Today I had the pleasure of seeing President Obama and a host of prominent local political figures appear at a rally for Rep. Ed Markey's campaign for the U.S. Senate. A more than overflow crowd turned out at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. I was there by 9 AM, though the printed tickets said 11 AM, and there were already thousands of people on line. We didn't make it into the building until nearly 12, and nobody took the stage until almost 1, but everyone was in high spirits and it was well worth the wait.
All these people waited for hours to see the President ask them to support Ed Markey -- and I wasn't even in the front of the line!
Citizens ask President Obama to do the right thing - and nix the Keystone XL pipeline
The place was packed with energized Markey volunteers and supporters, as well as what seemed like half the elected officials in Massachusetts. An impressive lineup of speakers had one message, the message I'm passing on to you: Ed Markey is a progressive champion. Over four decades in public service, he has been a leader on issues of paramount importance: climate change and clean energy, full equality for women and GLBT citizens, getting assault weapons off our streets, investing in education and good jobs, labor rights, healthcare, protecting our civil rights and civil liberties. There is truly no issue on which Ed Markey has not been a leader and a fighter for the issues dear to us as progressives.
Click on through for a summary and some more pictures!
The festivities kicked off with two extremely cute little girls leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, and a fantastic rendition of the national anthem. Then Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins took the stage, and began his remarks by reciting the preamble to the Constitution:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This election, he said, implicates so many of those words. The choice Massachusetts voters make in thirteen days will determine whether we have a Senator who will "promote the general welfare," the welfare of ALL our citizens. It will determine whether we "establish Justice" by working to eliminate discrimination in all its forms, or "domestic tranquility" by banning the assault weapons that threaten our communities.
Sheriff Tompkins reminds us of what kind of country we want to be
The sheriff was followed by the very impressive local field organizer for Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, a young man who spoke of how important it is that our country continue to provide opportunity for all its citizens, and how important it is that we get involved in our democracy.
A jammed Reggie Lewis Center awaits the President
Then came two rising stars in the new generation of progressive leadership, my generation: State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (who is due to have a baby in eight days) and Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley. Sen. Chang-Diaz, with a brief foray into Spanish, reminded the audience - and those who will be watching on the news later - that Latinos in Massachusetts want a Senator who shares their values, not their surname. Councilor Pressley electrified the crowd with a rousing speech about the stakes in this election.
State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz addresses the crowd
Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley doing her best Michelle Obama impression
The following speaker provided perhaps the emotional highlight of the day: outgoing Boston Mayor Tom Menino, who is retiring after 20 years in office. Mayor Menino's GOTV apparatus in Boston is legendary and was a great help to Elizabeth Warren last fall.
Mayor Menino spent several weeks in the hospital last fall after contracting a severe upper respiratory infection. While hospitalized, he suffered a compression fracture of the spine and was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. In April, just days before the attack at the Boston Marathon, he broke his leg when he twisted his ankle and fell while attending an event in Dorchester. Today he was wheeled onto the stage and needed forearm crutches to reach the podium. Visibly laboring with each step, he spoke from the heart about Ed Markey as a fighter for the type of country he wants to live in, and about government as a force to make people's lives better. When the mayor finished speaking you could feel the love and affection the people in the room have for him.
Mayor Menino makes his way to the stage
Next up was the candidate himself, and Markey was fired up. He was filled with passion and a sense of urgency and promised to work 24 hours a day until the election and to criss-cross the state bringing his message to voters. He spoke of his own experience living the American Dream, and squarely credited it to the great middle class revolution unleashed by the New Deal. Before 1932, he said, we had no safety net. As a result, his mother's dreams were dashed when her own mother died and, as the oldest daughter, she had to leave school to take care of the younger children. In the 21st century, he said, we must move forward to an even better tomorrow for all of our people, not back to a pre-FDR world where a select few live in opulence and everyone else struggles to get by.
Ed Markey - the next Senator from Masssachusetts - is fired up
Overflow crowd getting excited
But the headliner, the reason for the half-mile of lines and the three hour wait in the street, was the President of the United States, Barack Obama. President Obama joined Ed Markey on the stage and was greeted with boos when he began with a reference to the Chicago Blackhawks, who begin the Stanley Cup Finals tonight against our Boston Bruins. The reception improved when the President exhorted the crowd not only to vote for Markey, but to knock on doors and make calls for him:
I've got to have folks in the United States Senate who are willing to stand up for working people just like I have. I need folks in the United States Senate who every day are waking up thinking about the people who sent them there, and trying to figure out, "How do I make sure that they are getting a brighter future?." That's who Ed Markey is. I need Ed Markey in the United States Senate.
So this election is going to come down to turnout. We've got a whole lot of Democrats in this state and a whole lot of Obama voters, but you can't just turnout during a presidential election. You've got to turn out in this election. You can't think, oh, I did my work in 2012. You've got some work to do right now in 2013. You can't just pat your back and say, well, I knocked on some doors back in November. I need you knocking on some doors right now in June.
And if you work with the same focus and the same passion -- if you are knocking on some doors and making some phone calls, if you're talking to your friends and you're talking to your neighbors -- if you are making sure that people know Ed Markey's remarkable record in Congress, then I guarantee you he will be the next United States Senator from Massachusetts. He'll join Elizabeth Warren. He'll carry on the legacy of Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. He will be my partner, and we will continue the march forward on behalf of not just this generation, but future generations.
The President tells the crowd where it's at
"Now listen, folks. We don't need Gabriel Gomez in the U.S. Senate. We need Ed Markey in the U.S. Senate."
A winning team: Ed Markey and President Obama
The crowd presses in to greet the President and the soon-to-be Senator
So listen to the President. Or listen to Ayanna Pressley. Or listen to me. Listen to whomever you want to listen to, just get out there and help us bring this one home. Electing Ed Markey to join Elizabeth Warren in the Senate would create a one-two punch few states could match. Electing Gabriel Gomez would be a disaster. It would put Mitch McConnell that much closer to the job of Senate Majority Leader, it would cancel out Senator Warren's vote on far too many issues, and - as Scott Brown's January 2010 election did - it would fuel a national media narrative about Democrats in disarray and surging Republicans.
I don't want that to happen. I want the progressive one-two punch instead. And that's why I'll be going all out between now and June 25. I hope you'll do whatever you can too!