John Kerry - Senate Race 1984

[angrydemocrat]

Lieutenant Governor John Kerry entered the 1984 Senate race with the advantage of a statewide presence. What Kerry lacked was Washington experience. U.S. representatives James M. Shannon and Edward J Markey, his chief rivals for the nomination early in the race, had plenty of that. Both in fact were on leadership tracks in the House. They also had a fund-raising advantage--access to Washington's cash cow, political committee action (PAC) money under big labor and other national interests.

On May 1, before the primary, Markey got cold feet and dropped out of the Senate race, opting instead to seek reelection in the Seventh Congressional District, just north of Boston, thereby preserving his position in Congress as a leader of the burgeoning nuclear freeze movement.

That left Shannon as Kerry's major rival for the Democratic nomination. Both men were firmly planted on the political left. Two lesser rivals in that years Senate race offered nicknames for the Shannon-Kerry pairing: SOS Michael J. Connolly dubbed them "the liberal twins." Former Massachusetts House speaker David M. Bartley called them "litmus-test liberal."

Kerry quickly began to do battle for approval of the states liberal interest groups which enjoyed heightened influence in Democratic primaries.

In liberal strongholds of Massachusetts, freeze activists were particularly well organized and, in a Democratic primary, the wielded both power and resources. Both Kerry and Shannon planned to ardently court this key bloc of liberal activists. After the exit of nuclear freeze leader Ed Markey from the race, Shannon thought he had an opening to win the blessing of activists. But that opening would close quickly.

In June at the Democratic Party convention, Shannon spent most of his war chest and edged out Kerry for endorsements of the party activists. But Shannon received no bump in the polls and had to limp through the summer short of cash. Kerry nevertheless turned defeat into an asset. After the convention Kerry's campaign focused on shoring up support with the constituency groups. A key endorsement loomed- Boston's Black Political Task Force, an important barometer for the states's African Americans who composed about 3% of adults. The task force endorsed Kerry.

Kerry won backing from some key mayors, including Carlton Viveiros in Fall River and Brian Lawler of his hometown and the state's biggest city- Boston's Ray Flynn.

Flynn who later served as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, took plenty of heat for supporting Kerry. "All my buddies were with Shannon, and they were all over me for supporting Kerry. It was intense," Flynn said. "Tip O'Neill calls me, all upset then Joe Moakley same thing," Flynn recalled. But Flynn brought Kerry to various union halls and accompanied him to some of the city's famous salon- the Eire Pub in Adams Village, J.J. Foley's in the south end- as well as many
Irish bars along the four mile length of Dorchester.

Kerry was leading the race in virtually every poll until the final days when Shannon began to close in with the help of the Boson Globe endorsement. The Boston Globe enthusiastically endorsed Shannon noting the candidate was "far superior to his current campaign."
In later tracking polls it showed Shannon inching ahead of Kerry. Then Vietnam came to Kerry's aid. Up until now the chief emphasis of Kerry's "War and Peace"-themed campaign had been peace-freezing nuclear weapons. Now the "war" side of that equation would become Kerry's trump card against his liberal twin.

Debate:

Smarting from Kerry's taunts that the Congressman had reversed himself- voting first for the MX missile system and then against the MX missile system. Shannon tried to turn the tables on Kerry saying "If you felt that strongly about the war you would have never gone. I was proud you changed your mind,"Shannon said. Kerry's counterstrike came..."You inpugn the service of veterans in that war by saying they are somehow dopes or wrong for going," he said.
Then Shannon said...."John you know that dog won't hunt. I don't owe anybody an apology."

With Shannon appearing to be critical of the military service, a band of Vietnam vets, all Kerry men, then wheeled into action. "There was a kind of raw, gut instinct, and the campaign acted on it in a way you wouldn't today," said longtime Kerry strategist John Marttila. They were all pissed. "Vietnam veterans shadowing Shannon in the primary campaign's final days, traveling around the state, looking to pick a fights," Marttila said. "This was not fake stuff. John's bona fides had been called into question, and these guys had gone to Vietnam. It was powerful material." With the help from vets, who called themselves "the dog hunters", Kerry stopped Shannon cold.
Kerry beat Shannon.

Now Kerry would face off with GOP self made millionaire Raymond Shamie. Kerry's campaign portrayed the avuncular businessman as a right wing extremist who flirted with the John Birch Society years earlier. However the main thrust of Kerry's candidacy was his attack on Reagan's economic, foreign and military policies. Kerry soundly beat Shamie with a comfortable ten point lead and became a Senator for the state of Massachusetts.

[TayTay]

1. Wow! Great job!

I was living in Dorchester in 1984 (near Five Corners) and I remember seeing all the pols in the local hang-outs after work. (No I didn't stop in to have a pop, I was preggers in fall of '84. But I remember some of the hellabaloo.)

I voted for Kerry in the primary in Boston. He and Shannon were nearly indistinguishable on the issues. Shannon had the establishment Dems behind him and my uncle called and wanted me to vote for Shannon. (My uncle lived across the street from Tip O'Neill in Cambridge/Somerville and he pretty much voted what Tip wanted.) I voted for Kerry because he was a vet. So did a lot of people. That's why he won, cuz the differences on the issues were almost non-existant.

I also remember Kerry standing outside one of the subway stations after the election just shaking hands and thanking peole for their support. No big deal, but that was nice. It's a good sign to have someone go out and remember to thank those that put you into office. I believe he still does that. (You know it's him, cuz he's wicked tall and he stands out.) He and Ray Flynn had a falling out in subsequent years, but when Ray's son was hospitalized with severe mental illness (bi-polar, I believe) Kerry went often to sit by his bedside and visit him. Damn decent thing to do. Too bad this side of Kerry never came out in the campaign. He actually is quite caring and stories like these are not uncommon. Again, like my Mom used to say, "still waters run deep."

[LittleClarkie]

2. I guess you can say he did that this time too

He went and thanked those who'd gotten him started in the first place: Iowa and New Hampshire. He could thank them for a win, but in a way it sort of fits his pattern of remembering to thank those who got him that far.

[elshiva]

3. The Senator swearing in with Tsongas and Dukakis