Joe Kennedy III thought Eddie Markey was too previous, too.
And have a look at what occurred to him.
Markey, the veteran Massachusetts U.S. senator cleaned Kennedy’s clock, as previous timers used to say, within the 2020 Democrat main for the U.S. Senate.
Markey beat Kennedy in that main by 782,694 votes (53.3%) to 629,359 votes (44.51%) for Kennedy.
It was the primary and solely time a Kennedy misplaced an election in Massachusetts.
Kennedy, a three-term congressman from Newton, was 42 on the time. Markey was 74.
Now Rep. Seth Moulton, 46, of Salem, a six-term Democrat member of the Home, is making an attempt to do what Kennedy couldn’t do to the now-79 yr previous Markey.
And that’s to finish Markey’s fifty yr political profession, one which started earlier than Moulton was even born.
It’s not that Moulton believes Markey has been ineffective, or that he, a fellow progressive, disagrees with Markey on any of the problems. No. Politically talking, they’re like father and son.
It’s simply that, in Moulton’s view, Markey is simply too previous. Markey could be eighty years previous if re-elected and eighty-six on the finish of his third time period in 2026.
However, Markey has been endorsed over Moulton by seven of Moulton’s 9 fellow Massachusetts members of the U.S. Home, together with Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
It must be famous that Kennedy, in his loss to Markey by no means actually made Markey’s age and challenge. It was simply implied.
Not so for Moulton, who seems able to make Markey’s age a essential cause for his candidacy, one thing he raised each in his video announcement and in subsequent feedback.
“Is he too previous?” Markey requested in a single interview. “Look, each political advisor will inform me to not say this, however the sincere fact is, sure.”
This will come as information to comply with progressive Democrat Janet Mills, 77, the two-term governor of Maine, who’s operating for the Democrat nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Or to President Donald Trump, 79. who has a schedule vastly busier and extra energetic than Moulton — a schedule like no one’s ever seen earlier than, as Trump would say.
However Moulton is searching for to determine “a brand new technology of management.”
That was additionally his mantra when in 2018 when he sought to oust Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi from her management function. Pelosi was 78 years previous on the time. At 85, she’s nonetheless round
Moulton used that meme once more in 2019 when he ran for president in a marketing campaign that went nowhere, simply as his Pelosi problem did.
Nonetheless, Moulton is a lovely candidate with relative youth, a profitable household and a embellished Marine officer with fight expertise in Iraq He’s anticipated to make a lot of that in his Senate marketing campaign in distinction to Markey.
He makes use of all three in his well-done announcement video, which begins and ends with unhappy fight demise of a 19-year previous Marine in Iraq.
All through the video are photographs of his charming two younger daughters operating round a contented family.
Markey is married to Dr. Susan Blumenthal, a lady’s well being advocate. They don’t have any kids.
Moulton served 4 excursions of responsibility in Iraq between 2003 and 2008.
Markey throughout his navy eligible years, was in a position to keep away from the Vietnam Battle period draft by becoming a member of the U S. Military Reserves. He was by no means deployed.
The Senate is his life.
Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas might be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com.
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