This Time, the Kennedy Magic Might Not Be Enough
For decades it has been almost unthinkable that a member of the storied Kennedy family could lose an election in Massachusetts. So when four-term Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III launched his bid to move up to the U.S. Senate, he became the early favorite to unseat a fellow Democrat, Senator Ed Markey in the Sept. 1 primary.
In fact, Markey seemed an easy target. Part of the Democratic old guard, he was first elected to Congress in 1976. And with only one relatively low-profile term in the Senate, he lacked a strong statewide political base. Markey seemed headed down the same path as former New York congressman Joe Crowley, whom Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ousted in 2018. An early poll showed Kennedy jumping out to a 16-point lead.
Rep. Joe Kennedy III and Sen. Ed Markey trade coronavirus-safe “handshake” after their first debate.
But Markey had one ace up his sleeve. In February 2019, when most of his fellow Democrats were still chary of aligning with Ocasio-Cortez, he had teamed with her to sponsor her signature piece of legislation, the “Green New Deal.” This climate manifesto, a twin set of House and Senate resolutions promoting heroic measures to make the U.S. climate-neutral within ten years, was initially a step too far even for many progressive Democrats.
In less than two years, however, support for the Green New Deal has become more mainstream, and Markey’s identification with it raised his profile among those on his party’s left wing. A wellspring of support from environmental groups helped undercut the “generational challenge” from the 39-year-old Kennedy, muddying the political waters and making it less clear who was the more progressive candidate in this race. Markey seems to have benefited especially from TV ads in which Ocasio-Cortez herself pleads for votes for her early ally.
The candidates meanwhile have remained mostly in lockstep on issues, leaving few policy differences with which to distinguish their candidacies. Markey has recently tried to recast Kennedy’s family ties as a liability, prompting even Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to jump into the fray in support of the young congressman and his Kennedy kin.
Early voting in the primary began on Saturday. One recent poll now puts Markey 15 points in the lead, but most observers expect a much tighter outcome by the time polls close on Sept. 1.
