Change: Massachusetts Dem Delahunt to retire
posted at 9:05 pm on March 4, 2010 by Allahpundit
No surprise, but still gratifying. As of this morning, Charlie Cook had MA-10 rated a likely Democratic hold. Tonight, I’m not so sure.
“It’s got nothing to do with politics,” the Quincy Democrat said today. “Life is about change. I think it’s healthy. It’s time.”
The 68-year-old lawmaker said he has been considering leaving the House for several years, but was talked out of it two years ago by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who convinced his friend he should stay and help President Obama with his first-term agenda.
“He said, ‘Come on — this is a new time. It’s a new era. We [will] have a new president. We’re all needed,” Delahunt recalled Kennedy telling him…
Many Democrats — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer — urged Delahunt to stay another term, worried that the volatile campaign environment could give the GOP a chance at the seat. Joseph P. Kennedy III’s decision earlier this week not to seek the seat makes Democrats even more nervous.
Thanks to that new president, come November, he won’t be needed anymore. Delahunt had a tough road to reelection: He had formidable challengers, his district broke for Scott Brown by a wider margin than any other in Massachusetts, and his handling of Amy Bishop’s shooting of her brother in 1986 when he was the local D.A. is under investigation. Oh, and he’s been known to refer to Hugo Chavez as his “excellent friend.” He also voted for Pelosi’s ObamaCare bill in November, so there’s no risk that retirement will make him more favorable to it this time.
Anything can happen in the Bay State this year — just ask Martha Coakley — but this looks like a plum pick-up opportunity. Exit question: Will Joe Kennedy III jump in now? I’ll bet Madam Speaker’s on the phone with him as we speak…
Blowback
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Good riddens to bad trash. 17th Dim to retire and its only early march.
Dr_Irish on March 4, 2010 at 9:08 PM
AMF.
Has there ever been a less effective House and Senate Majority in American history?
They’ve got a big bunch of nothing done.
NoDonkey on March 4, 2010 at 9:08 PM
dirtbag
rob verdi on March 4, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Dropping like flies. One term too late.
joejm65 on March 4, 2010 at 9:13 PM
No permita el hit de puerta usted a la salida!
txag92 on March 4, 2010 at 9:15 PM
How many people would be alive if this scumbag hadn’t covered up a murder?
He needs to be in a cell next to Amy Bishop.
Knucklehead on March 4, 2010 at 9:16 PM
I am into some Cars tonight. Anyone Else? Let the Good Times Roll…
Dire Straits on March 4, 2010 at 9:16 PM
Buh bye, Delahunt. Now, if only a boat load of the remaining Dems got that memo…
Oh, wait. They’ll get it this November.
anXdem on March 4, 2010 at 9:17 PM
Jeff Perry for Congress
Jeff Perry for Congress
Jeff Perry for Congress
Jeff Perry for Congress
(I think I might be a bit biased, but I live in the MA 10th, he’s my neighbor and he’s a good guy)
turfmann on March 4, 2010 at 9:17 PM
He’ll be luck to stay out of jail. He let Amy Bishop kill her brother in cold blood, hold a couple of dealership employees hostage at gunpoint while she looked for a car to make her escape, and then aim her gun at police officers who finally took her in custody. Bishaop WAS NEVER EVEN BOOKED on a call from his office (He was the DA) because her mother was connected.
Bishop, years later sent a Harvard Prof who gave her a bad review a pipe bomb in addition to beating up a mother in an IHOP because she got that last child booster seat. She then went on to murder 3 professors when she failed to get tenure.
He was in hiding in Israel until last week when he finally returned and had no answers.
He should be spending his retirement in Walpole State Prison.
We have 2 well known excellent Republicans ready to take the seat. Scott Brown won the district (my district) like 60/40 or better.
TheBigOldDog on March 4, 2010 at 9:18 PM
And the rest of the story will trickle out in a few days . . .
conservative pilgrim on March 4, 2010 at 9:19 PM
They completely and profoundly misread their victory. They set up the campaign to be about rejecting GWBush and electing the first black President and they won with it. What they ended up creating was a mandate for nothing and they’re now trying to fill that nothing with Euro-Socialism, and they’re clueless as to why it’s not selling.
They were elected for what they weren’t, and now they’re trying to govern as they are!
Lew on March 4, 2010 at 9:19 PM
Knucklehead on March 4, 2010 at 9:16 PM
Ditto Knucklehead! This is the same jerk that put Cheney’s Chief of Staff Addington in danger http://michellemalkin.com/2008/06/27/caution-clown-congress-at-work/
margategop517 on March 4, 2010 at 9:19 PM
I’ll take Perry or Hedland. They are both good men. Better than that POS corrupt, commie lovin’, murderer freein’ bastard Delahunt. I hate that SOB and have for many years. You have no idea how happy it makes me this scumbag has finally been completely exposed.
TheBigOldDog on March 4, 2010 at 9:22 PM
Does he have a truck? :)
Dire Straits on March 4, 2010 at 9:22 PM
O/T
Is this site really slow for anybody else? It’s taking a minute to load every page.
Pajama’s media is also acting up.
B Man on March 4, 2010 at 9:23 PM
I find drinking TEA is quite refreshing! I’m wide awake & focused. So wish I had discovered this elixer years ago, but better late than never.
If the Dems keep leaving office, Obama will be stuck in the white house with no one to campaign for.
TN Mom on March 4, 2010 at 9:24 PM
OT: Mary Katherine Ham is hosting Hugh Hewitt Show with Guy Benson.
Dire Straits on March 4, 2010 at 9:24 PM
I was thinking the same thing. Had he been a Republican this would still be a lead story on MS-LSD and all of GE’s media outlets.
thomasaur on March 4, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Democrat Party chickens
coming home
to roost
Y’all shoulda stayed in the closet.
Skandia Recluse on March 4, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Hey with much of the Dem old guard retiring and dying off there could be an ideological vacuum forming. The more radical leftists may take advantage and fill that void.
sonnyspats1 on March 4, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Firefox was recommended the other night. I took the recommendation and am pleased ut to this point.
thomasaur on March 4, 2010 at 9:26 PM
Maybe his buddies in the FARC or Hugo can give DelaHunt gainful employment.
elduende on March 4, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Perry voted against Mass healthcare. Good neighbors like this are hard to find!
TN Mom on March 4, 2010 at 9:29 PM
At this rate the lobbying pool should be full of diluted talent by this time next year. Couldn’t happen to a
greatermore delusional ideology.Rovin on March 4, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Rats leaving the ship.
csdeven on March 4, 2010 at 9:30 PM
I’m using both IE and FF’s latest and it’s painfully slow here and at pj.
Every other site is fine. Been like this for a few days.
B Man on March 4, 2010 at 9:31 PM
Dr. Amy Bishop was unavailable for comment.
This is definitely a pickup opportunity. Brown won this district by a wide margin and won the Cape vote in a landslide. We’ll see if Carrot Top gets in.
JammieWearingFool on March 4, 2010 at 9:35 PM
Roger that, I’m not having probs though.
thomasaur on March 4, 2010 at 9:35 PM
As Ed mentioned earlier, I fear the few months after the mid-terms. The communists will have nothing at all to lose by then. They will be dangerous, more than they have ever been.
SouthernGent on March 4, 2010 at 9:35 PM
Center for American Progress New Director of Congressional Outreach Delahunt in 5……..4…….3…
PappyD61 on March 4, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Maybe the ghosts that keep Delahunt up at night are starting to take their toll…
Seven Percent Solution on March 4, 2010 at 9:50 PM
Yes, but what they have gotten done has been destructive as hell. I guess they believe in quality over quantity?
whbates on March 4, 2010 at 9:59 PM
Bob’s a good guy, too. He’s always been available and helpful whenever I have had dealings with him. He’s very down to earth – there isn’t one pretentious bone in his body.
Jeff is a very sober guy, very hard working, very in touch with his constituents. He puts his home phone number out there for people to call. He actually answers it, too. No kidding.
Given that I would have to choose between the two to support, I have to go with Jeff. It’s a good (and rare) thing for a Bay Stater to have to choose between two decent Republicans to support for a Congressional seat – that we have a decent chance of winning.
To be honest, I don’t remember! But my pickup has a Jeff Perry bumpersticker on it. Does that count?
Considering that I had to drop my health care benefit because I could no longer afford it, that is a plus in my book.
turfmann on March 4, 2010 at 10:04 PM
+ 1 Having a bumpersticker on your truck counts. Good luck.
Dire Straits on March 4, 2010 at 10:12 PM
OK, you meant this: “No deje que la puerta le de a Usted el cantazo a la salida!”
There.
newton on March 4, 2010 at 10:19 PM
Sure would be most sweet
To see the damn Kennedys
Beat twice in a row…
Haiku Guy on March 4, 2010 at 11:01 PM
These idiots are trying to do a George Castanza by leaving on a high note before the whole sorry spectacle comes crashing down, the only trouble being the “high note” is in their own deluded heads.
Sharke on March 5, 2010 at 12:50 AM
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
UltimateBob on March 5, 2010 at 12:53 AM
What is it now – about 17 politically dead dems?
I haven’t even finished popping the popcorn yet. At this rate, the show will be over before I can get out of the kitchen.
We are definitely having fun. Already.
platypus on March 5, 2010 at 1:32 AM
Hey! What about all the global warming pollution that they’ve emitted in the process …/sarc
dissent555 on March 5, 2010 at 1:35 AM
How many of these House and Senate “retirememts” involve cushy pensions?
Ain’t being a Congressman or Senator great? Whether you decide to retire, or lose a re-election, you still get a pension. Not to mention speaking fees, director board salaries, fellowships, consulting contracts…
Jaynie59 on March 5, 2010 at 8:17 AM
So, what’s your point? /sarc/
I knew he blew off the murder of the brother, but I missed the rest of her charming past. Actually, Walpole is too nice a place for him.
Mr. Grump on March 5, 2010 at 8:50 AM
Is that Delahunt quitting or is it just another flush of the toilet?
volsense on March 5, 2010 at 9:03 AM
He’s got more murderers to release. POS
mr1216 on March 5, 2010 at 9:49 AM
another democrat knows the hand writing is on the wall. This is happening more and more with each passig day.
kanda on March 5, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Thank you for letting us know about Jeff Perry, Turfman!
Jeff Perry looks good and I respect your opinion based on your comments during the Scott Brown campaign.
Check out Jeff Perry at: http://www.jeffperryforcongress.com/
Bob Hedlund has too many ties to Ron Paul for my taste.
Here is the video of Bob Hedlund at Ron Paul Rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOoFG0Rp_K4
I will be telling my family in Massachusetts about Jeff Perry.
Let’s send another Massachusetts Republican to Washington!
wren on March 5, 2010 at 6:40 PM