The new GOP nominee in the race to replace John Kerry looks strong, but has plenty of problems

[DonViejo]

What you need to know about Gabriel Gomez

The new GOP nominee in the race to replace John Kerry looks strong, but has plenty of problems

BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD

If a secret cabal of scientists designed the perfect politician for today’s GOP from the DNA up, it might look something like Gabriel Gomez, who won a GOP primary last night to face off against Democrat Ed Markey in a special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

The bilingual first-generation former Navy SEAL is a Harvard Business School graduate with a successful business career, some moderate political stances, and a penchant for running marathons. He crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon just a few minutes before the bombs went off last month. While stationed in South America in the early 1990s he met his furutre-wife, who was working in the Peace Corps at a school for students with special needs. “I’m exactly what the American dream is all about,” Gomez said in an April GOP debate against two other Republican challengers.

And yet Democrats don’t seem particularly nervous. “Congrats Gabriel Gomez! The next losing republican senate candidate from MA!” one operative tweeted. Why? First of all, this is Massachusetts after all, a true-blue state that went 61 percent for Obama last year despite having a native son on the Republican ticket. And while Scott Brown was able to pull off an upset in 2010, that election was a rare perfect storm: Democrats had a surprisingly weak candidate, they largely ignored Brown until the very end, and he was buoyed by that year’s Tea Party wave.

Secondly, Gomez is more vulnerable that his biography lets on. While he’s pro-marriage equality, he’s anti-choice in a state that is certainly not. And Democrats plan to use his private equity career against him, already dubbing him “Mitt Romney Jr.” He has no political experience and isn’t necessarily a natural. The conservative Boston Herald wrote that Gomez looks “amateurish on the stump, especially in the debates, and his one-note ‘I’m not a politician, I’m a Navy SEAL’ campaign theme already seems worn out. He is definitely not reminding anyone of Scott Brown.” He’s also backtracked on liberal position on immigration and gun control after writing a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick asking to be appointed to the Senate seat and promising that he’d support Obama in both areas.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/01/what_you_need_to_know_about_gabriel_gomez/

[liberal N proud]

1. Problems are not a problem for republicans

They turn a blind eye to problems within their own ranks while devouring opponents problems.

[Arkana]

2. Gomez is a lightweight--and his "do anything, say anything" schtick

isn't going to go over well with voters who appreciate authenticity (Scott Brown, of course, being a notable exception).

[Dawson Leery]

3. All Markey needs to do is run some ads and get on the campaign trail

and he wins this race easily, 15-20%.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. When is the election?

[DonViejo]

5. June 25 nt

[Victor_c3]

6. I dunno...

I'm a sucker for combat vets. I believe that he got out of the military in 1996 (and, just doing math, it is possible that he never experienced combat). Had he been a combat vet, he could count on my vote if I lived in Ma. It would take a lot for me to not vote for a "brother in arms" who has "been there and done that".

So, by that thinking, I should be a fan of McCain, but I'm not. He didn't see combat like an Infantryman did. He got shot down and spent his time as a POW. Had he seen how the weapons he fired destroyed human flesh and saw first hand the devastated families, I believe he'd have a different opinion on war.

Anyways, I would be nervous at this repub...

[geek tragedy]

7. Gomez got 92K votes, Markey got 308K. nt

[Jennicut]

8. I don't see Markey losing. New England has been trending more blue

then ever. We have 2 Republican Senators and no Republican Representatives in New England. In my state of CT, we have 5 Reps and all are Dems. I think the people of Mass learned their lesson, Scott Brown was a big, lying jerk. And he consistently was on the wrong side of the views of the voters of Mass. Markey got a bigger turnout in the dem primary then Gomez did in the Repub one. I could be wrong but I see Markey winning this.