Markey, Moulton Clash at Massachusetts Senate Debate Focused on Generational Change

While most political observers’ attention is trained on this week’s Michigan primaries, another significant intraparty fight for Democrats is unfolding in Massachusetts. Senator Ed Markey, the octogenarian progressive who has served in Congress for nearly 50 years, is being challenged by a Millennial congressman and Harvard-educated Marine. The Massachusetts battle is less about ideology and more about generational change. Enter Mr. Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton, who has represented the north shore of Massachusetts in the House since 2015. Mr. Moulton argues that Mr. Markey is simply too old and out-of-touch to adequately represent the commonwealth any longer. Mr. Markey, meanwhile, points to Mr. Moulton’s more moderate positions as a reason for Bay Staters to trust him for another six years. At the penultimate primary debate of this year’s Senate race, Messrs. Markey and Moulton got into a series of nasty back-and-forths about each other’s characters and each other’s records. At the outset, Mr. Markey attacked Mr. Moulton for supporting last year’s Pentagon funding bill, which passed just months before the war with Iran began. Mr. Markey also went after Mr. Moulton for not supporting Medicare for All, and for once saying in an interview with the New York Times that he did not want his young daughters to be “run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.” Mr. Moulton said that his party needed to have the “debate” about transgender student athletes. “He threw them under the political bus,” Mr. Markey said of Mr. Moulton’s comments about transgender athletes. Mr. Moulton in his opening statement said his campaign was about taking on the Democratic establishment, including the minority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, whom Mr. Moulton says needs to be removed from his position. Mr. Markey has not said whether or not he will support Mr. Schumer for another term as Democratic leader. “I’m not running against Ed Markey because I oppose his policies. In fact, we agree on most things,” Mr. Moulton said. “I’m running against a Washington establishment that puts personal power over public service and has been too weak to stand up to the fascist Trump agenda.”The debate only grew uglier from there. Mr. Moulton accused Mr. Markey of spending all of his time at his home in Maryland, while Mr. Markey attacked Mr. Moulton for private equity investments that were made by the congressman’s wife. Later, Mr. Moulton insinuated that Mr. Markey was somehow tied to Jeffrey Epstein, an allegation that Mr. Markey called “absolutely reprehensible.”Mr. Moulton did not answer a follow-up question from the debate moderators about Mr. Markey’s alleged ties to Epstein, though the congressman was likely referring to a number of emails sent between Epstein and Boston-based lawyer Bob Crowe, a Democratic fundraiser. Mr. Crowe and his assistants sent a number of emails to Epstein that mentioned Mr. Markey’s name, including an invitation to Epstein in 2015 to attend a fundraiser with the Massachusetts senator, as well as an email forwarded to Epstein by Mr. Crowe that mentioned a meeting that his firm had recently held with Mr. Markey. The Massachusetts Senate race is a unique one this year, in that the challenger is not coming after the incumbent from the left. Mr. Markey has been a member of Congress since November 1976 — first for more than 36 years in the House and now for the last 13 years in the Senate. He has long been at the forefront of progressive politics on Capitol Hill, and is consistently ranked as one of the most left-wing members of the U.S. Senate. He has been endorsed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in this year’s Senate race. Mr. Moulton — the Harvard-educated Marine with a decorated combat record — is closing the campaign with a message about Mr. Markey’s inability to fight. “If we want progressive change, we need new leaders,” he says in a new ad that he is running. “Some people want to wait for change, but our fight can’t wait.”

Markey, Moulton Clash at Massachusetts Senate Debate Focused on Generational Change

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