Therefore, Nancy Pelosi (California) decides to rep. Joe Kennedy III to agree in his disputed primary against sen. Ed Markey is so, so interesting.
“Never before have the times required us to elect courageous leaders like today. That’s why I’m proud to support Joe Kennedy for the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said in a distinguished video released by Kennedy’s campaign Thursday. “Massachusetts and America need the courage and leadership of Joe Kennedy in the Senate to fight for the change we need.”
0 moderate introducers.
Now Pelosi is a very, very smart politician. She knew that supporting Kennedy over Markey with less than two weeks before the two-square-foot in a Sept. 1 primary would primarily draw a lot of heat to her – and most of the liberals involved in Markey’s cause in the race have promised.
And yet, she did it anyway. Which brings me back to the central question: Why?
A Pelosi charity told CNN that Kennedy did not ask for the distinction, but that the speaker felt compelled as a result of the work of Congressman in the 2018 election cycle that played a key role in Democrats’ efforts to to take back the House. “
Note that Kennedy was named Vice-Chairman of the party’s campaign committee by Pelosi at the start of the 2018 midterm election cycle – thanks in large part to his ability to raise money from national Democratic donors by tent. of his famous surname. (His grandfather is the late screenwriter Robert F. Kennedy of New York; his father, Joe Kennedy II, held a congressional seat in Massachusetts for more than a decade.)
In that role, Kennedy raised more than $ 5 million for aspiring Democratic candidates – part of a broader effort that allowed Democrats to regain a majority in the House in November 2018.
What else would explain Pelosi’s willingness to take on this fight, one that no doubt diminishes in the eyes of some liberals, probably in and out of Congress? There’s no significant difference politically between Kennedy and Markey – a fact that even Kennedy speaks in general, and instead chose to focus on him being a much younger candidate (Kennedy is 39, Markey is 74) who ‘ t would take a more aggressive approach to representing the state in the First Chamber.
Aside from the fact that Pelosi has agreed to help Kennedy in his next political steps back in 2018, it is difficult to understand why she would deliberately address the anger of an important part of her party.
And in politics, the obvious answer is usually the right one.
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