In the Massachusetts race for U.S. Senate, Sen. Ed Markey is running for what he says will be his last term, while Republican John Deaton is once again challenging a democratic incumbent.
Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos joined Ray Graf on Midday Magazine to discuss Tuesday night's debate.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: this conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Graf: How did last night's Senate debate play out?
Paleologopoulos: The Gov. Maura Healey debate with Mike Minogue was fun, organized. Well, 'fun's' a subjective word, of course, but the Senate debate between Ed Markey and John Deaton was a little bit more all over the place. We had WBZ, CBS, Boston hosting. To give you a good example, the first question had to do with healthcare costs and single payer healthcare, and so on and so forth. And instead, we saw both candidates come out of the gate with their own introductions. They wanted to squeeze those in, and then some of the attacks viewers ended up hearing all night.
Deaton: You notice how he didn't answer the question. Why did you endorse a man that blamed rape victims that sent pics on an app senator crawling with minors called Predators Paradise? 70% of the users are 13-year-olds to 22-year-olds. I've never endorsed Donald Trump, but you endorsed him. Why would you want him to go to Washington and work with you? We have enough poverty.
Markey: John, do you know what the people watching this debate want to know right now? They want to know why their gasoline prices are skyrocketing, why their healthcare costs are skyrocketing, why their electricity prices are skyrocketing, why their food prices are skyrocketing. That's what they want a debate on, and that's what this is all about. It's all about Trump's policies, which have had a severe adverse impact on ordinary families watching this debate tonight, and they want to know where the solutions are.
Paleologopoulos: So some context here. Deaton really came out swinging, knocking Markey for supporting former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner earlier in the election cycle. Markey, meanwhile, was pretty set on tying Platner to the Trump administration as much as possible, routinely reminding voters of rising prices, like you just heard, and the possibility that if elected, Deaton could end up being a deciding vote in the Senate.
Graf: Now, for those who are not familiar, frame the race for us.
Paleologopoulos: It's definitely been an uphill battle for Deaton, who has been pretty upfront with us in the past about that. Deaton is an attorney currently living in Bolton, Massachusetts — central Mass. Of course, our listeners definitely first heard of him during his challenge to Democrat Elizabeth Warren. That bid fell flat. Speaking with us earlier this year, Deaton made it clear that appealing with two disaffected Democrats, including supporters of Seth Moulton, who was Markey's primary opponent, that would be key to his bid as well as running up independent and Republican support. Markey, meanwhile, has been pretty straightforward. That if he wins another term in the Senate. This will be his final six years in Congress. Markey is currently 80 years old. Massachusetts voters have been sending Markey to Washington for about half a century already. Most of that as a representative on the other side of the state. Getting various pieces of progressive legislation across the finish line has been part of his pledge to this election cycle. As has been investigating the Trump administration, and hopefully he says restoring a litany of funding dollars that were cut and seized earlier in this current Trump administration.
Graf: Any particular highlights from last night?
Paleologopoulos: Markey again and again, brought up the Strait of Hormuz, accused Deaton of potentially voting in lockstep with Senate Republicans if elected. He brought up the fact that Deaton's contributed — he kept using the figure $350,000 to GOP, and Deaton again and again kept reiterating that he is not a Trump supporter. Did not vote for Trump, so on and so forth. Matters of green energy came up. Deaton is very much in favor of building small nuclear reactors around the Commonwealth. Markey is much more set on other green energy alternatives. Marky's also for expanding the Supreme Court. It's just there's a lot going on here. We actually had some other sound as well.
Deaton: You've had four Democratic presidents. We're talking Carter. We're talking Clinton, Biden, Obama, and he didn't get it done. You've had four times, Senator, what's called a Democratic trifecta. You had the House, the Senate, and the presidency, and you didn't get any of this done. And you want to know why they don't get immigration done? You want to know why he didn't codify Roe v. Wade? You want to know why he didn't increase the minimum wage? Because if they fix it, they can't can't paint on it. They can't raise money on it.
Markey: You needed the movement to create the momentum to create that moment. That's what I did. That's where we are right now with Medicare for all. 90% of all Democrats want us to stop moving towards Medicare for all. 60% of all voters in the United States now want us to move towards Medicare. This takes momentum, and it only comes from a movement that comes from leadership. That is what I am providing because we do have a healthcare system in crisis, and the people who are watching this tonight know that is a reality for them.
Paleologopoulos: Again, a little bit more context there. That was another refrain of Deaton's, just mentioning the fact that Markey's been in Congress for so long, and technically, there's been a handful of Democratic trifectas, an opportune time for passing all kinds of progressive legislation. And Markey retorted a few times, basically emphasizing that's the kind of progressive legislation like that gets passed when there's momentum behind it. And he's hoping to build more and get it done with his last term.
Graf: So, what are the polls saying?
Paleologopoulos: It's not great for Deaton. Last one from Mass Inc. Polling and Commonwealth Beacon shows Ed Markey with a 52% to 26% lead over John Deaton. Deaton's numbers have actually shrunk a little bit this election cycle.
