Keller on the singular Democratic strategy this campaign cycle

During last week’s debate between Ed Markey and Seth Moulton, alert viewers might have taken a moment to check their ears. In the course of a monologue defending his skeptical 2024 comments about the impact of trans athletes on youth sports, the congressman cast himself as empathetic with beleaguered transgender people.

“To the trans community feeling the weight and the pain of the Trump administration policies, I deeply recognize your trauma,” said Moulton.

He might as well have said “I deeply recognize your Trump.”

There’s nothing hidden about Moulton’s contempt for the president. He called him “a monster” in his Democratic Convention speech last spring. Markey has been equally blunt, describing Trump as “unstable” and a “war criminal.” And none of these adjectives is even in the hall of fame of Trump slurs. That pantheon is reserved for the likes of Spy Magazine’s prescient 1980s moniker “short-fingered vulgarian,” Jimmy Kimmel’s “Teddy Dozevelt,” writer Tim Berry’s “Mango Mussolini,” and perhaps the most succinct, definitive adjective, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s description of his boss as a “moron.”

But while all this is fun and fair game considering Trump’s affinity for gratuitously derogatory nicknames, there is a singular Democratic strategy this campaign season — making it a referendum on Trump’s once-dominant turned grotesquely toxic political brand.

The feces smeared on the walls and floors of the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s beloved January 6 rioters is an apt metaphor for the damage he’s done or tried to do to an array of important institutions, including the courts, the legal system, the press, NATO, the U.S. military, foreign aid, etc. ad nauseum. But here in Massachusetts we don’t even need to look far to feel the pain of Trumpism.

Jon Keller is a MASSterList columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].

10:00 | Gov. Healey signs An Act prioritizing patient access to care, which her office says will strengthen abortion protections in Massachusetts. Health & Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah and Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein participate, along with providers, advocates and other officials.

11:00 | House meets in an informal session | House Chamber

12:00 | Senate meets | Senate Chamber

1:00.....Incumbent Sen. Will Brownsberger debates his Democratic primary challenger, Daniel Lander, hosted by the Charles River Regional Chamber of Commerce. The chamber said the debate will focus on economic development, housing, workforce and nonprofit issues, but that more general topics may also be discussed | Zoom Registration

2:15 | Gov. Healey signs An Act regarding free expression, or the Freedom to Read Bill. Sen. Julian Cyr, Rep. John Moran, state and local officials, and advocates participate | Franklin Public Library, 118 Main St., Franklin

5:00 | Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton holds a town hall forum, as part of a statewide listening tour | Plymouth Senior Center, 44 Nook Road, Plymouth

6:30 | MassDOT officials, including interim Transportation Secretary Phillip Eng, hold a ceremonial lighting of the Rose Kennedy Greenway to celebrate the completion of the project to improve the park's lighting and pathways | Rose Kennedy Greenway, Between Pearl St. and Seaport Blvd., Boston

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ON THE BOOKS: New laws Gov. Healey signed last week will let the state seize the Norwood Hospital property so a new operator can step in, impose a licensing framework for home care workers, create a Foster Child Bill of Rights and modernize Department of Children and Families oversight. | State House News Service (gift link)

TRANSFER INCOMPLETE: State lawmakers once again let real estate transfer fee legislation sought by housing advocates on Cape Cod and the Islands die. Sen. Julian Cyr says he's "deeply worried" about what that will mean for the region's residents struggling to afford homes. | CAI

SCHOOL DAYS: Students, local officials and teachers worry that budget cuts at K-12 schools will affect graduates' readiness for college. | MassLive

BOSTON TAX SAGA: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says the state Senate's latest property tax-relief proposal is too little, too late for city residents, knocking "incumbents who see their job as outsourcing decision-making to the real estate industry or other interests." | NBC10 Boston

SUFFOLK SIGNATURES: Chelsea City Councilor Todd Taylor, a GOP state committeeman, says his name appears on the nomination signature sheets for Suffolk district attorney candidate Rachael Rollins, but he didn’t put it there. Rollins, dismissing talk of questionable signatures as a distraction, says Taylor's signature wasn't counted. | Boston Herald

PICKING A SIDE: The narrative in the Sixth Congressional District Democratic primary on the North Shore is becoming one of insider versus outsider, with sitting state Rep. Tram Nguyen casting herself as something of both. As the candidates try to distinguish themselves, they're stressing that they'll fight. | Boston Globe

HEALTH CENTER CHECKUP: Community health centers, where most of the state's uninsured population gets care, are bracing for the impact of federal Medicaid policy changes. Some are making job cuts as they plan for tougher times financially. | Boston Business Journal

CLIMATE GRANT SUIT: Springfield officials see positive news in a July appeals court ruling around a lawsuit the city filed with nonprofits and other municipalities against the Environmental Protection Agency’s termination of an environmental and climate justice grant program. | Western Mass. Politics & Insight

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