Thursday, August 20, 2020

Voices of Franklin: Raymond D Milici - "Kennedy Supporter! Not Anymore"

In 2012, at a house party here in Franklin Massachusetts, I met a young man who wanted to get into politics and run as a US Representative in the 4th congressional district. I listened to him and I was quite impressed with what he was saying. He seemed to be compassionate, concerned and wanted to do good for the people in the state and country. His name happened to be Joe Kennedy. I've been a strong supporter of Representative Kennedy and was happy and proud to have helped in his campaign. 

That has changed for me since his decision to run for the Senate in the Democratic primary, challenging Senator Edward Markey. Even in politics, there should be a moral code of what's right and what's wrong. Running against Senator Markey is just plain wrong. The Senator is a well respected public servant who has been fighting for racial, economic and environmental justice. He is a proven effective leader. There is no good reason why Representative Kennedy should run against Senator Markey.

His decision to challenge Senator Markey has given me a totally different perspective of who Kennedy is. I thought I was supporting a different kind of politician. An idealistic young man who could rise in the Democratic Party with patience and persistence without hurting anyone. I guess I was just being naïve. It turns out he is one of those typical politicians, ready to step on and step over anyone that gets in the way. 

At a time when Democrats should be focused on winning the White House, the Kennedy campaign has managed to divide the Democrats, spending precious time and resources on an unnecessary primary election. But that doesn't seem to matter. After all, he's a Kennedy, a man of wealth and privilege, who thinks the senate seat belongs to the Kennedy family, not a guy from a working class family in Malden. I decided to vote for the working class guy. I hope my fellow Democrats will do the same.

Raymond D Milici,
75 Grey Wolf Dr,
Franklin MA 02038

2 comments:

  1. I certainly understand your point- it's politics. Markey and Kennedy will continue to be allies after this run-off. It bothers me that the incumbent feels entitled to the seat. Markey's spent 44 years in DC- he exited the working class long ago. I laud Markey's accomplishments and the manner in which he's represented us, and he's a reliable progressive vote. However, when is it time to turn over the reins to the next generation?

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    1. If he's spent 44 years in DC and is still effective, I'm definitely not going to let age be the thing that determines whether it's time to hand the reigns over. Sure, Markey isn't entitled to the seat, but Kennedy has absolutely nothing to new offer that entitles him to the seat either. It would be pretty silly to "fix" something that isn't broken, especially for another candidate who is a very unreliable progressive.

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