Enough With The Kennedy Dynasty Hot Takes. Joe Lost Because He Was Impatient

[bluescribbler]

https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/09/02/joe-kennedy-ed-markey-senate-race-eileen-mcnamara?fbclid=IwAR2NwZX1k2rO9i_7DIzkYKJD0Vwd-eT1NcqFykpMlhLzLP3PaiqiA5EA_IA

<snip>

A promising but impatient young man’s sense of entitlement took a drubbing, not the Kennedy legacy, when Senator Ed Markey beat back his Democratic challenger on Tuesday. “This isn’t a time for waiting, for sitting on the sidelines,” Kennedy said when he launched his upstart campaign a year ago, leaving mystified voters wondering when a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives had become “the sidelines.”

That certainly was not Kennedy’s pitch in 2012 when he defeated a crowded field to replace Barney Frank, the retiring Democratic congressman from the much-amended district once represented by his father Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, his great uncle John Fitzgerald Kennedy, his great-great grandfather John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald. Joe’s reputation then, born of a stellar academic record at Stanford and the Harvard Law School, was of a charming but sober Kennedy, more interested in issues than in the spotlight his family name invariably attracts.

<snip>

Kerry learned to bide his time. Joe Kennedy did not. The result of his hubris is that Massachusetts loses a congressman it would have preferred to keep, and the days of political dynasties in Massachusetts recede further into history.

Read the whole article at the link.

[hlthe2b]

1. Yes.. I think we saw a similar outcome for similar reasons with several of our Presidential Primary

candidates--particularly the one or two who took on Biden because of "their perceived need for fresh blood"

[The_Counsel]

7. Didn't Pelosi Get a Speaker Challenge for Similar Reasons?

Boy, am I glad THAT worked out the way it did....

[hlthe2b]

10. Yup... sure did

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. So, should Ivanka wait? Or run for president in 2024? nt

[3catwoman3]

5. Ivanka should take the proverbial long walk...

...off a short pier.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. With A Purse Full Of Buckshot!

Last edited Fri Sep 4, 2020, 06:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Duct taped to her hand!

[OnDoutside]

3. It was indeed a miscalculation, but where to now ?

[BlueStater]

12. I don't think it was a miscalculation.

He lost because he ran a poor campaign, but Markey was certainly beatable as months of polling indicated.

[OnDoutside]

13. The miscalculation was in taking on a sitting Dem Senator. He's

39, and was looking around at the future presidential competition, feeling that he needs to be in the Senate now. Personally I don't think he did enough over the last 4 years to justify the step up. Certainly his campaign wasn't the best either.

[genxlib]

4. Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing

Lots of analysis about the Kennedy legacy but no one seems to be asking why he made a play for a seat that wasn't open.

Seems like an unnecessarily risky move that borders on the arrogant for someone that young. Seems like he had one too many people whispering in his ear.

[frazzled]

9. I can't say why

But what I can say is that when I was a Massachusetts resident in the early 2000s and a constituent in Markey’s congressional district, people were on the warpath to get rid of him, largely due to his vote for the Iraq War Resolution. I guess that’s ancient history. But out of curiosity, Im going to look up how people voted in my old district.

[msongs]

6. and his house seat was won by a former republican operative nt

[Awsi Dooger]

11. I don't think it was a bad move

If Kennedy's strength was young voters it made sense to try now, during a supercharged presidential year in which there was considerable chance that Bernie Sanders could be the nominee.

I am not one to overplay the result. Sure it looks stupid now upon defeat but I'd argue that waiting 6 years for a less favorable midterm while assuming Markey would retire made considerably less sense. Not only is Markey's retirement uncertain but that GOP opponent could be someone like Charlie Baker, who was avoided this time.

Even if Kennedy had only a 20 or 30% chance this time it was a worthwhile swing. That's the way I would look at it. He is hardly damaged beyond repair.

[OnDoutside]

14. But what has he left now ?

[genxlib]

15. For one thing

That isn't the only opportunity.

It is possible that the Warren seat could open up if she were to move into the Cabinet. Not sure what the interim appointment or special election rules are but it wouldn't necessarily be six years.

[bluescribbler]

16. Massachusetts law for succession

If a Senate or House seat becomes vacant midterm, the Governor names an interim replacement, but the law mandates that a special election be held within 60 days. That's how Scott Brown managed to serve in the Senate after Ted Kennedy died, and how Ed Markey became Senator after John Kerry was appointed Secretary of State.