While PPP may show Congressman Ed Markey (D. MA) leading businessman Gabriel Gomez (R. MA) by four points in the 2013 Massachusetts U.S. Senate Special Election, Suffolk University paints a different picture:
http://www.masslive.com/...
A polling organization that accurately forecast the outcome of the last two Massachusetts Senate races and the 2010 governor’s contest says its first survey of next month’s special Senate election shows U.S. Rep. Edward Markey with a 17-point lead over Republican Gabriel Gomez.
The new Suffolk University/7NEWS poll results show a significant 32 percent of likely voters are undecided about Gomez, a Cohasset Republican running for statewide office for the first time, a reality that will make his ability to define himself, or be defined by his opponents, critical in the coming weeks.
Likely voters indicated the economy is the top issue in the campaign, a stance Gomez agrees with, but 71 percent of those surveyed said an agreement between the candidates to limit outside campaign spending is an important campaign issue. Markey has repeatedly challenged Gomez to take the so-called People’s Pledge, but Gomez has refused and pointed at special interest money accepted by Markey over the years.
Among 500 likely voters surveyed, Markey was the preference of 52 percent, Gomez 38 percent and 11 percent were undecided. A third candidate, Richard Heos, was chosen by 1 percent. The poll was conducted May 4 - May 7 and carries a margin of error of 4.4 percent. Among the respondents, 266 were unenrolled, 178 were Democrats and 54 were Republicans, mirroring the state’s enrollment breakdown. - Te Republican, 5/8/13
Now I don't know how consistent Suffolk's polling has been but these numbers are sure to make the Markey campaign smile. But they aren't taking this race for granted and neither should we. The election is Tuesday, June 25th so anything could happen in between now and then. Especially with the outside money Gomez will be bringing into this race to smear Markey:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Markey called on Gomez to take a pledge, similar to one signed by Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Scott Brown in the 2012 Senate race, preventing outside organizations from advertising. Gomez has said he will not take any pledges. “He is saying very clearly that he is welcoming in the Koch brothers and Karl Rove into the state of Massachusetts,” Markey said, referring to the Republican activists and strategist. - The Republican, 4/30/13
Not to mention a lot of money is riding on Gomez in this race:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
A ThinkProgress review of Gomez’s campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission reveals that in addition to more than $600,000 in candidate loans to his committee, he has reported about $646,000 in identified contributions through April. Of that, about half (roughly $330,000) came from investors, bankers, and the like. More than $35,000 of that came from his former colleagues at Advent International and another $12,900 came from investors with various affiliates of Mitt Romney’s old firm, Bain Capital.
An analysis by David S. Bernstein, a former Boston Phoenix journalist, also found that an additional $44,550 came from spouses of those investors, who listed no occupations of their own.
It makes sense that wealthy investors would really to one of their own. The biography on Gomez’s campaign website says Gomez “experienced how onerous taxes and excessive regulation are barriers to job creation.” Elsewhere on his website, he indicates that he wants to reduce the budget deficit through significant spending cuts, but not through new revenue. “We recently raised taxes on the wealthy, and on every worker in America with the payroll tax hike. It is time now to reach across the aisle and work together to enact meaningful spending reductions in a fair and equitable way, without hurting our military preparedness,” he opines. Gomez himself received more than $993,000 last year in salary and bonuses. - Think Progress, 5/7/13
And Gomez isn't afraid to fight dirty:
http://www.masslive.com/...
Before he was a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, Gabriel Gomez was active in an organization that released a controversial video attacking President Barack Obama for jeopardizing national security by releasing information related to the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden.
Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, was a media spokesman for Special Operations OPSEC Education Team, a group of former members of the military and intelligence services who say their mission is to stop politicians – particularly Obama – from “politically capitalizing on U.S. national security operations and secrets.”
The group released a 22-minute film in August, during Obama’s reelection campaign, titled “Dishonorable Disclosures: How leaks and politics threaten our national security,” which got more than 5 million views on YouTube.
Much of the film is dedicated to Obama’s handling of the killing of bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. In the film, retired intelligence and military officers criticize Obama for taking credit for the killing and revealing too much information.
Gomez appeared on MSNBC after the video was released as an OPSEC spokesman. Gomez took a less harsh line against Obama than the film did, saying Obama deserves credit for deciding to kill bin Laden. “You have to give him absolutely 100 percent credit for making the call to send the unit in to get bin Laden,” he said. But Gomez criticized Obama for taking too much credit and not giving enough to the troops.
“The only time that…(Abraham) Lincoln and (Dwight) Eisenhower and other wartime presidents ever used the word 'I' was when they said 'I thank you' to the troops,” Gomez said. “The point of the video is to highlight the difference between the current administration and how they viewed giving credit as opposed to other wartime presidents that have given credit in a different way.”
The Obama campaign accused OPSEC of trying to “Swift Boat” the president, a reference to attacks regarding 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s military service in Vietnam. - The Republican, 2/15/13
So yeah, we're just getting started and we have a big and expensive fight ahead of us. We can't and we won't allow another Republican upset victory to happen. We know that, Massachusetts Democrats know that, Ed Markey knows that. He's been a running a great campaign, hitting Gomez on the issues while giving the voters plenty of reasons to vote for him. Check out his new ad touting his work on telecom policy:
Plus Governor Deval Patrick (D. MA) is out on the campaign trail with Markey:
http://www.masslive.com/...
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, will attend a campaign rally for Democratic Senate candidate Edward Markey on Wednesday evening.
Patrick and Markey will hold an event, which will be open to the public, at 5:30 p.m. at The Place, a restaurant in downtown Boston. - The Republican, 5/8/13
If you would like to get involved with the Markey campaign or make a donation, you can do so here:
http://www.edmarkey.com/