of passing bills now rather than waiting for swing states to send AOC’s to the house and purple states send AOC’s to the Senate.
Climate matters. So do kids in cages, so do kids in schools facing gang violence, so do workers trying to organize a union or defend the living wages and health care they got through their union.
Kennedy understands it’s not a both/and choice. We fight for both. This is why he is the fighter we need in the Senate.
I think describing Markey as a single-issue person is not correct, as I posted.
I do think it’s foremost, and a frame for everything else — including jobs and economic justice, which the GND specifically calls for.
But you’re trying to put him in a box, and I have to object to that..
You’re the one who put a climate debate countdown clock on the top of the website (it’s inaccurate by the way-Kennedy already agreed to debate 10/4) and all your threads about the race have been devoted almost exclusively to climate change.
Markey launched the race talking about climate, asking for the climate debate, and trotting out the AOC endorsement which is almost exclusively based on their climate work. This thread starter is entirely devoted to Markey’s leadership on the environment. He put himself in this box. I support action on climate change, I also want a Senator who shows up on that issue and the other issues that matter to Bay Staters.
Late in responding to this: I’m leaving the ticker up there until Joe Kennedy agrees to a debate *that everyone else is actually attending*. He wants to kick it into next year; everyone else said November, no problem.
“Yes in principle” is not plain-old “yes”. It’s kinda squirrelly.
Well, Ed Markeys’ thirty-seven years in the House of Representatives–at the least– got him six years in the Senate where, it seems, he’s making the best of it…
Kennedy’s six years in the House aren’t particularly differentiable from Markey’s first 6, don’t include an additional thirty-one and certainly don’t entitle him to anything.
Also, and not for nothing, let’s not forget that Ted Kennedy was in the Senate for FORTY SEVEN years, some of them good and some of them not so good and that the bulk of that good which he did do derived from a mix of seniority, connections, understanding and experience. So let us refrain from invoking the long haul of Ted Kennedy to justify the, to date, short trek of Joe Kennedy III. To be perfectly blunt, if Ted Kennedy were alive today, Joe Kennedy III would have a couple of black eyes and a distinctly more respectful manner.
I can’t say that I am energized by either Markey or Kennedy. Climate catastrophes are overwhelming to me and I do what I can, but as long as the rich are in control, nothing will change, While I agree with Kennedy that the old guard needs to change, I can’t help but wonder why the person who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated in the primary held a fund raiser for Kennedy.
P.S. I wrote both men an email regarding my disappointment with the decision of our state to take away time and a half pay on Sunday and holidays………neither one replied.
So, I think I’ll sit this one out.
You understand you wrote two FEDERAL legislators about a STATE law, right?
So? I’m old enough to remember Ted Kennedy’s Office helping people navigate all levels of government and brokering the compromise between DiMasi and Romney they got us the first in the nation universal health care law. He also was a big lobbyist behind the scenes to individual state legislators to keep the landmark marriage equality decision off the ballot. His office was far more responsive than my sisters local representatives when it came to getting aid for my mentally handicapped nephew. Any immigrant could come to his office for help with ant issues. I would love to have a Senator who recognizes the long lost art of constituent services.
I remember the excellent constituent service of Mr. Kennedy’s office as well.
I think this exchange demonstrates John’s point, though.
Senator Kennedy cared about immigration, marriage equality, and health care. Because he cared about those issues, his office offered help even at the local level. Mr. Kennedy’s office was far less responsive to other issues that were less important to him. For example, consumer protection was not a priority — his office referred me to the state AG office for several inquiries. He was similarly not particularly concerned about banking and finance reform, electronic privacy, or militarization of local police forces. So far as I know, his response on those issues was much more like that of your sister’s local representatives.
So I think John is correct that the absence of response from both men says something about their stance on the issue he raises even though it’s a state rather than federal law.
I think there’s a very high likelihood that both Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Markey join the multitude of Democrats who feel that the change in Sunday and holiday overtime pay was an acceptable price to pay for the across-the-board increase in the state minimum wage.
John has made it clear that this is an important issue for him, so it isn’t surprising that he chooses to sit out this election. If neither candidate represents his views on an issue that is important to him, it’s entirely consistent and reasonable for him to therefore not vote for either candidate.