MA-SEN Megathread: Senator Markey wins

[Intell]

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

[brucejoel99]

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.

[Ogre Mage]

From boston.com:

From the beginning of the race, local politicos have speculated publicly and privately that Kennedy’s decision to challenge Markey was at least partly an effort to get ahead of running in a potentially tougher open primary in a field including other rising Democratic stars, such as Pressley, the state’s first Black congresswoman.

Kennedy’s campaign is adamant that’s not the case, citing the urgency of addressing systemic inequalities that have reached a breaking point.

But in a New York Times article Monday, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins — who is supporting Markey in the Senate primary — gave the theory its most prominent voice, suggesting that Kennedy was running this year to avoid a future Senate primary race against Pressley.

“I’d be shocked if Ayanna didn’t jump,” Rollins told the Times.

For her part, Pressley is not ruling out the possibility of running for higher office, even if there are far more pressing issues at hand.

https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2020/09/01/joe-kennedy-ayanna-pressley-senate


From The New Republic: 

Perhaps the least appreciated player is freshman Representative Ayanna Pressley, who has risen to Kennedy-like celebrity among progressive activists over the last few years. Massachusetts has always punched above its weight in producing national political figures (remember that Warren was one of four locals who ran for president this cycle), and Pressley is destined for statewide office at some point in the future. Kennedy would clearly prefer to establish himself as the Democratic Party’s future before she gets the chance to squeeze past him.

https://newrepublic.com/article/159178/joe-kennedy-markey-2020-ayanna-pressley

[Intell]

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.

[Badger]

Well i was hoping for Joe to win but i'm not that upset about it. It doesn't make sense to get worked up about primaries like this. Ed Markey and Joe kennedy are both fine, smart progressive men and I hope they both have luck in their future political ventures. As another wise Massachusetts politician once said, "In an American election, there are no losers". Now let's get out there, cut the malarkey and win the senate majority!

As one Markey supporter to another: Stay classy, Bagel.

Seriously. Pissing on an upbeat call for party unity which compliments both candidates who are fundamentally similar in ideology is just so.....

[brucejoel99]

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.

Pressley would very much have a strong base of votes in the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville area alone to comfortably lead Kennedy.

[MaxQue]

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).

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

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

This is true.

and a black liberal female tied to radicalism would most likely lose against a Kennedy.

This is not, necessarily.

[Brittain33]

The 538 podcast made an interesting point. Kennedy could have beaten Pressley for a Senate seat, but he wouldn’t want to run for President as the guy who kept Pressley out of the Senate.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Kennedy has a remote possiblity to be Prez, not in 2024, should Biden retire, but in 2028n , should he beat Baker or run for an open Gov seat and win.  Meanwhile take a meaningless Ambassadorship to Ireland.
 
Biden said he two different things, he says he wants to serve 2 terms on CBS but he said before he wants to serve only 1 term, we just don't know.  

AOC demolished any higher office expectations she had, even Senator, by endorsing Markey, where AA despises Markey in Harlem

[Not Me, Us]

The 538 podcast made an interesting point. Kennedy could have beaten Pressley for a Senate seat, but he wouldn’t want to run for President as the guy who kept Pressley out of the Senate.

But would he really want to run as the guy who kicked the guy who wrote the GND out of the Senate?

[Brittain33]

The 538 podcast made an interesting point. Kennedy could have beaten Pressley for a Senate seat, but he wouldn’t want to run for President as the guy who kept Pressley out of the Senate.

But would he really want to run as the guy who kicked the guy who wrote the GND out of the Senate?

No one foresaw Markey becoming the Gen Z hero he won as. Kennedy thought he'd retire rather than get trounced.

[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.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

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.

Kennedy was doing well and fundraising before Covid, he was consistently leading Markey in every poll. Then, Covid hit, and the ground swell back to Markey began and every poll flipped flop back to Markey. Covid definately had something to do with this race, it reestablished Markey as the Establishment candidate.

[Figueira]

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.

I don't think it was about Pressley specifically, so much as the unpredictability of a crowded primary. Or maybe he just saw Markey as weak. Either way, it was a miscalculation: while Markey wasn't a Gen Z hero, he was still a well-liked progressive Senator with a lot of base support.

[Roronoa D. Law]

I'm kind of skeptical that Pressley would be favored against Kennedy as well. It would probably be like MD GOV in 2014, MD 2016 Senate primary, or even the Atlanta 2017 mayoral election.

We saw the black candidates as the heavy favorites at the beginning of the race only to lose ( or almost in Bottoms case) to a white candidate. In what many black activists saw as a stab in the back by white Democrats.

Pressley should beat Kennedy but given the negative/racist trope about Boston, I could see a Bradley Effect happen. Plus I don't put it behind MA Dems to nominate Pressley only to vote for Baker in the general election especially if 2026 is a potential Harris midterm.

[Former President tack50]

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.

Even if this was the case and Kennedy was doomed to fail or kill any presidential options if he ran against Pressley, there are 2 Senate seats. Even if Pressley took one, Kennedy could have easily taken Markey's seat when he retired in 2026? Markey is 74 and will be 80 in 2026

Alternatively he could have gone for Governor when Baker retired?

Kennedy is only 39, he had plenty of time to wait

[Don Vito Corleone]

Kennedy's loss last night also means that three of America's political dynasties have been rejected within the last four years. In 2016, the Bushes and the Clintons were both defeated by Donald Trump: Jeb lost to him in the Republican primaries, and Hillary lost to him in the general election. And this year, in addition to Kennedy, one of the Bushes (I believe it was a son of Marvin Bush) lost a congressional primary in Texas. So this race provides further confirmation of my belief that American voters are tiring of political dynasties.

Tbf, the Kennedys - in contrast to the Bushes & Clintons - haven't been totally rejected (yet?): Amy Kennedy is about to go up against JVD in NJ, & Caroline's son will definitely run for something once he's done with law school

In addition, I really doubt this is the last we've seen of Joe Kennedy. He's not even 40 yet, and in spite of running a pretty subpar campaign against a non-controversial incumbent (who ran a pretty solid one, especially when it counted) and he still did respectably. He'll be back, I'm sure. I've seen some chatter of him running for AG when Healey vacates the office in 2022 to run for Governor, and I woudn't be surprised if he did that. Either way, I think any obituary writing is premature.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Pressley should beat Kennedy but given the negative/racist trope about Boston, I could see a Bradley Effect happen.

The "negative/racist trope about Boston" is that it's a racist community, not that it's full of Spooky Black People or whatever. Carrying Boston proper is also not necessary to a Massachusetts statewide victory even in a Democratic primary, and the areas immediately around Boston are ultra-woke these days.

Plus I don't put it behind MA Dems to nominate Pressley only to vote for Baker in the general election

In a Senate election?! I don't think so.

[Skye]

Just wanted to let y'all know I created the Atlas Results page for the Dem Primary: https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=25&year=2020&f=0&off=3&elect=1

It's only a county map, if I can figure out how to upload a township (and maybe also a CD) map I'll do it.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Hopefully, Warren goes for Treasury and Kennedy v Pressley primary, Kennedy would win

[MillennialModerate]

Hopefully, Warren goes for Treasury and Kennedy v Pressley primary, Kennedy would win

About time you say something I like.

In my gut I kind of think he still would win but maybe I’m just being hopeful cause frankly he just lost to the biggest, most irrelevant loser there is in the Dem party. So who knows

[GoTfan]

Hopefully, Warren goes for Treasury and Kennedy v Pressley primary, Kennedy would win

About time you say something I like.

In my gut I kind of think he still would win but maybe I’m just being hopeful cause frankly he just lost to the biggest, most irrelevant loser there is in the Dem party. So who knows

Sorry, but just to point out the inaccuracy of this statement, it is Kennedy who is the loser here.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Hopefully, Warren goes for Treasury and Kennedy v Pressley primary, Kennedy would win

About time you say something I like.

In my gut I kind of think he still would win but maybe I’m just being hopeful cause frankly he just lost to the biggest, most irrelevant loser there is in the Dem party. So who knows

Sorry, but just to point out the inaccuracy of this statement, it is Kennedy who is the loser here.

Dems are the reform party, but living under Daley corrupt leadership, Dems are a machine politics party as well. Daley was implicated in selling Truck drivers license for patronage Garbage Men Jobs and he didn't serve prison time, Blago, did, for trying to pick an AA for Senate, who would have ran for Prez after Obama, Jesse L Jackson Jr.

Markey v Kennedy replicates machine politics in Democratic politics. But Pressley probably will be Senaor from MA in the near future. Markey is not likeable, he is a machine politician like Richard J Daley SR and Richard M Daley Jr.

[MillennialModerate]

Hopefully, Warren goes for Treasury and Kennedy v Pressley primary, Kennedy would win

About time you say something I like.

In my gut I kind of think he still would win but maybe I’m just being hopeful cause frankly he just lost to the biggest, most irrelevant loser there is in the Dem party. So who knows

Sorry, but just to point out the inaccuracy of this statement, it is Kennedy who is the loser here.

I mean in a sense yes because he lost the 2020 race.

But overall ....Markey is again, the biggest most irrelevant loser in the party right now. it’s between him and overrated Stacey Abrams. But we don’t know what Abrams would do in office, we know Markey will do NOTHINF