MA-SEN Megathread: Senator Markey wins

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Go Markey!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/CATargetBot/status/1176244945771827200

R.I.P. My respect for Kyrsten Sinema (2017 - September 23, 2019)

You had respect for Sinema?  Why?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

LOL, what if Kennedy loses the primary to Markey, and then decides to run as a third party. Then there is a perfect vote split, and Shiva Ayyadurai squeaks through and wins, and gets a Republican pickup.
(Sore loser laws might not let that happen though)

LOL, what if Morgan loses the primary to McConnell, and then decides to run as a third party. Then there is a perfect vote split, and Amy McGrath squeaks through and wins, and gets a Democratic pickup.
(Sore loser laws might not let that happen though)

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Markey is gonna get the bulk of senior voters, and Kennedy will get the younger voters, just like Scarane v Coons and Hickenlooper v Romanoff. Scarane, Kennedy and Romanoff appeal to younger voters.

We dont know what to expect now that it has moved to a VBM election.  Both sides have equal chance to win

Markey isnt the prohibited favorite over Kennedy and the election is in September anyways

Markey is a slight underdog, he is losing by 2 to 6 pts

You have it all backwards.

Markey is getting the vote of the Bernie Bro young left
Kennedy is getting the older vote because they remember the greatness of the Kennedy name.

Its pathetic this is as close as it is to be honest. Not really sure why it is

Why are you trying to argue with OC?

And if it's the only reason JKIII's getting elected, then the greatness of the Kennedy name is a problem.

For me, it’s not. That’s why this is such a no brainer election for me.

JKIII gets the benefit of the doubt from me because yes he is a Kennedy and they’ve consistently represented this state and the nation so well and fought on the right side of practically every issue.

And then there’s the simple fact that Markey is a bit of a typical hack. “the swamp” if you will. He’s a good guy but he’s never in Massachusetts unless there is an election and for instance in a debate a few months ago instead of arguing the issues he just repeated AOC’s name a dozen times... weak.

I’ll be appauled at my state if Markey wins this. Unfortunately it seems as if that may happen.

Mary Jo Kopechne would like a word, or rather, she probably would if Ted Kennedy hadn't deliberately left her to die a horrible death by drowning in a car at the bottom of a pond and then relied on the family political machine to make sure he stayed in the Senate instead of getting sent to prison where he belonged.  

It’s quite sad that the only thing anyone seems to have in Markey’s defence after his decades of service is “dynasty bad”. Personally I really don’t understand why anyone is getting het up about this race. The differences between them are narrow and both would make/continue to be great Senators.

Markey has a long track record of fighting to implement progressive legislation.  Kennedy is an empty suit heir force hack who will definitely move the Senate Democratic Caucus' overton window to the right on environmental issues.  Markey was the Senate's leading advocate for the Green New Deal and was an excellent congressman.  It'd be like saying "let's replace Chris Murphy with Matt Lieberman because something something new blood."

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Markey is gonna get the bulk of senior voters, and Kennedy will get the younger voters, just like Scarane v Coons and Hickenlooper v Romanoff. Scarane, Kennedy and Romanoff appeal to younger voters.

We dont know what to expect now that it has moved to a VBM election.  Both sides have equal chance to win

Markey isnt the prohibited favorite over Kennedy and the election is in September anyways

Markey is a slight underdog, he is losing by 2 to 6 pts

You have it all backwards.

Markey is getting the vote of the Bernie Bro young left
Kennedy is getting the older vote because they remember the greatness of the Kennedy name.

Its pathetic this is as close as it is to be honest. Not really sure why it is

Why are you trying to argue with OC?

And if it's the only reason JKIII's getting elected, then the greatness of the Kennedy name is a problem.

For me, it’s not. That’s why this is such a no brainer election for me.

JKIII gets the benefit of the doubt from me because yes he is a Kennedy and they’ve consistently represented this state and the nation so well and fought on the right side of practically every issue.

And then there’s the simple fact that Markey is a bit of a typical hack. “the swamp” if you will. He’s a good guy but he’s never in Massachusetts unless there is an election and for instance in a debate a few months ago instead of arguing the issues he just repeated AOC’s name a dozen times... weak.

I’ll be appauled at my state if Markey wins this. Unfortunately it seems as if that may happen.

Mary Jo Kopechne would like a word, or rather, she probably would if Ted Kennedy hadn't deliberately left her to die a horrible death by drowning in a car at the bottom of a pond and then relied on the family political machine to make sure he stayed in the Senate instead of getting sent to prison where he belonged.  

It’s quite sad that the only thing anyone seems to have in Markey’s defence after his decades of service is “dynasty bad”. Personally I really don’t understand why anyone is getting het up about this race. The differences between them are narrow and both would make/continue to be great Senators.

Markey has a long track record of fighting to implement progressive legislation.  Kennedy is an empty suit heir force hack who will definitely move the Senate Democratic Caucus' overton window to the right on environmental issues.  Markey was the Senate's leading advocate for the Green New Deal and was an excellent congressman.  It'd be like saying "let's replace Chris Murphy with Matt Lieberman because something something new blood."

I had no idea voting for the 1994 Crime Bill, NAFTA, and the Iraq War were pieces of progressive legislation.

I had no idea there were people who think Kennedy wouldn't have been an enthusiastic supporter of all of those things were he in office then.  Also, you should try doing some research instead of just word-vomiting a few bad votes from a 44 year congressional career.  You might learn a thing or two.

Also, if we're going by the 1994 crime bill then I guess Bernie Sanders is a right-winger who needs to be primaried by an establishment legacy candidate ASAP because he also voted for it.  

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I’m glad that Markey seems to be taking this seriously, my fear was that he’d get caught asleep at the wheel. While I’m sure that there are some MA voters whose thought process is “OMFG it’s a KENNEDY!! ” like our friend on this thread, I don’t think that represents a majority of voters, and Markey can still win this.

There are a couple Kennedy’s I wouldn’t vote for. RFK JR being one. But again, for the most part this family has given so much to this country and continuing to devoting yourself to serving when you could live off of your riches to me is admirable. So I bare no apologies for my affinity for the Kennedy name

Also Joe himself is a smart, energetic, talented, empathetic and sincere individual so he’d get my vote regardless of name.

With that being said this race is Lean Markey

Citation needed

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Glorious News

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/vgmac/status/1296484779215532034

Remember, folks: the establishment hates socialists more than it hates fascists.

No offense, but I literally have no idea what you're talking about.  Ed Markey is not a socialist and Joe Kennedy III isn't a fascist.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/vgmac/status/1296484779215532034

This is a bit of a surprise.

Not particularly. If someone challenges an incumbent from the left who votes with Trump 70% of the time, they're an upstart and anyone who works with them needs to be cast out of the party. Squash them like the bug that they are!

If someone challenges a noncontroversial incumbent from the right, they're a "courageous leader" and a "rising star".

Let's all be real about this.

You're right, it is pretty hypocritical when #RoseTwitter pretends Ayanna Pressely is a "courageous leader" and a "rising star" for primarying a non-controversial incumbent from the right.  

https://twitter.com/vgmac/status/1296484779215532034

Remember, folks: the establishment hates socialists more than it hates fascists.

No offense, but I literally have no idea what you're talking about.  Ed Markey is not a socialist and Joe Kennedy III isn't a fascist.

Both are progressive, but Markey is tougher on corporate excesses and - more importantly - more willing to stick his neck out further than the party's moderate leadership might like. Said leadership is so relaxed about the fight against Donald Trump that they allow the Committee to make obvious mistakes like booking Warren for the Native American caucus, but - as we've seen with Neal v.s. Morse - can be very invested in ensuring that they retain the Democratic spots available.

This is the iron law of institutions at work: people in an organisation sometimes care more about their own place in said organisation than the wider interest of the organisation (in this case, the Democratic Party).

Obviously, I've been opposed to Kennedy's candidacy since before he even got in the race because Markey has been such a strong and effective progressive voice in the Senate.  But with all due respect to Sawx, it seems pretty absurd to call this is a race between socialism and fascism

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/vgmac/status/1296484779215532034

Remember, folks: the establishment hates socialists more than it hates fascists.

No offense, but I literally have no idea what you're talking about.  Ed Markey is not a socialist and Joe Kennedy III isn't a fascist.

You're obfuscating the last point I made. A primary challenger from the left is a pariah, a challenger from the (admittedly vague) right is a bright young man. Surely you see the hypocrisy from Pelosi, right?

I see hypocrisy in Pelosi backing a primary challenger against a Democratic incumbent, but I don't think it has anything to do with either candidate's ideology any more than Pelosi's endorsement of Ilhan Omar did  

This is basically a proxy fight between the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses, perhaps even between Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi specifically.  That's all that's going on here as far as congressional Democrats are concerned.  

However, I do see ideological hypocrisy from - and I'm not saying this applies to you, I genuinely don't remember who you supported - Berniecrats who supported primary challenges from the right against folks like Michael Capuano, Jerry Nadler, and Mike Honda and now cry foul here.  I say all that as a Markey supporter who considers Kennedy little more than an over-hyped empty suit who is already a waste of a perfectly good House seat as it is

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/JTHVerhovek/status/1296503308685848580

So essentially leaning into the Bernie Bro narrative.

The apology box is back open, folks.

Apologize for what?  Also, I'm genuinely not sure how you make the leap from this to the Bernie Bro narrative.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hot Take: Not all Democratic primaries are about Berniecrats vs. the establishment

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hot Take: Not all Democratic primaries are about Berniecrats vs. the establishment

I agree, though some (on both sides) want to make every primary about this.

True

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hot Take: Not all Democratic primaries are about Berniecrats vs. the establishment

No, they aren't. This one certainly isn't quite about that.

But with Pelosi and Kennedy trying to paint Markey supporters with the same brush, we know exactly why she's supporting him.

Right, she’s supporting him b/c for congressional Democrats, this race has become a bizarre proxy fight between the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses.  At the end of the day, you’re gonna see what you look for, but it’s pretty clear most congressional Democrats don’t see this race as being about ideological differences between the candidates.  It’s about whether (A) Pelosi is the de facto leader of all congressional Democrats even if the Senate flips or (B) whether Schumer and Pelosi are equals.  If Schumer can block Pelosi from meddling in Senate primaries, he’s asserting his own influence and if he can’t then it could make him a de facto junior partner to Pelosi. 

Also, if anyone thinks Pelosi is in danger of losing even a single vote as Speaker over this then I have some beachfront property in Wyoming to sell them.  Most folks can’t even name their Senators, much less Ed Markey.  You’d think people would have learned by now that #RoseTwitter is not the real world.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Kennedys know exactly what they're doing. "Mean tweets" is a dogwhistle for "he's too far left".

You see why I made my judgment on the Pelosi endorsement?

No?  This has nothing to do with the Pelosi endorsement.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Ha!

So I guess the Kennedys will have to do more than just snap their fingers and win election.

Is the Kennedy magic gone?

NJ-2 will tell the tale