Markey's first Congressional campaign manager on the secret to the senator's longevity

This is Up Next. I'm Tisiana Deering. Ed Markey has done it again. The incumbent senator decisively turned back challenger Seth Moulton in yesterday's Democratic primary. The win harkened back to Markey's memorable squashing of challenger Joe Kennedy III back in 2020. Longtime Markey ally George Bachrach managed Markey's very first run for Congress in 1976, and he worked to bolster this campaign too. George joins us now. Good morning. Good morning. Was there something that Ed Markey understood about Massachusetts voters that Seth Moulton did not? You know, age is a relevant issue. There's no doubt that the aging leadership in Washington is a concern. But here in Massachusetts, what trumps that is policy. This is a state of well-educated and involved people. And it was not enough to talk about age. Again, a valid issue, but not enough. It did not trump policy, despite the media's, you know, relentless effort to make this about what other states care about, to make it about age. It was never about age. It was always about ideology. You know, it strikes me, though, Stephen Lynch, congressman, won against a more progressive challenger. So not necessarily a complete pattern here in Massachusetts. Plus, Lynch is 71. Bill Keating is 73. Richie Neal, 77. Yesterday, they all beat back younger challengers who argued that they represented the future. You've worked with Ed Markey for 50 years. At what point do senior leaders in a party, George, have a responsibility to bring forward the party's next generation? Well, I'm all for, frankly, aging politicians to step away as a general matter, and make way for the next generation. On the other hand, it is a case by case situation. It's a question of whether or not those more senior elected officials are actually delivering for their constituents. And every district is different. Congressman Lynch comes from a somewhat more conservative district, where his somewhat more conservative policy positions resonate. And again, you can't apply the views of other parts of the country on age, or for that matter, on health care or any other issue. To Massachusetts, each state, each district is different. I also wonder about retail politics, George. I don't want to discount it. Markey is known for this familiar, easygoing style. Do people underestimate how effective he can be at tearing down or stopping a political opponent? I think Ed Markey has always been underestimated. And I think people have to understand that for many years, he was in the shadow of Ted Kennedy, of John Kerry, to some degree to Elizabeth Warren. So he's always been underestimated. And people don't understand how an Irish Catholic kid out of, you know, Malden Catholic High School and the Immaculate Conception Parish could be such a firebrand. So they never actually understood it until now. There are show horses out there. Markey is a workhorse, and that's harder to see. But I think it's coming into its own. George, every member of our congressional delegation who had a challenger yesterday won. Is it too hard to beat an incumbent in Massachusetts? The short answer is yes. I mean, I have changed my position on term limits. I do believe in term limits these days. I used to joke that we already had them. They were called elections, and the voters get to decide. That's what Ed Markey actually said during his campaign. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think to some degree, that's right. But, you know, I can support Markey, based on this election at this time, that he was the best candidate. Do I believe that we need, more general matter, to try to look at ways to rejuvenate the Democratic Party to support younger candidates? I do. I don't think that's in conflict. You know, there's a general role to play, and then there's a specific race to run. That was George Bachrach, former campaign manager for Ed Markey and former president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Markey now will face Republican candidate John Deaton in November's general election.