Even though I'm a big Kennedy family guy, I really didn't understand why Kennedy made this unnecessary push to oust a solid incumbent. He's so young he could have risen in the ranks in the House before taking the next step with no opposition. Instead now he's just a guy who will be out of office. What's next? Governor against another popular incumbent in what probably will be a Republican year? Waiting for the next vacancy in the Senate? Maybe he gets an administration position, but I doubt it will be a really sexy one. He really must have just been operating to position himself for a presidential run in 2024 or 2028. Should have been patient man...
Because he's scared of Ayanna Pressley.
Why lol? He has a easier chance beating her
He wouldn't, though.
He saw how Pressley had very quickly become very prominent & very popular compared to himself - her star has been rising hot & fast, & many in Massachusetts seem to love her (& not to mention, a bastion of white privilege opposing a Black woman who's a rising star in Massachusetts Democratic politics probably wouldn't play all that well either) - & he also thought Markey was vulnerable based off of those polls from a year ago where he was polling wayyyy behind Kennedy, & because he (presumably) thought he'd have an easier time of knocking off Markey now rather than having to compete against Pressley in a few years' time, he decided to get out ahead of Pressley by taking a calculated risk: instead of waiting for a Senate seat to open up & being forced to go head-to-head with her, he'd try to primary Markey now by playing the young vs. old card. That obviously backfired, but he took the shot that he felt he needed to take.
MA democrats aren't as progressive as people think and a black liberal female tied to radicalism would most likely lose against a Kennedy.This was a miscalculation on her part imo- besides winning an open seat is always easier than winning against an incumbent.
The thing is would not be a Pressley-Kennedy duel and it's very possible the core Pressley vote is bigger than the core Kennedy vote (especially if Moulton runs).
