If Barney Frank did not deliver for his constituents, he would have washed out of Congress in a single term.
Frank has the charm of a porcupine and a voice that resembles a jackhammer. He’s the smarty-pants who constantly waved his hand at the teacher, knowing by fourth grade that he was the smartest kid in the school, or maybe the town.
And he was.
Now he’s leaving public office. Frank’s stunning announcement that he would retire after this term gives Massachusetts a second major political race in 2012 – the other being the Senate contest between Republican Scott Brown and, most likely, Elizabeth Warren. Since redistricting has substantially reshaped the 4th District, the House seat is wide open. It extends from Brookline all the way to North Attleboro and portions of Fall River but, significantly for Democratic hopefuls, no longer includes New Bedford.
An open congressional seat is rare in Massachusetts and the field of possible candidates is likely to be even more crowded than when Quincy’s Bill Delahunt announced last year that he was leaving Congress.
Bill Keating, a former state senator and district attorney, was the best-known candidate and an easy winner then.
That district, which was the 10th and is now the 9th, has also been dramatically redrawn. Instead of hugging the coast from Quincy to Provincetown, it now stretches farther inland and curls around to New Bedford and towns from Frank’s district, while Quincy, Weymouth and several South Shore towns join the more urban precincts now represented by Stephen Lynch.
A possible Lynch-versus-Keating race has been scotched, with Keating saying he’ll move to his Cape Cod home to run in the 9th.
Lynch will have to introduce himself to several South Shore communities but the principal focus will be on Frank’s seat. His district of 30 years has been a masterpiece of gerrymandering: Brookline to New Bedford? Only legislators could draw such a map. Even without New Bedford, it remains a jigsaw puzzle, thus giving hope to exurban state legislators as well as political figures from voter-rich Greater Boston.
Republicans are experiencing Brown euphoria again – the district even includes Brown’s hometown of Wrentham – hoping the upset Senate victory can be replicated. Frank did the right thing by announcing his exit now; it gives ample opportunity for people with talent to jump in. And why not? Brown showed a fresh face can win the prize and that was a statewide race. He came from the Legislature and his experience is giving many unknowns a chance to think the State House can lead to something other than an indictment.
Here’s an opportunity for a woman to try to expand female representation in Washington. The state has a notoriously poor record electing women to high office, when we all know there’s no shortage of bright, accomplished women who could handle the job better than a majority of those now in the House of Representatives who cannot agree on what day it is. Brookline Selectman Elizabeth Childs, a Republican, is already in and state Sen. Cynthia Creem, a Newton Democrat, is considering a run. There’s no shortage of possible male candidates, including conservative Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and Alan Khazei, the City Year founder who raised $750,000 for a Senate campaign against Brown until Elizabeth Warren entered that race and Khazei bowed to her national backing.
And what would a Massachusetts election be without a Kennedy in the mix? Joseph P. Kennedy III, son of former Congressman Joe Kennedy, is talked about but the Middlesex County assistant district attorney has not made up his mind.
A race like the one for Frank’s seat could and should show politics at its best. There is no shoo-in, the public mood is restless and most Massachusetts voters are independents, not tied to either party.
As for Barney Frank, he leaves a substantial legacy – a checkered personal history but a brilliant political career. His caustic tongue made him a national figure, a darling of liberals and a lightning rod for Republicans, who would love to claim his seat for their own. Love him or loathe him, Frank had qualities I wish other lawmakers would emulate. You knew where he stood and he knew his facts. He may not have liked people in general but he fought hard for his constituents. The gay Jewish guy from Jersey and Harvard could not have foreseen when he ran in 1980 that two years later redistricting would give him the blue-color bastion of New Bedford, anchored by the troubled fishing industry. Hearing the announcement Monday, the men on the docks wore sad faces. However unlikely the bond, Barney had always been there for them.
JoAnn Fitzpatrick can be reached at joannftzptrck@yahoo.com.
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