Sen. Ed Markey is a 73-year old white Irish-American politician who was first elected to Congress in 1976 from a district in the Boston suburbs. Joe Kennedy III is a 39-year old white Irish-American politician serving his fourth US House term from a district that runs from the Boston suburbs to the struggling old factory cities of Taunton and Fall River.
They are both liberal Democrats in the tradition of so many others in their party who have represented this ocean blue state. They don’t disagree on much, which became painfully obvious in their most recent television debate last month on WPRI.
The name-calling and blame-laying started early in the televised joust and never let up. Their disagreements were more style than substance. At one point, Kennedy skewered Markey for opposing busing to integrate the Boston schools –more than 40 years ago. Markey responded by hammering Kennedy for taking his first job out of Harvard Law School as prosecutor for a conservative Republican district attorney.
Markey has carved a reputation as an environmentalist and expert on telecommunications during his many years in office. He has been trying to run to Kennedy’s left, touting his partnership with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in supporting a Green New Deal.
Kennedy has responded by asserting that he would be a more aggressive advocate for Massachusetts. Kennedy has also underscored his support for organized labor and has drawn more union backing than the incumbent.
Activist Democrats aren’t happy with this campaign, says Shannon Jenkins, political science professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Many liberals see Markey versus Kennedy as a waste of campaign money that could have been used to flip Republican held seats in other parts of the country.
Both candidates have done well fund-raising. They are both sitting on nearly $5 million in campaign cash. Kennedy has spent more on television spots. Most experts believe Kennedy has a slight lead in polling, but there haven’t been many recent public opinion surveys.
So this one comes down to an overarching question: How much does the Kennedy name still resonate among Massachusetts Democrats?
Joe Kennedy is a scion of the most durable dynasty in Massachusetts politics. An ambitious young pol, he’s the grandson of Robert Kennedy and the grand nephew of Ted Kennedy and John Kennedy, the first Roman Catholic president. His father served in the US House.
Joe three, as he’s known, was educated at Stanford and Harvard. He doesn’t drink and isn’t known for the philandering that plagued other Kennedy men.
It’s rare for Massachusetts voters to toss out incumbent Senate Democrats — It hasn’t happened since Sen. David Walsh lost in 1946, the same year the young war hero JFK won his first House election.
Markey is viewed “an effective progressive,’ says Bob Kuttner of the liberal American Prospect magazine. Kuttner also says that the Kennedy tradition of nepotism has worked well for Massachusetts.
Ted Kennedy was just 30 when he won the seat held by his brother JFK. In a famous television debate, his opponent, then-Massachusetts Atty. General Edward McCormack declared that if Ted’s name had been Edward Moore instead of Edward Moore Kennedy his candidacy would be a joke. Kennedy easily won the primary and never lost another election in Massachusetts.
As the weeks dwindle until the September primary, one of the unanswered questions is who will be casting ballots. Amid the Covid 19 pandemic, how many voters will show up? The state is making it easier to vote by mail, but the virus has made traditional door-to-door canvassing impossible.
Scott MacKay’s commentary can be heard every Monday morning at 6:45 and 8:45 and at 5:44 in the afternoon.
