Kennedy, Markey clash in first U.S. Senate debate
Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy III turned up the heat in their U.S. Senate race Tuesday, with the congressman using his first primary debate as an opportunity to dissect the sitting senator’s record in an effort to strike contrast between the two similarly liberal politicians.
But Kennedy faced a reckoning of his own Tuesday, when he was repeatedly asked by WGBH moderators during the debate — and afterward by the press — why he would make a better senator than the incumbent.
“Filing the right legislation and voting the right way is a critical part of this job,” Kennedy, the 4th District U.S. Representative, said.
But, “this is all about power,” Kennedy continued, arguing that he’s the one who can “leverage every ounce of power that comes with a Massachusetts Senate seat to go out there and rebuild the bench to deliver on the structural change that is necessary.”
Kennedy said at the top of the hourlong debate, “This isn’t about whether or not Sen. Markey has made important contributions, of course he has.”
But the 39-year-old spent the rest of the night arguing for new leadership and working to poke holes in the 73-year-old Markey’s four decades in the House and Senate.
The incumbent senator was quick to rattle off his legislative accomplishments, from securing $25 million for gun violence research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to his championing of research for an Alzheimer’s cure, to his co-authoring of the Green New Deal with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who he made sure to name-drop several times.
“The challenges of today, I’ve not only been leading, but I’ve been delivering with legislation which passes,” Markey said.
The two went on to tangle over campaign finance, with Kennedy calling for Markey to take the People’s Pledge to limit third-party spending in their race.
Markey, who has previously taken the pledge, is now offering an updated version that would “welcome positive voices” like progressive activist groups as long as they disclose their donors, though he skirted around saying who would decide what counts as positive.
The two also clashed over Markey’s vote authorizing the Iraq war — he called it
“a mistake” and said he’s “still angry about that lie to the American people” — and his “present” vote on allowing then-President Barack Obama’s use of force in Syria.
While Kennedy brought the weight of his famous last name Tuesday without delving deep into his family’s history, Markey sought to play up his working-class upbringing with references to his family’s roots in Lawrence and Malden — another contrast in a race where disparities between the two on major issues are few.
One area of overlap was a shared priority to defeat
President Trump — though they both stopped short of calling him unfit to serve.
Markey said Trump “has crazy ideas,” while Kennedy said, “His actions alone disqualify him from office.”