Edward Markey

Besides looking like a police lineup at a nursing home, Sen. Eddie Markey’s new 30-second television ad makes its point.

He may be old, but he’s still got a lot of fight left in him.

Markey at 80 is being opposed for reelection in the Democrat primary by whipper-snapper Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, of Salem, who has made Markey’s age an issue.

In the ad, Markey is flanked in front of a brick wall by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 77, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, 84, both of whom endorsed him. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is there too.

The combined ages of the three progressive/socialist Democrat senators come to 241, which is almost as old as the country, now celebrating the 250th year of its creation.

Age, of course, is a relative thing.

While the Founding Fathers of the country may look old in paintings of them standing up to the British and founding a new nation, they were young men, men who faced treason charges and hanging if caught by the British.

The average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, was 44.

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the world-changing document, was just 33. John Adams was 40. Fellow Massachusetts signers John Hancock was 40 and Elbridge Gerry, later Massachusetts governor and vice president, was 32. Gen. George Washington, a non-signer who became the first president, was 44.

Benjamin Franklin, the oldest of the signers, was 70. While that was considered quite old at the time, Franklin was wise enough to observe, “Those who love people never grow old. They may die of old age, but they die young.”

The Markey ad, in a $1.6 million buy, is vibrant. It has Bolshevik blowhard Sanders in your face saying Markey “is not now and never has been for sale” even though one said he was.

He is followed by Warren, who endorsed Markey with some of the same enthusiasm she showered on Graham Platner of Nazi tattoo fame when she endorsed him.

Warren took back that endorsement after it was revealed that a woman had accused Platner of alleged rape, which forced him out of the Maine U.S. Senate race.

While not gushing over Markey the way she did with Platner, who she called her kind of man, Warren did give Markey a strong boost in the ad.

She said, “When it comes to big banks and corporations driving up costs, Ed Markey does not back down.”

Pressley, 52, a House colleague of Moulton’s, who was not even born when Markey began his long political career in 1973, said, “When the rules aren’t working, we change them to protect the vulnerable, fight for Medicare for all, and abolish ICE. That’s Ed.”

A lot of Markey’s strength rests on the fact that he has done thousands of favors for thousands of people over the years, that he will latch on and champion any progressive issue that comes along, and that he will do anything and go anywhere for a vote.

Before running his ad campaign, Markey took his campaign and a camera crew to Scarborough, Maine to record his unannounced visit to ICE’s field office.

The visit came following the ICE shooting of Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford during an enforcement operation.

Markey, who has called for the abolition of ICE, and was of course, critical of ICE policy, later joined a Guerrero vigil and protest in Biddeford.

While citizens of Maine cannot vote for Markey, the video Markey took of the event made for good campaign material back home.

It is easy to get negative, but one thing is clear. Despite being in Congress for 50 years, Markey, unlike many other politicians, never used his office to make money for himself.

His net worth is just $2.4 million, which is walking-around money for many of his colleagues. Make of that what you will.

Peter Lucas can be reached at: [email protected]