MA-SEN Megathread: Senator Markey wins

[new_patomic]

I'm genuinely sort of shocked his campaign didn't release one of those "we weren't surprised, we're fighting for the people, op-eds won't win primaries, let's move on" single paragraph statements.

Instead of slamming the globe as... too white, well-off, privileged, and establishment friendly.

[new_patomic]

New Markey Ad is possibly the best this cycle.

https://twitter.com/EdMarkey/status/1293986122318610435?s=19

That last line is so hilariously shady

[new_patomic]

Kennedy is now accusing Markey of 'weaponizing' his family and questioning their integrity, while also appropriating their words.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/512310-kennedy-markey-is-weaponizing-my-familys-history?

[new_patomic]

Kennedy is now accusing Markey of 'weaponizing' his family and questioning their integrity, while also appropriating their words.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/512310-kennedy-markey-is-weaponizing-my-familys-history?

Kennedy seems to be running one of the worst campaigns of any candidate, primary or general, in this election. He knows that he is trailing in the polls, and is now resorting to personal attacks in an attempt to revive his position.

One does wonder how much of this comes down to the pandemic, and it sending most of the campaign online.

But really, it just seems Kennedy never found his reason for being. Was it because Markey was a wayward representative and spent too much time in D.C., or was it that Kennedy would have a bigger national presence than Markey given how much he's campaigned for out-of-state Democrats. Is he an advocate for generational change, or a pleasant throwback for older more nostalgic Democrats. None of these are necessarily exclusive to one another, you can have more than one argument, but I don't think he ever really settled on a central theme that didn't amount to "I'd be better."

[new_patomic]

Kennedy is now accusing Markey of 'weaponizing' his family and questioning their integrity, while also appropriating their words.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/512310-kennedy-markey-is-weaponizing-my-familys-history?

Kennedy seems to be running one of the worst campaigns of any candidate, primary or general, in this election. He knows that he is trailing in the polls, and is now resorting to personal attacks in an attempt to revive his position.

One does wonder how much of this comes down to the pandemic, and it sending most of the campaign online.

But really, it just seems Kennedy never found his reason for being. Was it because Markey was a wayward representative and spent too much time in D.C., or was it that Kennedy would have a bigger national presence than Markey given how much he's campaigned for out-of-state Democrats. Is he an advocate for generational change, or a pleasant throwback for older more nostalgic Democrats. None of these are necessarily exclusive to one another, you can have more than one argument, but I don't think he ever really settled on a central theme that didn't amount to "I'd be better."

I certainly agree, and even without the pandemic, I doubt that his campaign would be much better, given this fundamental flaw which you identified. Just look at Markey's most recent ad which was posted on here. Agree with him or not, you have to acknowledge that he has settled upon a cohesive and engaging narrative, and he has managed to effectively rebut Kennedy's attacks against him without getting into the gutter. Kennedy has relied too much on his last name, and it's clear that in this day and age, voters aren't buying such a strategy anymore. All the Kennedys of the older generation are gone and in the ground-the last of the siblings of JFK, RFK, and EMK died just a few months ago-and JFK III's attempt to tie himself to them is floundering.

The campaign apparatus has certainly looked... wanting.

The Boston Globe doesn't endorse you, okay, that's not great.

But attacking it for having "disproportionately white, well-off, well-educated readers" was, uh, a choice.

[new_patomic]

Employing anti-primary messages against Kennedy that you would deride in other races is pretty asinine.

Of course Markey isn't someone even remotely like Lipinski, but neither is this hurting fundraising in other races, nor is it going to cost us a Senate seat or irreparably divide the party. Kennedy was free to mount a campaign against Markey, and did so in part because Markey didn't seem to have a strong foundation of support compared to other incumbents. If this is also, in part, only possible thanks to his last name, then so be it; it's not exactly something Kennedy can help, and any politician is going to use their advantages whatever they may be.

But all the same, you better come prepared if you're going to try and take on an incumbent, especially one who isn't otherwise damaged or plagued with scandal. And if you're going to be challenging an incumbent, especially one you yourself previously spoke favorably towards, you need a reason for why you're better than them. This isn't an open seat where talking about that your vision is enough, you need a clear and believable message for why they should ditch the other guy.

Markey, smartly, hasn't rolled over and given him one. And neither was he just going to ignore Kennedy's single biggest advantage, his name.

[new_patomic]

https://twitter.com/GlobePolitical/status/1295477618964410369?s=20

[new_patomic]

Things getting messy again today

https://twitter.com/stephanie_murr/status/1297899273133133826?s=20

https://twitter.com/JohnEWalsh14/status/1297934603274137602?s=20

[new_patomic]

I do sort of wonder if Kennedy might be overplaying his hand a bit here.

I understand his taking advantage of the opening Markey gave him to more openly talk about his family. To turn markey's attacks into an advantage by painting them as mean spirited.

But the risk is now his closing message seems to be 'my family' and 'the other side is mean' which doesn't seem particularly strong when you're the one primarying the incumbent.

[new_patomic]

They're really committed to the bit

https://twitter.com/laurenkennedyMA/status/1297949176316264448?s=19

[new_patomic]

Assuming Kennedy loses, it obviously does hurt his political prospects

But he's only 39.

He could run for Governor in 2022.

Or even be offered a cabinet/other position in a Biden administration.

Ignoring the very obvious 'failing up' joke, he doesn't seem like someone who'd just be left to fade.

[new_patomic]

[new_patomic]

"But i'm not running on my name guys, swearsies!"

Markey can’t even run on his name,

Markeys campaign slogan is noun, a verb and AOC.

This might not be the dig you think it is.

[new_patomic]

I don't actually mean this to be another pile on

But if/when he does lose, one of the questions Kennedy is going have to ask himself is how he let his campaign organization get so... messy. Mistakes are an unavoidable part of politics, but some of these have been downright embarrassing on his behalf.

[new_patomic]

Is there any indication if what we're seeing is election day vote, or all votes?

[new_patomic]

Kennedy ultimately never found his argument.

He seemed to want to try and make it about Markey being out of touch and ineffective, but never really found a rhythm.

Sometimes the argument seemed to be Kennedy would be more effective because he's a better surrogate for Democrats nationally, which implies spending more time out of the state. And other times it was that Markey was in Washington too much. Or that there's more to being in office than just voting on bills, which is true, but then the question becomes what is it that Kennedy is bringing to the table in terms of advocacy that Markey doesn't? What's his cause?

And simple mistakes like misspellings or trying to ding Markey on towns which haven't existed for decades, don't exactly help strengthen the case.

The irony is that at the very end he seemed to finally do what he had mostly avoided for most of the campaign; using his family and family legacy. But after mounts of people alleging this bid was hubris on his part, it was probably the wrong thing to do even if Markey gave him the opening.

Maybe the lesson is that, fair or not, it would just always be a bridge too far for someone with his last name to try and run on being the generational change candidate, or a 'new' voice.

[new_patomic]

A lot of this stuff about Pressley just seems off to me.

I would actually like it if she were to become a Senator, but I'm not sure why she would be a favorite against Kennedy or even all that competitive? I mean Kennedy lost this contest sure, but while trying to primary an incumbent, where he still got 44 percent. In an open-seat he wouldn't face the question of "why are you running" nor would he have divided local/state officials whose predisposition is to support their current Senator.

And "winning a primary against Pressley" doesn't seem like as much a killer come 2028 or 2032 or whenever he thought of running for President.

Why can't it be that he simply saw Markey as a weak incumbent and figured it was an opportunity to jump ahead by 6 or maybe even 12 years if he were to just wait his turn instead.

[new_patomic]

https://twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/1317230499623063553?s=20

An absolute mess inside and out