No question the after the first PPP poll after Ed Markey's 16 point win it's clear that this may be a very tough fight for Markey. Gomez is a former Navy Seal, it doesn't hurt that he's a Latino-giving him the look of someone different-while neutralizing to an extent the GOP image of being the party of old white men-not that Mr. Gomez's ethnicity proves that this image is undeserved. The argument that he's new blood against a Washington insider has a certain air of plausibility.
Greg Sargent has just interviewed Congressman Markey:
"I just got off the phone with longtime Congressman Ed Markey, the newly-minted Dem Senate nominee from Massachusetts, and it’s clear he’s expecting a very tough and hard fought race against his GOP challenger, former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/03/progressive-ed-markey-gears-up-for-a-tough-senate-race/
Tough to argue that it will be tough.
"A new Public Policy Polling survey shows Markey leading by only four points, 44-40, with Gomez up among independents, 47-31."
Markey however, takes the right view. There will after all be polls every day.
"There are going to be polls coming out every single day — you just can’t pay attention to them,” Markey told me when I asked if the poll suggested an uncomfortably close race. “I just won by 16 points three days ago in the primary. Not one poll had it right.”
The GOP plans to market this as a race between old blood and new blood:
"Republicans are planning to aggressively attack Markey as too liberal and elitist to win over blue collar independents and even Democrats in places like South Boston — a similar line of attack leveled at Warren. (A Republican needs lots of crossover Dems to win in Massachusetts. The PPP poll puts Gomez at 21 percent among them, suggesting reluctance among conservative Dems to embrace Markey, at least for now.) Republicans also point to Markey’s long service in Congress — and Gomez’s relative youth and newcomer status — to argue that an outsider has a real chance of defeating a longtime politician. As NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring puts it: “Ed Markey is a stale candidate and his campaign has the feel of a ’78 Ford Pinto. Gabriel Gomez is the future, Ed Markey is the past.”
This approach has some plausibility but the idea that Markey is too liberal and too elitist is itself and old play. They tried this against Elizabeth Warren as well.
"Asked to respond to those arguments, Markey brushed them off. “Gabriel Gomez is the candidate of the past,” Markey said. “He’s embracing the Republican playbook. He is against a woman’s right to choose. He is against banning assault weapons and magazines. He supports devastating cuts to Social Security that would hurt our seniors. He’s opposed to a woman’s right to choose. All of those issues resonate very powerfully in Massachusetts.”
I think Markey has a good idea in painting Gomez as opposed to the President.
"He is arguing that President Obama’s economic agenda is wrong,” Markey continued. “In Massachusetts we have an unemployment rate that is far below the national average. He is out of step with what has worked for Massachusetts.”
He's also pointing out Gabriel's affiliation with a group of Navy Seals that attacked the President on the killing of Osama bin Laden:
"Markey – who has backing from national progressives because of his liberal positions on health care, energy, the environment, guns, and other issues — will aggressively attack Gomez for his work for an anonymously funded group of former SEALs and other military personnel behind a documentary that accused Obama of jeopardizing troop safety by leaking confidential information to take credit for Bin Laden’s killing — a potential liability in a blue state where Dems outnumber Republicans by three to one."
“The vast majority of people in Massachusetts disagree with Gabriel Gomez on the work that the president did to kill Osama,” Markey said. “But I think it’s very telling that he is now aligning himself with the secret money that the Super PACs brought to the rest of the nation in 2012 but was kept out by Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren. By not signing the People’s Pledge, Gabriel Gomez is making himself the poster boy for politics as usual.”
I think there are many ways to attack Gomez and win this race. However, I like the idea about Gomez as an opponent of the President. What really helped Warren turn it around-she was losing before the DNC convention-was when she successfully tied Scott Brown to the Republican party's filibuster machine in Washington. At the end of the day, Mr. Gomez has a nice background and may be an ok guy personally as was Mr. Brown. However, a vote for him is a vote for the McConnell filibuster juggernaut.
Greg Sargent has just interviewed Congressman Markey:
"I just got off the phone with longtime Congressman Ed Markey, the newly-minted Dem Senate nominee from Massachusetts, and it’s clear he’s expecting a very tough and hard fought race against his GOP challenger, former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/03/progressive-ed-markey-gears-up-for-a-tough-senate-race/
Tough to argue that it will be tough.
"A new Public Policy Polling survey shows Markey leading by only four points, 44-40, with Gomez up among independents, 47-31."
Markey however, takes the right view. There will after all be polls every day.
"There are going to be polls coming out every single day — you just can’t pay attention to them,” Markey told me when I asked if the poll suggested an uncomfortably close race. “I just won by 16 points three days ago in the primary. Not one poll had it right.”
The GOP plans to market this as a race between old blood and new blood:
"Republicans are planning to aggressively attack Markey as too liberal and elitist to win over blue collar independents and even Democrats in places like South Boston — a similar line of attack leveled at Warren. (A Republican needs lots of crossover Dems to win in Massachusetts. The PPP poll puts Gomez at 21 percent among them, suggesting reluctance among conservative Dems to embrace Markey, at least for now.) Republicans also point to Markey’s long service in Congress — and Gomez’s relative youth and newcomer status — to argue that an outsider has a real chance of defeating a longtime politician. As NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring puts it: “Ed Markey is a stale candidate and his campaign has the feel of a ’78 Ford Pinto. Gabriel Gomez is the future, Ed Markey is the past.”
This approach has some plausibility but the idea that Markey is too liberal and too elitist is itself and old play. They tried this against Elizabeth Warren as well.
"Asked to respond to those arguments, Markey brushed them off. “Gabriel Gomez is the candidate of the past,” Markey said. “He’s embracing the Republican playbook. He is against a woman’s right to choose. He is against banning assault weapons and magazines. He supports devastating cuts to Social Security that would hurt our seniors. He’s opposed to a woman’s right to choose. All of those issues resonate very powerfully in Massachusetts.”
I think Markey has a good idea in painting Gomez as opposed to the President.
"He is arguing that President Obama’s economic agenda is wrong,” Markey continued. “In Massachusetts we have an unemployment rate that is far below the national average. He is out of step with what has worked for Massachusetts.”
He's also pointing out Gabriel's affiliation with a group of Navy Seals that attacked the President on the killing of Osama bin Laden:
"Markey – who has backing from national progressives because of his liberal positions on health care, energy, the environment, guns, and other issues — will aggressively attack Gomez for his work for an anonymously funded group of former SEALs and other military personnel behind a documentary that accused Obama of jeopardizing troop safety by leaking confidential information to take credit for Bin Laden’s killing — a potential liability in a blue state where Dems outnumber Republicans by three to one."
“The vast majority of people in Massachusetts disagree with Gabriel Gomez on the work that the president did to kill Osama,” Markey said. “But I think it’s very telling that he is now aligning himself with the secret money that the Super PACs brought to the rest of the nation in 2012 but was kept out by Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren. By not signing the People’s Pledge, Gabriel Gomez is making himself the poster boy for politics as usual.”
I think there are many ways to attack Gomez and win this race. However, I like the idea about Gomez as an opponent of the President. What really helped Warren turn it around-she was losing before the DNC convention-was when she successfully tied Scott Brown to the Republican party's filibuster machine in Washington. At the end of the day, Mr. Gomez has a nice background and may be an ok guy personally as was Mr. Brown. However, a vote for him is a vote for the McConnell filibuster juggernaut.
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