Meehan to leave congress?
It seems almost too good to be true but it appears one of the most obnoxious, most holier-than-though Massachusetts Liberal Democrats (but I repeat myself) in the House of Representatives just might be on the move out of congress…
US Representative Martin T. Meehan has emerged in recent weeks as a leading candidate for chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, a move that would set off a political stampede to fill his much-coveted seat and create the first competitive fight for a Bay State congressional district in more than five years.
You’ll note of course the end of that statement – that there has not been a “competitive fight for a Bay State congressional district in more than five years”. Great job rebuilding the MA GOP, Mr. Romney.
BTW, the “5-year” time period coincides with the race to replace the late congressman Joe Moakley, who passed away in May 2001. The special election that year between current congressman Steven Lynch (MA-9) and liberal Republican state senator JoAnn Sprague wasn’t particularly competative, unless you consider 61-39 to be “competative”. FWIW, no republican has held MA-9 since 1963. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…
Could it be, that the co-author of the Shays-Meehan “We don’t need no stinking Freedom of Speech” law could be departing for greener pastures (I’m sure the UMass gig pays muuuuuuuuuch better and you don’t have to spend your waking moments raising cash for your non-campaigns for re-election)?
Meehan, a seven-term Democrat, has not applied for the job, but has agreed to be interviewed Friday by the 21-member search committee, sources knowledgeable about the deliberations told the Globe.
Not exactly a “if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve” moment.
Meehan, 50, a Lowell native who has until now steered clear of the search process, declined to comment yesterday. In recent weeks, as speculation mounted about his possible move to academia, potential candidates for his Fifth District seat have begun to anticipate a special election this spring.
Indeed. But FWIW, no Republican has held MA-5 since 1975 and Me-Me-Meehan’s last couple of elections have been cake-walks. That said, the district does lean slightly more Red than do most of the other districts in MA – which isn’t saying much.So why this sudden interest in academia? Behold! The Kerry effect at work…
On the other hand, Meehan, who leads most other incumbent congressmen with a $4.9 million campaign war chest, saw one of his political ambitions fade last week, when John F. Kerry dropped out of the 2008 presidential race and announced he would seek reelection to his Senate seat, which many members of the delegation had hoped to pursue.
More on this story as it develops.
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stix1972 had written 12414 articles for The Minority Report BlogOwner of Stix Blog. Doug has been blogging for about 10 years, and can always be found on twitter. Part of the Gateway Grassroots Initiative. And the resident Code Monkey for The TMR Network Email Me: [googleplusauthor]
