Joe Kennedy III would be a downgrade from Ed Markey.
More on 2020 Campaign
- So, What Was the Guy Behind 2020 “Stolen Election” Theories in Georgia Up to With Guests in His Bathroom?
- The One Story About Trump That Jack Smith Needs to Tell at the Supreme Court
- The Most Dangerous Time in 2024 Will Be Just After the Election
- A Capitol Rioter Has Become a Right-Wing Media Darling. She Just Got Arrested.
In a Facebook post Monday morning, Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III acknowledged for the first time that he’s considering a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey. And to those who had heard of the potential candidacy—and were wondering … why?—Kennedy offered the following: “I hear the folks who say I should wait my turn, but with due respect—I’m not sure this is a moment for waiting.”
A four-term member of Congress, Kennedy spent his first couple of terms keeping his head down and focusing on committee and constituent work. The dues-paying years of camouflaging with the House’s hundreds of workaday grunts are over, though, and Kennedy is ready to be a Kennedy. He delivered the State of the Union response in 2018, is a Pelosi favorite, and has been considered a top prospect for House leadership whenever that generational changing-of-the-guard occurs at the top.
Kennedy shunned House leadership opportunities late last year, though, and now we’re seeing why. He is a Kennedy, and the House is too juvenile a permanent political destination for the Kennedys. (Well, the promising ones.) He could hold out in the hope that Elizabeth Warren wins the presidency, and then run in the special election for her Senate seat—which would be the proper“Kennedy seat” previously held by his great-uncles, John and Ted. But a primary for an open seat might get too crowded. Best to just take on old man Markey, whose behind-the-scenes political persona has lent him a strange invisibility despite having served in Congress for 43 years.
AdvertisementAside from the fact that Kennedy might want to be a senator, though, what would be the point of his challenge? When he says it’s time to make a change, presumably he wants voters to agree with him. What pressing concerns are there with Ed Markey that lead Kennedy to believe he, and the party, should expend valuable resources on a Massachusetts race in a cycle where Democrats need to flip the Senate?
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementKennedy’s consultants might still be sorting through the data to determine why Markey must go. In July, a “mystery poll” went out testing out various messages, one of the first signs that something was afoot. “Kennedy’s campaign declined when asked whether they conducted the July mystery poll,” Politico reports, “which pitched positive and negative campaign messaging for Kennedy and Markey, including on issues like marijuana, ‘Medicare for All’ and the ‘Green New Deal.’ ”
AdvertisementAnd those issues point out the problem, ideologically, with the idea of challenging Markey: Markey is a “Medicare for All” supporter and a Green New Deal, uh, lead author. On marijuana, Markey is wishy-washy, but that’s not an issue on which Kennedy would want to pick a primary fight. Markey is a reliably liberal vote, and Kennedy can’t make a credible case to be to his left. If he doesn’t want to seem redundant, he’d have to package himself as coming from Markey’s right, and an image-conscious Joe Kennedy probably wouldn’t want “centrist challenger” appended to his exciting brand.
So maybe there’s not much ideological justification to a primary challenge. But there wasn’t much of a difference in policy between ex-Rep. Michael Capuano and now-Rep. Ayanna Pressley last year’s Democratic primary in the state’s 7thDistrict, either: Both were strong progressives. Pressley and her supporters were able to make the argument, however, that a district that was only 34 percent white could send someone more representative of its constituents to Congress.
Advertisement AdvertisementUnfortunately, Kennedy and Markey are both very much white Irish Catholic men. The only real demographic difference between them is that Markey is a 73-year-old white Irish Catholic man, whereas Kennedy is a 38-year-old Irish Catholic man. If Kennedy does run, then, vague (but soaring!) rhetoric about generational change and “energy” would have to be his message.
AdvertisementIf the two were completely interchangeable, the primary would be pointless. But one aspect of Markey’s record means that elevating Kennedy over him in the next Congress would be a clear downgrade. While it’s true that Markey was trying to glom onto some of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stardom by introducing the Green New Deal alongside her earlier this year, his interest in climate policy wasn’t a recent invention. His focus on the environment goes back decades, highlighted by the successful House passage of the 2009 Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that he co-sponsored as chair of the House select climate change committee.
AdvertisementIf Democrats are able to take the presidency and the Senate in 2020, passing climate change legislation will be one of the top, if not the top, priorities the unified Democratic government would have. Markey, as an orator, may not give crowds goosebumps. But he’d be a good guy to keep around for make-or-break climate legislation.
Advertisement AdvertisementSo, Kennedy is not an ideological contrast with the incumbent. He wouldn’t bring any diversity to the Senate. He would tempt the party to spend valuable resources defending an incumbent when its priority is to take the majority back from Sen. Mitch McConnell. And his challenge aims to remove a top insider climate change policy guy from Congress precisely when a top insider climate change policy guy would be of use. When Kennedy says that he’s “not sure this is a moment for waiting,” well, it’s incredible how specifically designed this moment is for him to wait.
Tweet Share Share Comment(责任编辑:产品中心)
-
Séamus Malekafzali ,July 23, 2024 Netanyah ...[详细]
-
雅安日报讯近日,成都市双流县水务局负责人与相关技术人员来到我市,与市水务局以及芦山县、名山区水务局负责人和相关技术人员就供水灾后重建技术援助工作进行了首次对接。双流县水务局技术人员一行先后来到芦山县龙 ...[详细]
-
全国农业品牌大放异彩,广东5个“精品”农业品牌在列_南方+_南方plus12月21日,农业农村部新闻办公室对我国农业品牌建设取得积极进展作出肯定,并指出2023年,我国农业目录体系初步形成,全国精品培 ...[详细]
-
雅安日报讯近日,天全县公安局交警大队结合“12·2”交通安全日开展交通安全宣传活动,切实维护农村道路交通安全秩序,确保农村道路交通安全通畅,提高该县人民群众的农村道路交通法制观念和交通安全意识,有效预 ...[详细]
-
Bernie Sanders’ DNC speech sounded like everyone else’s. That’s astonishing.
So far, the Democratic National Convention has been filled with era-marking oratory. The first night ...[详细] -
兴农评丨歌唱大美乡村,许的是富民兴村的美好未来_南方+_南方plus三农大小事,尽在兴农评。作为全国首档音乐赋能乡村振兴的全民赛事,广东乡村歌手大赛历经半年的激烈海选,30强选手从上万名报名参赛者中脱 ...[详细]
-
兴农评丨歌唱大美乡村,许的是富民兴村的美好未来_南方+_南方plus三农大小事,尽在兴农评。作为全国首档音乐赋能乡村振兴的全民赛事,广东乡村歌手大赛历经半年的激烈海选,30强选手从上万名报名参赛者中脱 ...[详细]
-
本报讯 近日,芦山县农业局组织技术人员前往芦阳镇火炬村,开展职业农民专业技能(猕猴桃)技术培训。培训人员结合芦山县灾后重建产业发展,讲解了职业农民培训的背景、目的意义和产业扶持政策,就猕猴桃栽培技术、 ...[详细]
-
Wordle today: The answer and hints for August 29
Can't get enough of Wordle? Try Mashable's free version nowOh hey there! If you're here, it must be ...[详细] -
雅安日报讯日前,石棉公安消防大队深入辖区各个在建工程,全面排查整治火灾隐患及消防安全违法行为,提醒各个在建工程负责人要深刻吸取“10·24”广西桂林在建工地火灾事故的教训,切实做好秋冬季火灾防控工作, ...[详细]