TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019 The Boston Globe A

held wisdom that Massachu-

setts Democrats are best served

when ambitious politicians

wait their turn, a tradition

that’s already been softened by

Ayanna Pressley’s surprise pri-

mary victory over a longtime,

establishment-backed congres-

sional incumbent in 2018.

“If he gets in, he’s going to

get in to win, because Kennedys

aren’t in the habit of losing,”

said Jim Manley, a longtime

aide to the late Senator Edward

M. Kennedy.

Manley added that he is “not

a fan” of the idea of a Kennedy

primary challenge, nor of pri-

mary challenges generally. “De-

spite the fact I don’t imagine

the campaign would ever get

ugly, it’s bound to have a pretty

destructive impact on the poli-

tics of Massachusetts,” he said.

Markey, in an interview with

the Globe, declined to criticize

Kennedy. Instead, Markey pre-

ferred to underscore his plat-

form — gun safety, the Green

New Deal, and economic justice

— saying he stood for “the is-

sues of today.”

“I am energized by the

threat that Donald Trump pos-

es to everything that Massachu-

setts stands for,” he said when

asked whether he felt vulnera-

ble in any way. “This is the most

energized that I have ever been

in my life.”

In the wake of Kennedy’s in-

terest this weekend, Markey,

who was first elected to the Sen-

ate in 2013, quickly shifted to

defense Monday — releasing a

90-second video endorsement

from his senior Senate col-

league and liberal superstar,

Elizabeth Warren, who publicly

endorsed Markey in February.

But Warren spoke warmly

about both men to reporters

over the weekend, bringing up

Kennedy when asked if she was

still backing Markey. “Eddie has

been a great partner in the Sen-

ate,” she told reporters. “Joe

Kennedy is also a great part-

ner... He’s really an amazing

person.”

The comment highlights the

divided loyalties Kennedy’s en-

trance into the Senate primary

would cause. After all, Warren

chose Kennedy to introduce her

at her presidential campaign

launch in February.

While the majority of the

Massachusetts delegation has

endorsed Markey, a handful of

notable standouts remain, in-

cluding Representative Kather-

ine Clark, a close ally of Kenne-

dy’s and member of House

Democratic leadership who is

slated to appear at a town hall

meeting with Markey and

Pressley this week.

“I have tremendous respect

for Senator Markey and Repre-

sentative Kennedy, and I’ve en-

joyed working with both of

them during my first eight

months in Congress,” Pressley

said in a statement to the

Globe. (Kennedy endorsed

Pressley’s opponent, then-Rep-

resentative Michael E. Capua-

no, in last year’s primary; Mar-

key did not make an endorse-

ment.)

Boston Mayor Martin J.

Walsh told reporters over the

weekend that he is sticking by

his endorsement of Markey.

Should Kennedy jump in,

the Senate primary would pit

one of the party’s rising stars —

albeit a white male and an es-

tablishment player — against a

longtime progressive (also a

white male), whose supporters

argue he doesn’t get the credit

he deserves for his long cru-

sades on climate change and

consumer protection, among

other issues.

With his privileged back-

ground, famous name, and

strong ties with the Democratic

establishment, Kennedy is not

an insurgent candidate like

Pressley or Alexandria Ocasio-

Cortez of New York, who also

vanquished a white male in-

cumbent in a primary upset.

But Kennedy could still tap

into the Democratic base’s hun-

ger for generational change —

and for strong voices who can

articulate the party’s cause in

the Trump era. His skills in this

area already earned him viral

moments, high-profile speak-

ing roles including the 2017

Democratic response to

Trump’s State of the Union, and

even chatter that he might run

for president in 2020.

Markey had already drawn

two declared primary oppo-

nents, labor attorney Shannon

uSENATE

Continued from Page A

Liss-Riordan and businessman

and author Steve Pemberton.

And while the news that

Kennedy is weighing a primary

bid sparked speculation that

other big names might also see

a ripe opportunity to buck the

line, one of those possibilities,

Attorney General Maura Healey

“is not considering a Senate

run,” said a person close to her.

Kennedy, if he decides to

run, would be the automatic

front-runner, numerous ana-

lysts said.

“Markey’s biggest problem

in this hypothetical primary is

that he is not a Kennedy,” said

Jeffrey Berry, a Tufts political

science professor. “There will

be a lot of support for Kennedy

should he run, both among ev-

ery day Democratic voters, but

also nationwide as some donors

want to elevate a young Demo-

cratic voice that isn’t Alexan-

dria Ocasio-Cortez.”

A number of progressive ac-

tivists greeted the Kennedy

news with skepticism. They

praised Markey’s record, espe-

cially on climate change. Mar-

key was the lead author of land-

mark legislation to create a cap-

and-trade system for Earth-

warming greenhouse gases that

passed the House in 2009 (it

died in the Senate). More re-

cently, he’s co-sponsored the so-

called Green New Deal with Oc-

asio-Cortez.

He’s also led congressional

efforts to ensure robust Net

neutrality rules, which require

Internet service providers to

give everyone equal access to

online content.

“A challenger needs to make

the case that there’s some issue

that hasn’t been addressed and

some urgency that’s lacking,”

said Jonathan Cohn, chairman

of the issues committee of Pro-

gressive Massachusetts, a grass-

roots advocacy group. If there’s

such a case to be made against

Markey, he said, “I haven’t

heard it.”

Kennedy, first elected to

Congress in 2012, has made a

mark as a champion of trans-

gender rights and is the chair of

the LGBT Equality Caucus’s

Transgender Equality Task

Force. He gained national at-

tention for his denunciation of

the GOP’s efforts to roll back

the Affordable Care Act, among

other issues in the Trump era,

and gave a well-received speech

earlier this year defining his vi-

sion of “moral capitalism.”

While activists and party

regulars may frown at a Kenne-

dy challenge, they make up a

small portion of the voters who

would turn out for the primary

— many of whom analysts be-

lieve would be attracted to Ken-

nedy, both by the legacy of his

name and what they’ve seen of

him on TV.

“Incumbency isn’t what it

used to be, either in terms of

how would-be challengers per-

ceive it or how voters perceive

it. The advantage is smaller,”

said Steve Koczela of the Mass-

INC polling group. “Polls show

Markey has done fine overall,

but [he] isn’t as widely known

as I am sure his campaign wish-

es he was, going into what

could be a spirited primary.”

Amid the commotion the

potential Kennedy primary

challenge has caused, some po-

liticos doubt it will come to re-

ality. On one side are those who

continue to believe that such a

divisive move is too out of char-

acter for Kennedy, who by all

accounts is risk-averse and a

team player.

On the other are those who

don’t believe Markey’s insis-

tence that he will continue to

run, no matter what.

Tobe Berkovitz, a former

Massachusetts Democratic po-

litical media consultant, pre-

dicted that Markey will bow out

if Kennedy gets in the race.

“Markey is not in fighting

trim and he will soon figure

that out,” said Berkovitz, who

hasnotworkedforeitherDem-

ocrat. “What Markey has to lose

is his legacy as a longtime con-

gressman and senator and a

winner of Massachusetts poli-

tics. If he loses, sure he was

once a senator, but his cachet is

tainted.”

Globe reporter Laura Krantz

and Jazmine Ulloa contributed

to this story. Victoria McGrane

can be reached at

[email protected].

no longer on her campaign
website.
Eight months into her presi-
dential campaign, Warren is
engaging anew on an issue that
she had tried to put to rest last
year by releasing the DNA test.
After apologizing in private,
and doing other outreach to
Native Americans, she used the
forum Monday to highlight her
connections with indigenous
leaders. She sought to move be-
yond the controversy and into
the realm of policy — a place
where she is much more com-
fortable.
“The federal government’s
history with our tribal nations
has been one of broken promis-
es. We need to make change.
We need to honor our trust and
treatyobligationstothenative
tribes,” Warren said, connect-
ing the problems facing Native
Americans to her broader calls
for “big structural change.”
Her presentation — and the
apology — was met with warm
applause.
Frank White, chairman of
the Winnebago Tribe of Nebras-
ka, attended the forum and
suggested that, in his view, she
had already addressed her heri-
tage.
“She covered the issue in the
past and then she left it how it
is,” he said in a phone inter-
view. “I don’t think it’s a major
concern to the Native Ameri-
cans in our area.”
The controversy over War-
ren’s heritage has simmered
since her first Senate race in
2012, when she was revealed to
have identified herself as Na-
tive American in some academ-
ic directories during part of her
career as a law professor. War-
ren has described distant Na-
tive American ancestry as an
indelible part of her family his-
tory; her political opponents
have suggested she used those
claims to get ahead, although a
Boston Globe review of her ca-
reer as a professor found that
wasn’t the case.
In recent years, Trump has
seized on the issue, using an
ethnic slur, “Pocahontas,” to
suggest she is lying. Last fall,
Warren released a carefully
produced video that included
the results of a DNA test meant
to prove him wrong by showing
she had a very distant indige-
nous ancestor.
Some Native Americans
have long been wary of white
people attempting to claim In-
dian ancestry in hopes of a ben-
efit, and they publicly objected
to her use of the test.
Earlier this year, Warren
apologized privately to Chero-
kee nation officials for causing
any “confusion” about a tribe’s
right to determine who its
members are — a move that
drew new attention to the con-
troversy days before the official
launch of her presidential cam-
paign.
When reporters surrounded
her in the US Capitol complex
seeking clarification on that
apology, she said she “should
have been more mindful of the
distinction with tribal citizen-
ship and tribal sovereignty.”
Since then, Warren has tried
to move quickly past the issue
in the rare instances she is
asked about it on the campaign
trail, saying her impressions
about her heritage came from
her family’s lore. “That’s just
kind of who I am,” Warren said
at a CNN town hall in March,
“and I do the best I can with it.”
At Monday’s forum, she
showed a fresh willingness to

uWARREN
Continued from Page A

acknowledge she had done

“harm,” although she did not go

into detail about what it was.

Warren’s new approach to

the issues around her heritage

was also evident on her cam-

paign website. A page that had

featured the DNA video and a

link to the DNA report, infor-

mation about how her heritage

claims did not advance her ca-

reer, and background on her

upbringing was empty on Mon-

day. The campaign created a

new web page that featured

documentation and the Globe’s

reporting on Warren’s career

but not the video or a link to the

DNA report.

CNN reported Sunday that

the campaign was planning to

remove the video as part of a re-

vamp of its website.

Warren’s appearance at the

forum on Monday followed her

Friday rollout of a sprawling

plan to improve the lives of Na-

tive Americans by stabilizing

funding for programs that meet

their needs, representing their

interests at the highest levels of

government, and expanding

theircriminaljusticejurisdic-

tion in their land. Under the

plan, Warren would revoke per-

mits for the Keystone XL and

Dakota Access pipelines, which

many tribes regard as a threat

to their ancestral lands.

She also called for “an un-

precedented initiative” to ad-

dress the crisis of missing and

murdered indigenous women,

an issue of deep concern to the

event’s attendees.

She found a largely friendly

audience at the Sioux City fo-

rum. Onstage, the activists she

spoke with praised her plan,

calling her a “staunch champi-

on” for Native American issues.

Warren was introduced by

US Representative Deb Haa-

land, a Democrat from New

Mexico who is one of the first

Native American women in

Congress and who endorsed

Warren earlier this summer.

She acknowledged Warren

could still face challenges relat-

ed to her heritage claims.

“Some media folks have

asked me whether the presi-

dent’s criticisms of her regard-

ing her ancestral background

will hamper her ability to con-

vey a clear campaign message,”

Haaland said. “I say that every

time they asked about Eliza-

beth’s family instead of the is-

sues of vital importance to Indi-

an country, they feed the presi-

dent’s racism.”

“Elizabeth knows she will be

attacked,” Haaland said, “but

she’s here to be an unwavering

partner in our struggle.”

White, of the Winnebago

Tribe of Nebraska, said he has

read half of Warren’s 20-page

plan so far and likes it for the

most part.

“It sounds encouraging, but

there is still going to have to be

some work done on it,” he said.

The forum was named for

Frank LaMere, a Winnebago

activist who died in June. War-

ren had met privately with

LaMere during the first week-

end of her campaign.

“I acknowledged that she

has taken a lot of heat from the

president,” LaMere said in an

interview with the Globe after

that meeting. He added, “I sim-

ply mentioned to her that I ap-

preciate her resolve and her

commitment.”

Laura Krantz of the Globe staff

contributed to this report. Jess

Bidgood can be reached at

[email protected].

Follow her on

Twitter@jessbidgood

TIM HYNDS/SIOUX CITY JOURNAL VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Senator Elizabeth Warren used Monday’s forum to
highlight her connections with indigenous leaders.

Warren apologizes

over ‘mistakes’ tied

to heritage claims

Kennedyvs.Markeycouldtestloyalties

CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF/

Representative Joe Kennedy

(left) and Senator Edward

Markey have supporters

across the Democratic Party.

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