Keller: Seth Moulton's Win A Bad Break For Richard Tisei
BOSTON (CBS) – Seth Moulton's campaign had new life Wednesday.
He was out greeting and thanking voters for their support in Salem, a day after his stunning primary upset win over U.S. Rep. John Tierney.
"You don't see this happen very often in Massachusetts. It's been 22 years since the last time a Democratic incumbent got knocked out in a party Congressional primary," WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
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"It speaks to, first of all, how badly weakened John Tierney was, not just in this race, but going back several years, the whole scandal about his family finances and a sense that he had served his time and his "past due" date had arrived was starting to spread throughout the district."
Keller said Moulton deserves a lot a of credit for the victory, noting there was "a real contrast, a generational contrast, a stylistic contrast."
"The final ad by Tierney in which he basically suggested that Moulton was a right wing Republican, I think, repulsed a lot of people and may set the stage for an interesting dynamic in this final stretch run, where candidates, if they want to indulge in rank, over-the-top partisanship, might want to pick their decisions carefully," he said.
Moulton will now face Richard Tisei in the November election.
Keller said Tierney's defeat is a bad break for Tisei.
"It would have been a lot easier for Tisei to run against Tierney. Polling and hypothetical matchups had shown him winning that race by a considerable margin. But the Tisei people feel as if they're still in the mix here." Keller said.
"First of all, voters in that district know Richard Tisei now, he's run there once before and served part of the district in the Legislature for many years. While Seth Moulton, while now known as the guy who knocked off John Tierney, I bet if you stopped 10 people in the street, they wouldn't know a heck of a lot else about him when it comes to his positions on the issues."
Keller believes the immigration issue will be an important one in this closely watched race.
"A lot of people in Lynn were upset about the talk of sending many of those child refugees north of the border to come in and stay in Lynn. Issues like that are going to matter. Tisei has a leg up, I think, in terms of his knowledge and profile in those and they're going to try to move quickly to define Moulton as not a blank slate anymore, but an unappealing slate."
Moulton, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran from Salem, will likely highlight that experience in his fight for the 6th Congressional District seat.
"Moulton, I think, handles his military service very well in terms of a campaign credential. He doesn't see it as the be all and end all, but draws on his experience with teamwork and his sense of humility, as well as his sense of concern about future American military involvement. I think these are all going to be pluses for him in this campaign."
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