A Kennedy Finally Loses in Massachusetts
[guest post by JVW]
Never thought I would live to see it:
Riding a wave of support from the Democratic party’s progressive wing – including the backing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts on Tuesday survived a heated primary battle against challenger Rep. Joe Kennedy III.
Speaking to supporters, Kennedy conceded to Markey about 2 and a half hours after polls closed in Massachusetts – in a primary battle that grabbed national attention as it turned increasingly bitter this summer.
“A few moments ago I called Sen. Markey to congratulate him,” Kennedy said Tuesday night. “The senator is a good man. You have never heard me say otherwise.” He added, “Obviously these results were not the ones we were hoping for.”
With 44 percent of the vote reporting, Markey was leading Kennedy 54% to 48%.
It seems a bit premature to concede an election not yet half counted and within a mere six percentage points, but I suppose that the Kennedy campaign expected their man to perform a lot better in the towns and precincts that have already been counted and have decided not to wait out what is shaping up to be a long, glum night.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she of the newly-coiffed hair, endorsed Rep. Kennedy and he had no trouble raising money among his family’s well-heeled friends and progressive activist admirers, but in the end the echos of “Camelot” have apparently faded sufficiently such that they are but a distant echo or perhaps even merely a page in the history book to many Bay State voters.
I guess that calling for “a new generation of leadership” wasn’t such a winning campaign in a year when both major parties are putting up septuagenarians for President. This is the first ever loss for a Kennedy family member in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
– JVW
Raise you hand if you knew that Ethel Kennedy was still alive:
She turned 92 this past April. Had he lived, her husband would have been 95 in November. She’s pro-life and apparently always badgered her fat, drunken brother-in-law about his abortion advocacy, so I have a soft spot in my heart for her.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:08 pmMaybe they need to do a bit more working normal people jobs and living normal people lives. Being a member of a political dynasty shouldn’t be enough to get you elected to office (you hear that too, Bushes.) Though the family is also a rolling disaster, so that might not help either.
Nic (896fdf) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:34 pmI don’t know how the Bush family works, but I read years ago that whenever a Kennedy turns 21 they receive something like $12 million as part of a family inheritance. So that’s why so many of them are professional activists or documentary filmmakers or the head of nonprofits. They don’t have to live normal people lives and they don’t have the same everyday concerns that the rest of us have. So there’s nothing better for them to do than get themselves elected and tell us how we ought to live (you know, if we too had $12 million family inheritances).
But tonight might be seen as a good sign. If the Kennedys no longer can count on the automatic support of the Democrat establishment in the Bay State, perhaps the day will come when family members will have to live on their own wits (well, that and $12 million). For once I kind of hope that both Lieawatha and Ed Markey stay into the Senate into their 80s, just so that a seat doesn’t open up for young Joe Kennedy III (is that the third, or the one-hunded-eleventh?) to seek.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:40 pmI live in MA. People don’t really care about the Kennedeys anymore. A Kennedey may have leg up in a race against nobodies, but Markey is a sitting Senator. Dumb move on Joe’s part. His best chance to win would’ve been for Markey to die and giving him a clear uncontested lane. The odds for that were better than average this year given Covid and Markey’s age.
tla (7ab14a) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:44 pmAOC is the future of the democratic party not the kennadys.
asset (93cf54) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:45 pm@3 No 21 yr old should have that much money unless they’ve somehow earned it themselves. It’s bad for them. (obv people do and families have the right to give it to them, I’m just making a moral judgement. You shouldn’t let 10 yr olds eat candy all day either.)
Nic (896fdf) — 9/1/2020 @ 8:58 pmAnd in other election news, the smear campaign of Alex Morse–probably masterminded by incumbent Neal–worked.
Paul Montagu (a2078e) — 9/1/2020 @ 9:09 pmThe Busch beer family waited until the kids turned 30 before releasing trust fund monies. By then, most of their wild oats were sowed and they were ready to put away childish things.
Paul Montagu (a2078e) — 9/1/2020 @ 9:11 pmOh never mind
https://mobile.twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1301003123662692357
Bolivar di griz (7404b5) — 9/1/2020 @ 9:27 pmMifsud refused to re-enter the US to avoid further FBI questioning.
Paul Montagu (a2078e) — 9/1/2020 @ 9:39 pmdriving an ice cream truck is the only job Mr. Frosty ever had. Joe Joe Joe should have run as a Republican
mg (8cbc69) — 9/1/2020 @ 10:33 pmMeh. After what Uncle Bobby Jr.’s done to the family name, what did this kid have to lose?
lurker (d8c5bc) — 9/1/2020 @ 10:45 pmRemember this, neverTrumpers, when arguing that the Democrat Party is not lurching to the left. That Biden will steer the ship towards the center.
Hoi Polloi (dc4124) — 9/2/2020 @ 5:11 amSure. Keep telling yourself Biden’s a bolshevik.
lurker (d8c5bc) — 9/2/2020 @ 5:23 amAh, the mathematics of the Massachusetts machine.
To be fair, I’ve never known a Bay Stater to give less than 102% of their effort…
Demosthenes (9fd014) — 9/2/2020 @ 10:47 amTo be fair, I’ve never known a Bay Stater to give less than 102% of their effort…
Ha! Didn’t even notice that. Nice catch. I assume it was a mistake in the original article since I just did a copy-and-paste of the text.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2020 @ 12:41 pmThe possibility I’m hoping for is that the article was accurately reporting cooked numbers.
Demosthenes (7fae81) — 9/2/2020 @ 2:24 pmAOC strikes again and helps defeat pelosi backed establishment corporate stooge.
asset (e946ce) — 9/2/2020 @ 3:14 pm