We're going to say one more thing about the #masen race because there are lots of non-MA people on here making lots of grand pronouncements.
Markey won with progressives, no doubt. But he also won in places that are commonly thought of liberal but progressive hotbeds...
...wealthy, highly-educated, and not particularly diverse. (In other words, communities like Newton, Brookline, the suburbs between Boston & Worcester). That's all fine, it was a good strategy for him.
But he was also uniquely qualified to succeed at that strategy. Why?
For one, he does truly have progressive bona fides. He was long one of the most liberal members of MA's House delegation & has a long record on issues like environment, etc. So he was v. authentic on those issues, meaning progressives didn't need to be converted to support him.
Two, his base of support - given his House district - was exactly the kind of leafy, wealthy suburbs that tend to decide statewide elections in MA. He was a known quantity to them (so was Joe Kennedy, to be fair). But again, not a lot of converting needed.
Three, because he has served so long in the House and now the Senate, he can be seem by the leafy suburban folks as part of the Establishment. So ironically enough, the progressives see him as progressive but the Establishment-types didn't see him as an upstart.
If we had to guess, that is why he won. It was a smart strategy on his part and the part of his campaign, but also really difficult for any other candidate - who doesn't have Markey's record and longevity - to pull off.
(This should have read "liberal but not progressive hotbeds)".
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