Frank calls out his opponents including the Herald, by name – and the Herald has a reaction:
Newspapers live for moments like the one Barney Frank gave us on election night. To be called out – by name – by a 30-year incumbent. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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Over 150,000 plays since Friday – not bad for an internet viral.
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Emily Rooney moderated a debate between Barney Frank and Sean Bielat on October 14th. Rooney starts by noting that Bielat has come from outside of politics to be a surprisingly strong challenge to Frank. She calls it the “race everyone is talking about.”
As usual, Frank does most of the talking. Bielat has been learning how to get Frank to hang himself, and at many points during the debate, Frank does just that. Bielat has Frank almost stuttering and blabbering trying to make complex arguments that appear to make no sense.
Rooney had to cut Frank off several times in what seemed like an act of charity. Bielat speaks for maybe one fifth of the time, and wins easily.
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There was a half hour debate between Sean Bielat and Barney Frank on Jim Braude’s Broadside on NECN.
We have the debate in three parts. In the first part the candidates introduce themselves. Frank has been continuously in office since the 1980′s. Bielat is a newcomer to politics, but the first real challenger that Frank has faced in his entire time in congress.
Sean Bielat
Polls are showing that Sean Bielat is surprisingly viable. He’s polling within 10 points of Frank, and leading 51% to 34% among independents. Frank has been in office a long time, and is beloved by progressives but reviled by conservatives and increasingly by independents. As a known quantity, like Patrick, his poll numbers are not likely to improve. The question is if Bielat is going to be able to make himself known to voters in time.
Conservatives nationally are noticing. There is a great article about Bielat at CFIF:
Never before has Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) faced such a serious challenge from a Republican of any stripe, let alone one who is pro-business and pro-military. If the tax-and-spend liberal stalwart gets swept away in the GOP tsunami barreling towards Democrat-controlled Washington, D.C. this November, supporters of limited government everywhere will have Sean Bielat to thank.
[ed_note]This just in from Sean Bielat: a new poll shows support for Bielat surging. Bielat leading 51% to 34% among independents. Bielat’s release follows.[/ed_note]
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Sean Bielat
Today, Sean Bielat, candidate for Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District, released the details of a survey that shows support for Barney Frank in the district has dipped below 50% in the head-to-head contest with Bielat. According to the poll, Frank leads Bielat by just ten points, with 48% favoring Frank and 38% supporting Bielat. Those who are undecided make up 13% of the poll. Notably, Independents support Bielat over Frank by the wide margin of 51% to 34%.
“People are sick and tired of Washington and career politicians. That’s why Barney Frank’s poll numbers are dropping like a rock and why he’s taking desperate measures like bringing in Bill Clinton to campaign for him,” said Bielat responding to the poll results. “National support is snowballing and our campaign and supporters are more enthusiastic than ever. It shows what we’ve known all along: we are on track to replace an entrenched politician who’s been part of the problem for years.”
The Plymouth County GOP held a straw poll last night that gives us some insight into a number of Plymouth County Republican primaries.
Not a lot of surprises here, but except maybe how lopsided some of the results were. Results after the jump.
By reversing himself on Fannie and Freddie, has Frank given his critics a political gift?
On Tuesday, in an interview with Niel Cavuto, Barney Frank made an amazing statement:
“I hope by next year we’ll have abolished Fannie and Freddie. It was a great mistake to push lower-income people into housing they couldn’t afford and couldn’t really handle once they had it. I had been too sanguine about Fannie and Freddie.â€
Frank has for years been a strong supporter for Fannie Mae, Â Freddy Mac and affordable housing programs.
The Bielat campaign wasted no time in capitalizing on Frank’s remarkable reversal, making an ad contrasting Frank’s previous statements. The video has been getting a lot of play for an online campaign ad – over sixteen thousand views in just a few days.
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Is it fair?
Sean Bielat
Team Barney is waking up and the attacks against me are starting. It’s predictable but I’m flattered that they care enough to start so early. Two days ago they released some research to a blogger using a strange line of reasoning: “don’t vote for Sean because he used to be a Democrat.” Ironically, I expected Barney Frank and Democrats nationwide to attack their opponents as being too conservative. Instead, the first salvo is that I used to be a Democrat. The truth is, I’m more like you.
Meanwhile, Frank and his supporters are avoiding defending his record in Congress, one that includes support for bailouts, sub-prime mortgages, mounting debt, and a massive expansion of government control over the private sector. Voters shouldn’t get distracted by this political labeling nonsense. We need real leadership in Congress and Barney’s record comes up short. That’s why I’m running and why we need to replace Barney this November.
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