U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi served side-by-side in the House with Edward J. Markey, our state's junior U.S. Senator, for 26 years, from 1987 to 2013. That did not inhibit her last week from endorsing Markey's challenger in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary for U.S. Senator, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, III.
The speaker said she was motivated by appreciation of Kennedy's critical work in raising funds and campaigning for Democratic candidates for the House in 2018, which contributed to the party's regaining the House majority and to Pelosi's ability to secure the speakership for the second time in her history-making career.
Politico reported that an aide to the speaker said. "...Pelosi was also concerned after the Markey campaign started ramping up its attacks on the Kennedy name, 'going after Joe, his family, his supporters and the Kennedy family policy legacy.' "
Her support of the Kennedys goes back to her beginnings in Baltimore. Her father, Thomas D'Alessandro, Jr., a former Baltimore mayor (1947-59), was a prominent organizer and campaigner for John F. Kennedy in his bid for the presidency. That was 60 years ago.
The speaker had good reasons for injecting herself into the fierce contest between Senator Markey and Rep. Kennedy.
She also had reasons enough to give the race a good leaving-alone:
One, Pelosi had made it a policy point in her new speakership not to get involved in Democratic congressional primaries. As soon as she broke her own rule, progressives in her party, such as Andrea Ocasio Cortez, known nationwide by her initials, AOC, wasted no time in calling her a hypocrite.
Two, young Joe Kennedy -- let's call him JPK III -- never asked Pelosi for her endorsement. (Do you go where you're not invited?)
Three, endorsements are almost always a mixed bag in politics. For every analyst who thinks they matter there's another who asserts they're insignificant.
Indeed, there was evidence that Pelosi's thumb on the scales gave an immediate boost to Markey's fundraising.
The Boston Globe reported this past Saturday, Aug. 22, that: (a) "the Kennedy campaign said it raised more than $100,000, mostly in small donations, on the heels of the high-profile endorsement," and (b) "the Markey campaign said...it raised more than $300,000, via roughly 9,000 individual donations, since Pelosi announced her endorsement of Kennedy."
The timing of the endorsement perhaps offers deeper insight into the speaker's decision. But before I go into that, I want to state that Markey deserves to be returned to the Senate and that I have already voted early for him.
Pelosi endorsed JPK III shortly after a video advertisement for Markey went viral. You may have seen or heard of this product, titled "The Green New Dealmaker." It offered a new twist on President Kennedy's immortal statement at his inaugural: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
Highlighting how hard the pandemic has been on the nation's essential workers, the majority of whom earn low wages, Markey concludes the video by saying, "We asked what we can do for our country. We went out, we did it. With all due respect, it's time to start asking what your country can do for you."
Given the state of our nation today, that formulation was not inappropriate, nor was it disrespectful of the Kennedys. I don't get how it could have riled up the speaker to the point she'd violate her own policy and feed dissension in her House.
There was one thing about "The Green New Dealmaker," however, that I could see ticking Pelosi off to the point that she just had to speak out publicly on Markey v. Kennedy.
At a pivot point in the ad, an ultra-serious Markey comes into view, facing the camera head-on, and declares, "Well, they call me the dealmaker!"
Shortly, he announces, "I put the deal on the table but the people make it impossible to refuse. With 500 laws on the books, do you think I'm gonna stop now? [dramatic pause] They wish!"
Could it be this simple? Ed Markey had an 11-year jump on Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House and she got to be speaker. Who's the dealmaker here?
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