Just in case you missed it, eight-term Democratic Rep. Marty Meehan has announced that he will resign from Congress in July to become the next chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, which means that we will have a special election on tap to fill his seat within 160 days of the vacancy.
A few words about Meehan: ProgressivePunch gave him a rating of 87%, which is by no means bad, but that only fits him about midway in the Democratic caucus in terms of progressive voting patterns. For a D+11 Massachusetts district, one would think that he could have afforded to play to the base a bit more. My biggest knock against Marty, though, was his utter selfishness during the netroots-led “Use It Or Lose It” campaign last fall to arm the DCCC with the additional resources it needed to help expand the battlefield in closing weeks of the 2006 elections. Despite sitting on a $5+ million warchest, Meehan only gave a paltry $125,000 (PDF) to the DCCC during the last cycle, and dug his heels in the ground while his House colleagues, such as fellow Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, donated up to 30% of their cash-on-hand on top of their required dues. Like a squirrel burrowing more seeds than he could use underground for the winter, so too did Meehan cling to his oversized war chest in the hope that he could use it in the event of a Ted Kennedy or John Kerry retirement (which did not happen for Kennedy in ’06, and won’t for Kerry next year, either). So, after all those months of stinginess to his fellow Democrats, Meehan won’t be able to use his warchest, anyway. One wonders what will become of the $5m+. Gifts to the DCCC, DSCC and other Democratic candidates? Or will he hide it under the earth once more, hoping for a Kennedy retirement in 2012? I’ll let you guess the answer.
In any event, it’ll be a new day for MA-05. The question is: which one of the following names is both a suitably progressive Democrat and a team player?
Politicians eager to fill Meehan’s seat have wasted no time positioning themselves for a run, with at least 10 candidates flirting with a potential campaign. The list of Democrats include Niki Tsongas, wife of the late US senator Paul Tsongas; state Representative Barry R. Finegold of Andover; Eileen Donoghue, the former Lowell mayor and current city councilor; state Representative James B. Eldridge of Acton; and Stephen Kerrigan, a former aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy and to Attorney General Thomas Reilly.
Race Tracker: MA-05
While the other candidates are adequately qualified, none have the experience or progressive credentials to match that of Steve Kerrigan. Steve was elected Selectman when he was something like 25 or 26 in Leominster, and went on to play huge roles in Kennedy and Reilly’s offices. What the above blurb does not mention is that he was one of the top guys (in fact, Chief of Staff I believe) of Boston 2004, and managed an extremely successful convention. Running somthing of that size, with that large a budget and thousands of staff/volunteers, especially the first convention post 9/11 and all the security concerns that go along with that, is something that shows serious managerial and leadership skills.
Steve and his family are well known and well liked in the Leominster area, and I am highly confident that he will continue the good work done by Meehan, but more importantly bring a fresh set of progressive values to the table.
Niki Tsongas must be getting old by now, and older candidates tend to have limited viability. I’d give her a pass.
I consider MA’s government to be a blundering train wreck mired in bureaucracy, corruption, and incompetence (part of the reason why I don’t live there anymore), so any long-term member of said government is automatically suspect to me. Granted, the MA legislature no longer has to waste time on Romney’s partisan talking points, but they’ve had 2/3s veto-overriding powers for years. Legislation to reform MA’s idiotic and byzantine car insurance laws and regulate the MBTA, among other things, needs to happen, and has been needing to happen for about 15 years. While Finegold and Elridge might surprise me, and while I admit I know less than nothing about either of them, I’m not holding my breath.
It’ll be a cold day in hell before I support Reilly for anything ever, plus he’s damaged from shooting his foot off repeatedly in the gov primaries last year.
I know nothing about Donoghue, but not being a direct part of the MA bureaucratic octopus is a plus. The last thing MA needs is a promotion for someone who’s part of the problem.
Based on everything that I’ve seen/read, Kerrigan would probably be the best candidate.
I hope we can get a better Democrat than Meehan out of the deal no matter what happens. (While we’re at it, can we replace Ed Markey, too? Please?)
I know Niki Tsongas (at least i used to) when I worked for her husband’s Presidential campaign (I was Houston-area coordinator for him and was a Tsongas delegate to the national convention). She impressed me as a very warm and caring person. I honestly never thought about her running for anything (this was pre-HRC, so no one really thought of any politician’s spouse as a future candidate). But she was very smart and was better at public speaking than her husband (which, unfortunately, wasn’t saying a lot). I always had the impression that she was probably more liberal than Paul. He, of course, was as liberal as you got (at least by 1992 standards) on social issues, but more conservative on fiscal and economic issues (even today, I would argue that his positions on those issues weren’t conservative, in the modern sense, but that was the impression that stuck). It will be interesting to see what her platform looks like.