This is one of my favorite articles about Massachusetts and how she considers her Senators in DC: (And yes, we do have a high opinion of ourselves. Except when we don't. And only we know when that is. Which is maddening in the extreme. And we're too sensitive. Now get serious and get some work done. And remember to be chummy and nice. Oh, any feel free to fall on your sword for principle's sake. Which is a dumb idea, except when it isn't. Are we clear now?)
Published before Kerry's first Senate race. My favorite early article, bar none.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR. . .
BOSTON GLOBE, N, Sec. NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE 06-03-1984
By BY CHARLES KENNEY AND ROBERT L. TURNER
NOT ALL OF THE 47 SENATORS MASSACHUSETTS HAS SENT to Washington have been involved in such passionate drama, of course. Nor have they all been as brilliant, as courageous, or as possessed by a single issue as (Charles) Sumner. But the tradition has held that, in general, Massachusetts' senators have mattered; they have made a difference. Looking back into the thicket of most major political issues, the chances are good that in the middle of it was a senator from Massachusetts.
The profile of Charles Sumner outlines the type of man the state has chosen. Two Massachusetts senators, for example - John Quincy Adams and John Fitzgerald Kennedy - went on to serve as President. Harrison Gray Otis, during his remarkable career, served not only as US senator but as representative in the US House, Speaker of the Massachusetts House, president of the state Senate, district attorney, United States attorney, judge, and mayor of Boston. Daniel Webster was one of the nation's greatest orators and statesmen. Henry Cabot Lodge, who served five terms in the Senate and rose to the position of majority leader, was a leading isolationist and played a role in keeping the United States out of the League of Nations. Lodge's grandson Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., took the extraordinary step during World War II of resigning from the Senate for combat duty in the Army; he later returned to the Senate, held numerous ambassadorial positions, and ran for Vice President with Richard Nixon in 1960.
Edward W. Brooke, the first black elected to the Senate since Reconstruction , became an important moderate Republican voice opposing the Vietnam War and Harold Carswell's nomination to the Supreme Court. Paul E. Tsongas, even as a freshman senator, played an important role in the rescue of the Chrysler Corporation and was a signficant force in Central American and African issues. And needless to say, Edward M. Kennedy has played a pivotal role in national politics for a generation.
"They've been men of serious purpose," says Senate historian Richard Baker in describing Massachusetts' senators through the years. "They have been a distinguished lot."
As the campaign progresses, Massachusetts voters will take a hard look at the candidates - and will set lofty standards for them. Or that, at least, is the opinion of the best-qualified observer, Tsongas. The Senate is "a very different world," he says. Compared with the US House, where he spent four years, the Senate "has much greater visibility . . . much greater power, and intellectually it is more stimulating." It is the most prestigious political address in America, save the White House. It is the only body entrusted with the power to approve treaties, to try impeached Presidents, and to confirm or reject presidential appointments to the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and other high offices.
"I've always felt a sense of specialness" about the Massachusetts seats, Tsongas says. "I don't think the senators from Massachusetts should be average, because the state's not average. . . . It is a very well-educated, very issue-oriented constituency." And, Tsongas says, this is widely understood in the Senate.
Several of the candidates for Tsongas' seat, both Democratic and Republican, have mentioned the special situation of serving with Kennedy, a formidable colleague, but Tsongas says the "Kennedy shadow," while large, has not been overpowering. "At first, I was the other senator from Massachusetts,' but I haven't heard that in a long time," he says. In particular, Tsongas warns that candidates cannot be concerned only with Massachusetts matters, leaving Kennedy to take care of the rest of the world. The seat, says Tsongas, "requires someone who cares about Chicopee and Fall River, but also about Managua and arms control. I think it would be fatal for any candidacy to imply a disinterest in national and international issues." Any such candidate, says Tsongas, "won't get elected, and won't be worth electing."
While this is the first Senate seat to be open in Massachusetts in 18 years, the race has other special characteristics as well: The fall election may well decide which party controls the US Senate. Republicans now hold a majority, with 55 seats, but Democrats say they have a reasonable chance of winning enough seats to regain control - including the committee chairmanships and all their attendant power. Massachusetts is one of few states in which a Democratic seat might go Republican.
I didn't know whether to applaud or gag or laugh out loud when I finished reading that. But it is true. Massachusetts wants to be special and send special and gifted people to the Senate. (Because we can. We have those sort in abundance around here, don't you know.) On the other hand, dear Lord, how can anyone live up to that without superpowers? Do you see, even at the very beginning, how hard it would be for any mere mortal to satisfy that constituency. Yet Kerry has been elected 4 times.
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