MA-SEN Megathread: Senator Markey wins

[President Johnson]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

[MillennialModerate]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

He’s running because Markey is a non-existent seat warmer. Good man but not great Senator.

If my state is as great as we think it is - it’ll vote Kennedy. It’s way closer than it should be though

[GoTfan]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

He’s running because Markey is a non-existent seat warmer. Good man but not great Senator.

If my state is as great as we think it is - it’ll vote Kennedy. It’s way closer than it should be though

Kennedy literally said there'smore to being a Senator than the bills you file or the votes you record.

That is literally a Senator's job description.

[MillennialModerate]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

He’s running because Markey is a non-existent seat warmer. Good man but not great Senator.

If my state is as great as we think it is - it’ll vote Kennedy. It’s way closer than it should be though

Kennedy literally said there'smore to being a Senator than the bills you file or the votes you record.

That is literally a Senator's job description.

Yes... it’s literal job description. But we both know Senators are supposed to be moral leaders. Lead public discourse. Take stands beyond the senate chamber

[Elcaspar]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

He’s running because Markey is a non-existent seat warmer. Good man but not great Senator.

If my state is as great as we think it is - it’ll vote Kennedy. It’s way closer than it should be though

Kennedy literally said there'smore to being a Senator than the bills you file or the votes you record.

That is literally a Senator's job description.

Yes... it’s literal job description. But we both know Senators are supposed to be moral leaders. Lead public discourse. Take stands beyond the senate chamber

And Markey hasn't done that? Couldn't it be considered moral leadership to stand for a Green New Deal?

[brucejoel99]

Go Markey! As said before, there is no need to replace him. Kennedy is only running because he thinks his last name basically entitles to the seat.

He’s running because Markey is a non-existent seat warmer. Good man but not great Senator.

If my state is as great as we think it is - it’ll vote Kennedy. It’s way closer than it should be though

Kennedy literally said there'smore to being a Senator than the bills you file or the votes you record.

That is literally a Senator's job description.

Yes... it’s literal job description. But we both know Senators are supposed to be moral leaders. Lead public discourse. Take stands beyond the senate chamber

And Markey hasn't done that? Couldn't it be considered moral leadership to stand for a Green New Deal?

I've referred MillennialModerate time & time again to numerous examples of Markey's service as a Senator (& JK3's lack thereof in the House) - beyond the bills filed & votes recorded - that more than equate to moral leadership, leading public discourse, taking stands beyond the Senate chamber, etc. See:

Can you explain to me how Markey has been a fantastic Senator? .... other than trying to score points with the far left by jumping on AOC’s baby (GND)

Jumping on AOC's baby? Not only did he co-write this year's resolution with her (so, if anything, it's equally his baby), but it was a full 7 years before AOC was even born, let alone a baby herself, when Markey began to lead the charge for environmental protections in the House, so his long record of fighting for the environment is clear as day, especially considering he has a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters & authored both the 2009 cap-&-trade bill as well as the 1982 Nuclear Freeze Resolution. So to imply that his environmental activism is nothing more than an attempt to get leftists to support him in the here & now is disingenuous & nothing short of an outright lie.

As for other issues, people will obviously have their own interpretations as to whether Markey has been a good Senator. There's no real need to provide evidence for something that's a personal decision. But if you're really more interested in hearing opinions, mine is that Massachusetts needs a strong advocate against climate change, & Markey obviously provides a strong voice in that regard. Warren does her anti-corporate-malfeasance shtick, & together, they're a good duo.

If you want to know about where he stands on the non-environmental issues, though, since you apparently don't seem to take his environmental activism seriously, his commitment to supporting net neutrality was such that he was solely responsible for spearheading the CRA petition which resulted in the Republican-controlled Senate voting to restore net neutrality. And even before the net neutrality debacle, he was already Capitol Hill's premier fighter of the telecom industry, making them earn their massive government subsidies & holding them accountable for not fulfilling their promises.

So, issues wise, he's about as great as you could as for: he's fantastic on the environment, he supports both net neutrality & the internet being treated like a utility, he's helped lead the fight against Trump's attempt to create a culture of terror against our immigrants, & he sponsored a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

(And personally speaking, I've had two great experiences with Markey, & I'm not even from Massachusetts. The first was that Markey did everything he could to try to help a friend of mine from Massachusetts get into a service academy (which wound up being for the best, as he would've had the dishonor of having to say he once served under our current Commander-in-Chief lol). The second was my running into him outside a Walgreens in Boston, where an SEIU protest was taking place, & he actually took the time to stop & shake my hand even though he was taking on a very busy role in the protest.)

Meanwhile, it was Joe Kennedy who was anti-marijuana until he changed his stance when it was obvious he'd otherwise be left behind, who apparently mistakenly voted in favor of nuclear weapons, who voted "against legislation curtailing the government's data snooping power", who voted to curtail Dodd-Frank by making it harder to designate financial firms systemically important, who co-sponsored the bill that would've banned boycotts of Israel (which, regardless of where you stand on Israel, is just wholly undemocratic in & of itself), & who's heavily invested in fossil fuel companies.

And even disregarding all of that, contrary to you, I just think it's beyond the pale that we as a society are continuing to lift up people just because of their last names. Massachusetts is a state of ~7 million people that contains world class universities & educational systems, & you should be able to field a much deeper bench than just continuing to elect the same family. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Ted Kennedy. He was a really interesting & inspiring person. But to do what you're doing, giving the family another leg up simply because they're legacies, is rather unfortunate.

So yeah, in my opinion, Massachusetts already has an incredibly underrated & exceptional senator whose taken (& will continue to take) a strong seat at the table on the good side of an otherwise spineless Congress in Markey, & you'd be wrong to get rid of that by replacing him with Kennedy.

In doing so, I've unfortunately learned that you just can't make somebody listen to something they don't wanna hear, even (or, rather, especially) if it's the truth.

[KaiserDave]

We're going in circles on this unfortunately. Thank you @BruceJoel for the amazing analysis.

At least the majority of us agree that Markey is the man

[GoTfan]

We're going in circles on this unfortunately. Thank you @BruceJoel for the amazing analysis.

At least the majority of us agree that Markey is the man

If he loses, I want Biden to make him EPA Administrator or Energy Secretary. Lifelong environmental champion should qualify him for either.

[MillennialModerate]

And even disregarding all of that, contrary to you, I just think it's beyond the pale that we as a society are continuing to lift up people just because of their last names. Massachusetts is a state of ~7 million people that contains world class universities & educational systems, & you should be able to field a much deeper bench than just continuing to elect the same family. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Ted Kennedy. He was a really interesting & inspiring person. But to do what you're doing, giving the family another leg up simply because they're legacies, is rather unfortunate

I agree the state is loaded up with top end talent, I’d argue Mass is probably the best equipped state in the nation to produce top end leadership. However the thing about the Kennedy’s is we don’t elect them just because it’s something we’re familiar with. It’s because every time we’ve voted for a Kennedy we’ve loved the results. This state elected JFK to the Senate over another political dynasty in a Republican wave year in a state that was Tilt GOP at the time. Gave him 70% margins in the Senate, then 60% for POTUS and then elected Ted and loved everything we got from him as well.

So it’s more a matter of if it’s not broke don’t fix it

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We should all be patient until 8/1 and see if Warren is selected as Veep and if there will be an opportunity for another Kennedy run in special

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

And even disregarding all of that, contrary to you, I just think it's beyond the pale that we as a society are continuing to lift up people just because of their last names. Massachusetts is a state of ~7 million people that contains world class universities & educational systems, & you should be able to field a much deeper bench than just continuing to elect the same family. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Ted Kennedy. He was a really interesting & inspiring person. But to do what you're doing, giving the family another leg up simply because they're legacies, is rather unfortunate

I agree the state is loaded up with top end talent, I’d argue Mass is probably the best equipped state in the nation to produce top end leadership. However the thing about the Kennedy’s is we don’t elect them just because it’s something we’re familiar with. It’s because every time we’ve voted for a Kennedy we’ve loved the results. This state elected JFK to the Senate over another political dynasty in a Republican wave year in a state that was Tilt GOP at the time. Gave him 70% margins in the Senate, then 60% for POTUS and then elected Ted and loved everything we got from him as well.

So it’s more a matter of if it’s not broke don’t fix it

Are you aware that JFK’s not running for Senate?

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

And even disregarding all of that, contrary to you, I just think it's beyond the pale that we as a society are continuing to lift up people just because of their last names. Massachusetts is a state of ~7 million people that contains world class universities & educational systems, & you should be able to field a much deeper bench than just continuing to elect the same family. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Ted Kennedy. He was a really interesting & inspiring person. But to do what you're doing, giving the family another leg up simply because they're legacies, is rather unfortunate

I agree the state is loaded up with top end talent, I’d argue Mass is probably the best equipped state in the nation to produce top end leadership. However the thing about the Kennedy’s is we don’t elect them just because it’s something we’re familiar with. It’s because every time we’ve voted for a Kennedy we’ve loved the results. This state elected JFK to the Senate over another political dynasty in a Republican wave year in a state that was Tilt GOP at the time. Gave him 70% margins in the Senate, then 60% for POTUS and then elected Ted and loved everything we got from him as well.

So it’s more a matter of if it’s not broke don’t fix it

You only think this because you remember the most prominent of them. There are plenty of Kennedys/Kennedy-adjacent politicians who've been far less notable than the brothers and JKIII has had time to prove himself in the House of Representatives. He's not bad, but he's worse than Markey.

[Badger]

And even disregarding all of that, contrary to you, I just think it's beyond the pale that we as a society are continuing to lift up people just because of their last names. Massachusetts is a state of ~7 million people that contains world class universities & educational systems, & you should be able to field a much deeper bench than just continuing to elect the same family. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Ted Kennedy. He was a really interesting & inspiring person. But to do what you're doing, giving the family another leg up simply because they're legacies, is rather unfortunate

I agree the state is loaded up with top end talent, I’d argue Mass is probably the best equipped state in the nation to produce top end leadership. However the thing about the Kennedy’s is we don’t elect them just because it’s something we’re familiar with. It’s because every time we’ve voted for a Kennedy we’ve loved the results. This state elected JFK to the Senate over another political dynasty in a Republican wave year in a state that was Tilt GOP at the time. Gave him 70% margins in the Senate, then 60% for POTUS and then elected Ted and loved everything we got from him as well.

So it’s more a matter of if it’s not broke don’t fix it

If it's not broke don't fix it is perhaps the best argument for voting for Markey over Kennedy.

[YE]

https://twitter.com/damiangarde/status/1285215781714829316?s=21

[KaiserDave]

-A somewhat experienced congressman with a milquetoast record, unclear motivations, obvious presidential ambitions, and conflicts of interests

-A tried and tested leader who has reliably stood up for common people against vested interests, especially on issues which have become more prominent in the modern day


I know where I stand. Markey for Senate.

[MillennialModerate]

It’s amazing how many people not from Massachusetts overrate Ed Markey

[KaiserDave]

It’s amazing how many people not from Massachusetts overrate Ed Markey

We're capable on making an objective analysis of him and his opponent.

The only argument you've made is his last name and something about Markey not being in Massachusetts.

[brucejoel99]

It’s amazing how many people not from Massachusetts overrate Ed Markey

k

https://twitter.com/MAJuanJaramillo/status/1285008248496705541

[RogueBeaver]

https://twitter.com/MediumBuying/status/1285963905756471298

[Sir Mohamed]

Kennedy is wasting tons of money that could be used against Mr. Trump and his enablers instead. And I still haven't figured out why he wants Markey to go other than for self-promotion. MA has 2 senators unlikely to stay in for many more decades and he has the time to wait a few more years or run 4 gov once Charlie Baker decides to retire.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

Kennedy doesn't deserve this seat b/c of his last name

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Kennedy doesn't deserve this seat b/c of his last name

Until they poll MA or KS Senate, we must hold our opinions on Bollier and Kennedy, they havent polled either race lately

[Calthrina950]

Kennedy doesn't deserve this seat b/c of his last name

Agreed. And if Markey manages to pull off an upset and defeat Kennedy in September, it will hopefully put an end to this upstart's political career, or at least significantly delay it.

[Lognog]

Kennedy is wasting tons of money that could be used against Mr. Trump and his enablers instead. And I still haven't figured out why he wants Markey to go other than for self-promotion. MA has 2 senators unlikely to stay in for many more decades and he has the time to wait a few more years or run 4 gov once Charlie Baker decides to retire.

No that's literally it. No ideological differences, no demographic differences, no tactical differences. Literally pure ego and it's a drain on resources and a waste of Markey's time. I really hope JKIII loses so he can get out of politics

[MillennialModerate]

Kennedy is wasting tons of money that could be used against Mr. Trump and his enablers instead. And I still haven't figured out why he wants Markey to go other than for self-promotion. MA has 2 senators unlikely to stay in for many more decades and he has the time to wait a few more years or run 4 gov once Charlie Baker decides to retire.

No that's literally it. No ideological differences, no demographic differences, no tactical differences. Literally pure ego and it's a drain on resources and a waste of Markey's time. I really hope JKIII loses so he can get out of politics

This is such BS. This race is not taking any resources away from the fight against Trumpism. ZERO. It’s a Safe Dem seat in a Safe Dem state in a region where virtually all races are Safe or at worst Likely Dem.

In recent years you’ve had many Dems who have been in Washington for years being primaried by much younger candidates who have been reasonably in lock step with them on policy issues (Yes slightly more left). The challengers in those races have proclaimed “We need younger people to represent us, we need a new generation”.

AOC, Bowman and Pressley to name a few. But for some reason when Joe Kennedy primaries someone his point about a new generation stepping up is discredited because he comes from a family with many relatively who have sacrafised so much for this country.

With that being said, those thinking JK will win this race don’t know what they’re talking about & are being overly simplistic. Unfortunately the Bernie Bro Pitch Fork brigade has been effective in bruising the image of a young man who would be PHENOMENAL in the Senate. Sadly my state isn’t what it used to be in this regard