JK, Keystone Pipeline, and Charlie Pierce

[Mass]

16. Haven't seen anything concerning Pressley,

but some bloggers and tweets are just stupid. You have to take them for what they are, stupid.

Markey is good. If anything, I see a lot of progressives diminishing his creds because they want something more flashy. This is stupid. If I do not have Kerry for senator, I want Markey.

Yes, when you support somebody, you will try to show his opponents in a less favorable way. The other thing I would say is that there are domains where Warren IS more effective than Kerry was. Banking is the obvious. I am not upset if somebody says that Warren brings something when it comes to banking. This said, I think it is unfair to a couple other senators, like Brown and Sanders, who have been there for a lot longer than she is (as a senator and as a Democrat) and are effective too.

What you have to get is that the game is played for the media and a very small circle of supporters, and they only care about a 10 second clip (My guess is 30 seconds is too long at this point). Warren, who has worked on these issues with people like Doctor Phil for years, is good at that. Will she make a better senator for that? Only time will say, but at this point, she attracts the media and a ridiculous number of people saying she should run for president (really?). But you also see heads explode when she takes position that do not belong to what her supporters think she should do (yes, tax on medical devices, and a few others).

So, be careful. Those shiny objects become less shiny with time (Look at Obama, he has disappointed a lot of people, both those who say it and those who do not because they do not want to add to the bashing).

Coming back to the Boston Mayor race, I will say it here once more. With that many candidates, it is a shame that there is no women running. I hope she runs. The idea she should not run because she will split votes with Arroyo is ridiculous. Let's hope she runs, for women and for minorities. (I do not live in the Boston area anymore, but it is time to get the city out of the old boys' club.

I hope Kerry does not feel compelled to follow Obama's lead on Keystone (hard to believe he does not want the pipeline when he signed on his southern part in 2012), but we will see.