The race to succeed Marty Meehan in the Massachusetts 5th Congressional District is really heating up. The issues in this 5th District race reflect concerns voters are raising across the country, including immigration, SCHIP, the war in Iraq, global warming and education. There is national interest in this race and a lot of national blogs have been writing about the candidates, the unique cities and towns that comprise the MA 5th district and what issues are foremost on the minds of voters as they think about their choice in next Tuesday’s election.

BMG pointed out Mr. Oganowski’s opposition to the SCHIP bill and the Republican nominees support for Pres. Bush’s veto. Recently, the Oganowski campaign put out a flyer that completely distorts what Niki Tsongas said on immigration and her views on what US policy should be on reform. There is a scan of this Oganowski flyer at BMG and analysis of some of the distortions of Niki Tsongas’ opinions:

It’s almost pointless to do a detailed rundown of all the inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and falsehoods in that text. Doing so would give this rubbish more respect than it deserves. Let’s just summarize: Niki Tsongas doesn’t support amnesty; Niki Tsongas doesn’t support granting benefits to illegal immigrants; and Congress isn’t “actually plotting” (wow—paranoid much?) to “sneak amnesty for illegal immigrants on the American people.”

It’s sad to see the politics of fear once again being used to push issues. This is usually the mark of a campaign that is incapable of assembling a positive agenda and of thinking of positive ways to solve America’s problems. Smears like this one don’t move the debate further along, they bog it down in false discussions based on whatever issue the national Republican Party thinks can divide the electorate. Local blogs are absolutely wonderful at dissecting the smears and showing them for baseless attacks they truly are. You n

RichardHowe.com is another local blog that has been extensively covering the MA-05 race. DickH recently wrote about the Iraq War and the frustrations that voters feel about the war and efforts to change the US policy in the war:

I sometimes hear voters of the Fifth District say “The next Congressman can’t do anything about Iraq so they should be talking about local issues.” That makes me cringe. The Iraq War has already lasted longer than World War Two and there is still no end in sight. If anything, all signs suggest that this administration fully intends to attack Iran, thereby escalating and expanding a conflict that they have proven incapable of managing, much less winning. A single member of Congress is not going to end the war. But a member of Congress who is committed to ending it (as Tsongas clearly is) is more likely to succeed than is a member of Congress who is committed to doing more of the same (as Ogonowski clearly is).

There is a lot more coverage of this race on these sites:

RichardHowe

LeftinLowell

BlueMassGroup

Ryan’s Take

The Massachusetts Democratic Party lists opportunities for people to volunteer to help Niki on the MDP website. There are phone banks set up in various locations in the Commonwealth, so even folks who don’t live in the 5th District can lend a hand to help get Niki Tsongas to Congress. Also, be sure to check out Niki Tsongas campaign website to see her real position on the issues affecting the country. The site Niki Tsongas, Democrat for Congress shows the true positions Niki has taken on the issues and shows why she is a good fit for this district and will be an outstanding Congresswoman.

The final debate for this Special election is tonight. The website runpolitcs.com lists instructions for how to view the debate online and even submit a question for candidates to answer. This is a great race for Massachusetts and a great way to hear what people are saying about national issues. The issues being discussed don’t just concern MA, they are national issues. That is true for this Special Election in Massachusetts this year and will certainly be true for all the Congressional races that will happen next year.