Tomorrow is Massachusetts' Primary day, and Sen. Ed Markey and Congressman Joe Kennedy are rounding out their campaigns in hopes of making it on the ballot in November. WGBH Morning Edition Host Joe Mathieu spoke with WBZ Political Analyst Jon Keller about the Senate race, which has garnered national attention. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Joe Mathieu: You moderated one of the debates with Kennedy and Markey. You've been following this closely like we have. We spent some time with them over the weekend, and we're seeing polling numbers that show a pretty good move here for Ed Markey. He's up by double digits in some of the most recent polls we've seen toward the end of last week. Do you believe the numbers?
Jon Keller: Yeah, I'm still waiting to get my suit back from the dry cleaners from that debate. But yes and no, in answer to your question. When the Suffolk poll, the gold standard around here, has Markey up I believe by eight points, I respect that. However, keep in mind, the Democratic primary electorate in this state is volatile. There were no pre-primary polls or punditry that picked up on Ayanna Pressley's romp over Mike Capuano. That was two years ago this week. And the final polls before Super Tuesday back in March, Joe, showed Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fighting it out for first in the Massachusetts primary. Of course, they finished a distant second and third behind Joe Biden. So I wouldn't be popping the champagne yet at the Markey headquarters, and I'm sure they are not.
Mathieu: I guess the schedule's a good sign of that. They seem to be taking this actually very seriously in the final hours with a whirlwind of events. You mentioned Pressley-Capuano, Jon, and that's interesting. I was at the Ed Markey event — one of them, I should say, in Dorchester — where we spoke on Saturday, and Suffolk D.A. Rachael Rollins was there. I spoke with her off to the side for a little bit after the event concluded. She went out of her way to say, don't be fooled. Capuano-Pressley, this is not. It is not the same thing. Why go to the point of making that difference clear, John?
Keller: Well, she, as a Markey supporter, sure hopes it's not. Because what happened was, predominantly, Black voters turned out in droves for Ayanna Pressley, and that's exactly the kind of primary day turnout Joe Kennedy is hoping for.
Mathieu: Is this not the insurgent candidacy that Ayanna Pressley had, though? That seems to be the difference they're trying to make.
Keller: No question. That's a key difference. And look, the climate is different. The pandemic has changed everything. And Joe, not to be flip about it — as you know it, I'm never flip — but I've come to think of this race in terms of our pandemic-era eating habits, OK? There's been a big surge in sales of comfort food, right? Ice cream bars, SpaghettiO's. Ed Markey's ads have tried to turn his longevity into an advantage. He's that long-forgotten can of SpaghettiO's on the top shelf that you're now gratefully retrieving, because you crave sugar and salt. His biographical ad even shows him dishing out ice cream bars from his father's truck. Meanwhile, Kennedy's pitch for change is very earnest, but it may seem more like that head of kale you've got in the veggie bin. You know, maybe it's better for you in the long run, but it's not what you're craving right now.
Mathieu: I'd rather be selling ice cream than kale, Jon.
Keller: I'm going to drop the analogy because I'm starting to get hungry and I already eat breakfast.
Mathieu: I'd rather be selling ice cream than kale, wouldn't you?
Keller: Oh, right now? Absolutely. And with all due respect to Ed Markey, his closing ads feature issues: Co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, Medicare For All. Kennedy's closing ads to some extent are just still talking about change and it's time for a new generation. We'll see tomorrow if it's better to be getting more specific down the stretch here or still speaking in broad generalities.
Mathieu: The Senate race is getting national attention in many ways because people don't know who's going to win. We're talking about a long incumbent [and] we're talking about a Kennedy here. In the final day of campaigning, I suspect we're going to be hearing and seeing a lot more of them as they try to make the final arguments. Do you believe in the conventional wisdom that this will be decided in the cities [and] that it will be disenfranchized communities, as I was discussing with the candidates, who have not likely chosen mail-in voting and will show up at a poll tomorrow?
Keller: Well, that's certainly what the Kennedy campaign is banking on, and there's some reason to believe that. Think back to, I think it was April, when Wisconsin voters turned out on a nasty April Wisconsin day, predominantly voters of color, stood in lines up to six hours long. Remember that, because they closed down a lot of the polling sites? And they were adamant that they were going to express themselves. It's entirely possible something like that could happen here, but it is also true that in recent Massachusetts political history, in Democratic primaries in particular, the suburbs and predominantly white liberals or liberal-leaning white voters in the suburbs have called the shots. If they do it again tomorrow, Ed Markey breezes.
Mathieu: When do we know? Is it tomorrow night or days from now, Jon? The mail-in ballot issue is a real one.
Keller: All I know is I've arranged for a small tanker truck from Dunkin Donuts to swing by the station tomorrow night to help keep me up. I think it might be a late night. I really don't know. The city and town clerks have their work cut out for them processing the huge influx of the absentee ballots and mail-in ballots. It might be a late night, Joe.
