Congressman Michael Capuano is officially not runningin the Massachusetts special election to replace John Kerry. Capuano is a good House Democrat that represents Somerville very well. Overall, I like Capuano's record but I am glad that he decided to put the people of Massachusetts first and leave the field so Ed Markey has a better shot at not having to go through a primary. I can only hope that Capuano is able to get more seniority in the House so when the Democrats take it back, Capuano can lead an important committee and make his mark on one issue. Perhaps he could be the Massachusetts Democrat to take it to the military-industrial complex like Markey has taken on Big Oil and Elizabeth Warren has taken on Wall Street.
Since Capuano and state Senator Ben Downing have both declined to run, the only other potential challenger to Markey on the Democratic side is Stephen Lynch, who is a Conservadem that should be primaried out of office(I haven't forgotten nor have I forgiven him for voting no to Obamacare) since he holds positions that do not represent Massachusetts in any way(Lynch is anti-choice. Of course not to the degree that the extreme GOPers are.) If I were the DCCC, I'd threaten to fund a primary challenger to Lynch if Lynch doesn't play ball and drop out.
Lawrence O'Donnell in his Rewrite last night pointed out why Markey's chances of winning the election are wicked pissah, and that Scott Brown might decide that debating Markey would be wicked hahd(hard), and Brown might like it bettah(better) to be runnin' for Govuhnah(Governor) since he might think the job would be wicked awesome. Anyway, the GOP would be hard-pressed to win if Brown decides to concentrate on running for Governor, a race that he could win by running against Beacon Hill(the state legislature) and against perceived cronyism.
Ed Markey Links:
Ed Markey for Senate campaign site
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Ed Markey-ActBlue page-2013 MA-Sen