Ed Markey primary challenger says Dems aren’t rising to their rhetoric

It s your classic development of words without action and the times call for action That s according to Alex Rikleen U S Sen Ed Markey s first official Democratic primary challenger He s a former sports writer and college professor Rikleen revealed Markey has done a respectable job representing the Bay State but for someone who suggests that Donald Trump represents an existential threat he seems stuck in the mode of business as usual Rikleen stated if Markey isn t going to rise to the challenge of the moment then someone should step in and do it for him And that s why he jumped in the race In the last campaign the fundamental premise of the Democratic argument was that Donald Trump represented an existential threat it was a line that the Dems and Ed Markey had not used previously When I look at how Dems have responded now that he has taken over I see no difference between how they are using their power now versus any of the previous administrations he declared Rikleen is a -year-old father of two from Acton though he was born in Boston who has left his jobs as a fantasy sports writer and Framingham State University adjunct faculty member to take on Markey who s pursuing a third full term Rikleen declared he won t run against -year-old Markey s age but will take on his accomplishments instead Rikleen doesn t see much there In the past Markey used his position to hold up appointments but he s not doing that now Rikleen declared Markey and other Democrats are unable or unwilling to take their own caution seriously he announced Confronted with that realization he reported he was left with little choice but to announce his first candidacy for office Isn t the premise of this country that when you believe in something you step forward he petitioned Rikleen mentioned that he s sure he would agree with famously progressive Markey on a number of initiative positions Where they would differ he reported would be on prioritization The former facilitator explained that he would love to live in a world where constructive procedures discussions took place and made a difference but that s a fantasy in the present day s society he reported To fix that Rikleen revealed the Bay State demands a senator that will address the structural issues preventing polite agenda disagreement With trying to get back to a less politicized court a more fair voting system and electoral politics that depends less on fundraising I think you can get to a place where those guidelines debates matter more than they do in our current atmosphere he noted Rikleen is past the exploratory phase of campaigning and has officially launched his bid for the party nomination but he isn t the only person considering a run against Markey Earlier this month local nonprofit organizer Earl Martin Phalen also a Democrat informed he would form an exploratory committee to consider a run In the meantime Rikleen plans to put as much effort into spreading his message as manageable If I start doing well Markey is a smart politician and he s likely to react And if he starts engaging in various of the tactics I m advocating before electoral process day great I sincerely believe that s good for the country he commented Rikleen stated that his campaign will feature color pink prominently in solidarity with his son who was bullied at preschool for liking the color His campaign is one against bullies he reported and will center around group operation as he goes Any event that I organize will include specific sort of public operation I m trying to build that as the core of the campaign It s one of the countless solutions I m trying to be different than a traditional candidate he commented Markey s campaign did not return a request for comment by press time