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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
KENNEDY EYES MARKEY'S SEAT — Standing before a group of donors at a Cape Cod fundraiser last weekend, Sen. Ed Markey joked about his current political predicament.
When you run for public office, he told them, you either run unopposed or you run paranoid. The quip, according to a source who was present, was meant to convey that Markey takes his two announced primary challengers — business executive Steve Pemberton and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan — seriously.
But Markey has an even bigger reason to be paranoid: the last member of the Kennedy political dynasty has an eye on his Senate seat in 2020. A source close to Rep. Joe Kennedy III told me the congressman is considering a run and will decide whether to jump in the Senate race in the next few weeks, confirming a New York Times report that broke over the weekend.
It turns out that mysterious July telephone poll that tested Kennedy against Markey in a head-to-head contest did come from Kennedy. A group designed to draft Kennedy for Senate, inspired by that poll, has swelled over the last week. And the possible contest is already making waves in the world of Massachusetts politics.
The prospect of the 38-year-old Kennedy challenging the 73-year-old Markey is taking place against the backdrop of generational conflict within the state Democratic Party. One year after Ayanna Pressley took down then-Rep. Mike Capuano in a primary election, almost every member of the state's congressional delegation is being pressed by a primary challenger in 2020.
But there's another possibility making the rounds in state political circles: That the draft-Kennedy push could be designed to nudge Markey to retire rather than risk seeing his political career end in a primary defeat.
Markey is "running for reelection no matter who enters the race," according to his campaign, and has snagged endorsements from a majority of the congressional delegation, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Coalition for Social Justice.
"Joe and I, we speak regularly and we'll continue to talk," Markey told reporters at an unrelated event yesterday.
But a heavy-hitter candidate like Kennedy could change the equation. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was asked over the weekend whether she'll still support Markey, who she endorsed months ago, including on video. Markey and Kennedy both spoke at Warren's presidential campaign kickoff in January.
"Eddie has been a great partner in the Senate," Warren told the Times. "Joe Kennedy is also a great partner. ... He's really an amazing person."
It is a matter of weeks until Kennedy decides whether he's in or out, according to a source close to him. But potential candidates in Kennedy's 4th District are already making calls behind the scenes in the event he vacates the seat.
At least two people — state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Jesse Mermell of the Alliance for Business Leadership — are quietly reaching out to donors and operatives just in case, according to people who have spoken with them. Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss told me he'd consider running if the seat opens up. One candidate has filed to run in the primary regardless of Kennedy's intentions: Ihssane Leckey, a Democratic socialist and former Wall Street regulator.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: It's almost that time! Massachusetts Playbook is here all this week, but we won't publish next week. I'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker vacations in Gloucester. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attends the Hannah Kane Charity Classic In Boylston. Rep. Seth Moulton campaigns in Concord, N.H.
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NEW—POLITICO's UNITED NATIONS PLAYBOOK: The 74thSession of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four blocks in Gotham. POLITICO's man-about-town Ryan Heath will take you inside UNGA—revealing juicy details from the lighter-side of the gathering and insights into the most pressing global issues facing decision-makers today. Sign up for U.N. Playbook.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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— "How a trooper's alleged racist remark ignited the State Police overtime scandal," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "The woman was driving through the Ted Williams Tunnel on her way to Logan Airport on a weeknight three years ago when a Massachusetts State Police trooper popped out of nowhere in front of her car, arms flailing, gesturing to pull over. 'Do you not speak English?' the trooper yelled after she rolled down the window. An Asian-American with a medical degree from Harvard, the woman spoke four languages fluently. 'Sir? What should I do?' the woman recounted in a complaint she later filed. Again and again, the white trooper yelled, 'Don't you speak English?' she wrote, adding that several times he put his hands on his hips against his gun holster. Eventually, a second trooper at the scene handed her a ticket for driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. But the encounter with the first officer that night in October 2016 stayed with her."
MUST READ!
TO WIN RE-ELECTION, CHARLIE BAKER PROPOSED SOUTH COAST RAIL - A TEMPORARY + $1 BILLION POORLY CONCEIVED AND PLANNED PROJECT WITH NO RIDERSHIP PROJECTIONS. NOW? AFTER A YEAR OF STUDY, CHARLIE BAKER HAS NO PLAN! CHARLIE BAKER IS TOO PRE-OCCUPIED WITH FUND-RAISING TO DO HIS JOB.
— "Dukakis: Baker Has No 'Serious Plan For Dealing With Congestion,'" by Arjun Singh, WGBH News: "Former Gov. Michael Dukakis thinks that when it comes to managing transportation in the state, Gov. Charlie Baker has been doing 'not so hot.' To Dukakis, who was famous for being spotted on the MBTA, the governor has no vision when it comes to the potential of public transportation throughout Massachusetts. 'You've got to have a plan,' Dukakis said during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Friday. 'What's the vision? What're you trying to do here?' Dukakis has long advocated for the North-South Rail Link, a proposal to add a rail line that connects North and South station."
EXCERPT:
Dukakis also said that Baker has not proposed a “serious plan for dealing with congestion yet.” For Dukakis, the key to solving Boston’s transportation crisis is expanding the MBTA’s rail network to other cities. Once that is done, Dukakis believes, it will reduce the high demand for housing in Boston and improve economic productivity throughout the state.
— "Advocates wary of tighter rules affecting immigration," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "State leaders and immigration advocates are criticizing new federal rules that will require immigrants to show they won't be a burden on taxpayers, saying the regulations will hurt families seeking health care, housing and other public programs. The rules, which were released on Wednesday and go into effect Oct. 15, change how the federal government determines if an immigrant is likely to need public assistance such as food stamps, housing and Medicaid, ostensibly making it more difficult for low-income immigrants to secure permanent residency status or temporary visas."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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— "Mayor Marty Walsh Stands By Police Sweep On Melnea Cass Boulevard," by Zoe Mathews, WGBH News: "After an alleged assault on a correctional officer, Boston police swept the area around Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue last week, arresting dozens and telling homeless people to relocate. Police were seen destroying wheelchairs during the action, which authorities are calling "Operation Clean Sweep." City Councilor Michelle Wu described the move as "cruel." Boston Mayor Marty Walsh stood by the action, and told Boston Public Radio on Friday the sweep highlights a tightrope the city is walking to provide vital resources to addicts and maintain public safety ."
— "Hundreds rally at City Hall Plaza against gun violence," by John Hilliard and Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: "Hundreds of demonstrators backing tougher national gun control laws rallied Sunday afternoon at Boston City Hall Plaza to demand that federal lawmakers pass laws to expand background checks and prevent people deemed to be a danger from possessing firearms. The rally, one of many scheduled across the country this weekend by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, came after a wave of mass shootings, including most recently ones in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, which together left 31 dead and scores injured. The shootings have left the nation roiled in a bitter debate over guns ahead of the 2020 presidential election."
— "MIT's Joi Ito on Work with Jeffrey Epstein: 'I Am Terribly Sorry,'" by Spencer Buell, Boston Magazine: "Before the allegations of running a child sex trafficking ring caught up to Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire was a regular fixture in Boston's academic circles, cavorting with bigwigs at Harvard, writing big checks for investments on campus, and seeding research into artificial intelligence and other subject areas with much-needed donations. As that community is coming to terms with its ties to the accused pedophile, who was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell on August 10, MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito is asking for forgiveness. Writing in an open letter on his department's website, Ito acknowledged the prestigious research center's ties to Epstein, who was a frequent guest and made several donations to the lab."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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— "A day at South Station: A gateway to Boston, an intersection of many different lives," by Deanna Pan, Boston Globe: "Each morning, as the first trace of dawn kisses an inkblot sky, a crush of humanity begins its course through South Station: corporate suits hurrying to work, college students racing to class, weary commuters, lost-looking tourists, addicts searching for a bathroom stall in which to shoot up, homeless people seeking respite after a fitful night outdoors. A thoroughfare for most, a refuge for others. Tens of thousands of lives, brushing past one another in the chaos of the crowded station, thrust closely together, yet apart in their own worlds. Many bury their heads in their phones, private symphonies thrumming in their ears, their eyes looking straight ahead, or at nothing at all."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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— "Warren works to overcome hurdles with black voters in S.C." by Annie Linskey, The Washington Post: "At services Sunday morning, a pastor misidentified Sen. Elizabeth Warren's husband. The day before, the man introducing Warren at the Black Church PAC presidential candidate forum in Atlanta inaccurately said she was from the "great state of New Hampshire." The mistakes were minor, but they show the Massachusetts Democrat is struggling to introduce herself to black voters, even after eight months of nonstop campaigning. Other candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, also tried to expand their appeal among nonwhite voters this weekend, as they campaigned in South Carolina and Georgia."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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— "Seth Moulton's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer vacation," by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: "Seth Moulton has been a busy man. The North Shore congressman has been crisscrossing the early presidential-primary states like any of the viable candidates. Just last week, he hit Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, before heading to Weare, Exeter, and Hillsborough in New Hampshire. He ate corn dogs and ice cream. And America ignored him — as it has, resolutely, since he announced his candidacy in April. In poll after poll after poll, Moulton has registered at zero percent. Yes, zero. The same number your dog or cat would poll. Yet the Harvard-educated US Marine Corps veteran soldiers on. He has not approached any of the benchmarks for getting onto the overcrowded Democratic debate stage. Is this any way to waste a perfectly good summer?"
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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— "Should paying your rent on time count on your credit score? Rep. Ayanna Pressley proposes housing solutions at Cambridge forum," by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: "Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley described the lack of affordable housing as a crisis and the number one issue in her district at a workshop Thursday night on housing held at The Link in Cambridge. But it's not just an issue for millennials but everyone who wants to get on the property ladder. 'I'm 45, and my husband and I just purchased our first house,' said Rep. Ayanna Pressley. 'Because we wanted to change the legacy of our families.' The situation for millennials isn't good, with a report in the New York Times citing people having multiple jobs to cover the costs of bills and rent. Entering the housing market isn't affordable with salaries not meeting the costs of living particularly in larger cities."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "FRESH COP," "HACKS FIND THEIR SCAPEGOAT," — Globe: "It's a new world as businesses go global," "Jewish groups eye grants for security," "AN ANGER UNDAMPENED."
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| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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— "Northampton City Council backs Green New Deal," by Bera Dunau, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "The City Council passed a youth-powered resolution on first reading at its Thursday meeting calling on the federal government to pass a Green New Deal. The Green New Deal was outlined in a resolution released earlier this year by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-Queens, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, calling for a 10-year national mobilization to tackle climate change and spur economic prosperity. Some of its elements include a commitment to transitioning the United States to getting its power from 100 percent renewable, clean and zero-emission sources within a decade; upgrading infrastructure, overhauling the transportation system, and creating millions of high-paying jobs."
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CLIMATE CHANGE - THE BORDERLESS THREAT - Nowhere are the long-term costs of short-term thinking more detrimental than with the environment & global climate change. How can policymakers overcome the political roadblocks of the moment to take long-term action? In the third chapter of POLITICO's podcast "Global Translations", presented by Citi, host Luiza Savage will welcome special guests to explore both the science & politics of climate change, and the geopolitical implications that it presents. Subscribe and listen now.
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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— "'Nip' ban having an impact in Chelsea," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "CHELSEA'S BAN on 'nip' liquor bottles — the only one of its kind in the state — appears to be having the desired effect. In the year since the city banned sale of the tiny 50-ml bottles of hard liquor, public drunkenness has diminished, alcohol-related ambulance responses are way down, and there has been a reduction in the number of people taken into protective custody for alcohol intoxication. Merchants and local officials also say the litter caused by discarded nip bottles has largely disappeared. A two-mile walk through downtown Chelsea on on a recent weekday uncovered no nip bottles and no larger empty alcohol containers on the ground."
— "Meet the candidates: Worcester School Committee." Link.
TRANSITIONS — Emma Sands joins Beto O'Rourke's New Hampshire campaign operation as deputy press secretary. Sands is an alum of state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg's office.
WEEKEND WEDDINGS — "Tali Warburg, Jeffrey Goldstein"- via NYT: "In September, Ms. Warburg, 27, is to begin work in Boston in corporate strategy for Optum, a health care services division of the UnitedHealth Group.... In September, Mr. Goldstein, 29, is to begin his third year of a dual degree program, where he will spend the fall semester studying for a master's in public administration at Harvard, and the spring semester studying for an M.B.A. at Dartmouth. Previously, he worked in Washington for the Obama administration as deputy chief of staff and special assistant to the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers." With a pic. NYT.
— "Nicole Gill, Benjamin Feit" — via NYT: " Ms. Gill, 34, is the director of strategic communications and external affairs in Watertown, Mass., office of Pathfinder International, a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health services ... Mr. Feit, 35, works in Boston as an education law and policy specialist for the Community Training and Assistance Center, a nonprofit group that provides policy support, technical assistance, and evaluation services for education organizations. He graduated from Yale and received a law degree from Duke University School of Law. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in education leadership from Columbia." With a pic. NYT.
SPOTTED: at Perks Coffee Shop in Harwich Port on Saturday for a fundraiser for former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign ... State Rep. Claire Cronin, Barnstable County Administrator Jack Yunits, state Reps. Richard M. Haggerty, Joseph McGonagle and Mark Cusack. Alan and Sherry Leventhal hosted a smaller fundraiser at their South Yarmouth home that evening.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY — to Jason Furman, professor at Harvard Kennedy School, who turned 49 on Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to John Sasso.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Orioles, 13-7.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: "To the Window, to the Walsh." On this week's Horse Race podcast, we break down the group drafting Rep. Joe Kennedy III for Senate and a standoff between Gov. Charlie Baker and the MassGOP. The Boston Globe's Milton Valencia talks Boston Mayor Marty Walsh now that we have a verdict in the Boston Calling case, and Jeff Gross, formerly of the MIRA Coalition, talks about a new commission that will study challenges foreign-trained medical professionals face in Massachusetts. Link.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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