U.S. Senate candidate and Congressman Ed Markey (D. MA-5) is taking another page from Senator Elizabeth Warren's (D. MA) playbook in calling for a "People's Pledge" to limit outside group spending on the upcoming special election to fill Senator John Kerry's (D. MA) seat:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
On Monday, the Markey campaign released a challenge to all unannounced candidates to accept a "people's pledge" to keep spending by independent groups out of the special election.
"I am challenging all of the candidates -- Democrats and Republicans -- in this special election for the United States Senate to join me in committing to the people’s pledge upon entering this race," Markey said in a statement released by his campaign. "If all the candidates agree, we can give the voters the kind of debate they deserve. This election should be a forum for the voices of everyday voters, not attacks from Karl Rove and other outside special interests. This election should be focused on big issues and ideas, not big-money outside groups."
The pledge would mirror the agreement signed between the 2012 campaigns of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) that prevented big spending by independent groups in their already expensive contest. That agreement stipulated that any advertising spending by independent groups favoring a candidate would be matched by 50 percent in charitable giving by that candidate's campaign. - Huffington Post, 1/28/13
This is a good move on Markey's behalf. It shows that he is serious about this race and wants to keep it clean. Grant it we're still waiting on Conservative Dem Stephen Lynch to make up his mind about jumping in and of course there's no word if Scott "Bqhatevwr" Brown will make his come back bid for the Massachusetts GOP but still, glad to hear Markey echo the same call that his soon to be colleague made back in 2012. Plus Lynch and whoever the GOP nominee is should seriously take up this pledge because environmental groups have a lot riding on this race:
Markey, of course, still needs an opponent before he can insist on such a pledge. No candidates have yet come forward in either the primary or the general special election race for Kerry's Senate seat. Any future candidates, however, may want to consider agreeing to limit outside spending, since environmental groups would otherwise likely spend big to support Markey, a climate hawk. - Huffington Post, 1/28/13
Who knows if this race will be a headache or smooth sailing for Markey but either way, lets give this climate hawk he needs to win this race:
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