Last night I had the privilege of seeing former President Bill Clinton speak at a rally in Lowell for congressional candidate Niki Tsongas. It was a hell of a night.
Some background for non-Bay Staters: Niki Tsongas, most recently a dean at Middlesex Community College, is the widow of the late and much beloved former Senator Paul Tsongas. She is running for Massachusetts' 5th district seat, recently vacated by Marty Meehan, in a special election to be held October 16.
Niki's GOP opponent is Jim Ogonowski, a farmer, decorated veteran of the USAF, and brother of John Ogonowski, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, one of the planes used in the 9/11 attacks.
So this one is a contest of competing emotions. On the one hand, Paul Tsongas is a near-legendary figure in Lowell, the largest urban area of the 5th district. No public figure in recent memory was as respected or well-liked. He is sorely missed. On the other, a "war hero" and victim of terrorism. Who gets the sympathy vote?
The Democrats are concerned because normally a 5th district race would be a cake walk. Sometimes there hasn't even been a Republican candidate. This time, however, the polls are close. Or at least closer than Lowell Democrats like:
A SurveyUSA poll, conducted for WBZ-TV in early September, showed Ogonowski trailing Niki Tsongas by a narrow 51%-41% margin. National Republicans say they are looking at similar data, while questioning why, if Democrats have polls showing Tsongas up by a wider margin, those polls haven't leaked.
Redstate has it closer, at 5 points, but they're hardly objective. Still, even 10 points, for the widow of the sainted Paul Tsongas and hand-picked successor to the well-liked Meehan (his wife is Tsongas' campaign manager), is a less-than-comfortable margin.
So what do you do in this situation? You bring out the big guns, that's what. The very fact that the party felt they needed to bring in President Clinton for a Massachusetts congressional race is a sign of how seriously they take the Ogonowski threat. That's good. In my informal "yard sign polling" taken while driving around the area, Ogonowski signs way outnumber Tsongas signs. Not very scientific, I admit, but it still doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies.
So Bill. He was running late (what else is new) because his plane broke down and he had to drive from Westchester to northern Massachusetts, but it was well worth the wait. God, he's good. No cue cards, no notes. He just spoke extemporaneously for about an hour. Funny, charming, smart, and on-point. He talked about the war and SCHIP and getting more women into politics (he made a point of underscoring how important he thought that was!). He talked about what a bad message it would send to elect a Republican in this, the bluest of states, in the face of overwhelming opposition to the Bush war policies. He brought down the house.
I was desperately hoping to meet him, even just to shake his hand. I had three children with me (the boy I do mentoring with, his younger brother, and one of his friends), and I was hoping they'd get the chance to say they'd shaken hands with the greatest president of their lifetimes (OK, admittedly they're only 15, 13, and 7, but still...). Unfortunately, my "connection," Massachusetts State Senator Steve Baddour (a hell of a guy in his own right; remember that name, because we'll be hearing from him) couldn't make it happen. Oh, well. The kids still got to see what a real political rally is all about (music and chanting and doing "the wave"), and hear Clinton and our fantastic new governor, Deval Patrick, speak. Definitely worth keeping them up past bedtime!
So two weeks to go. If you're from the region, I urge you, if you are able, to help get Niki into Congress. Keep Massachusetts blue!