Edward Markey

HOLYOKE — President Donald Trump is at his lowest ebb politically yet the popularity of the Democratic Party is even lower, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton told reporters after a campaign stop in Holyoke Thursday.

“People are so frustrated with the establishment and we need change,” Moulton said. “If you think that the Schumer/Markey establishment is getting the job done, then that’s what you should vote for. But if you think we can do better, it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the party.”

For Moulton, D-Salem, change means electing him in the Democratic primary to replace incumber Edward Markey for a six-year U.S. Senate term, part of what Moulton sees as a passing of the touch away from leaders like current minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

“You start by getting new leaders,” Moulton said.

Jeromie Whalen, who is running against the U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, was in the audience at the Holyoke Public Library.

Moulton, speaking with reporters afterward, was asked about Neal, also a longtime veteran in Washington.

“I have a great relationship with Chairman Neal and he’s the dean of our delegation and you know, he represents Western Massachusetts very proudly,” Moulton said. Neal was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee when the Democrats held the House and continues as ranking member.

Markey, age 79, has served in Washington — counting both the House and Senate — longer than anyone currently in office other than U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

But six years ago, Markey survived a similar primary challenger from a Kennedy no less: U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy.

Moulton, 47 years old and congressman since 2015, brought his campaign to a roundtable discussion at the library. On a swing through Western Massachusetts, he also toured a Westfield factory and hosted supporters in Springfield.

Questions in Holyoke let Moulton touch on campaign themes including his service as a Marine in Iraq, the war in Iran, housing, energy prices and west-east rail, a long-awaited transportation project that Moulton says address a need but is stuck in outdated thinking

“They want to build it to 1910 standards. That means it’ll take two and a half hours to get from Springfield to Boston, which is slower than the trains did it in the 1950s,” Moulton said. “I think that’s pathetic. I don’t think we should be spending a dollar on that kind of rail service.”

Morocco has a new rail line that travels 180 miles an hour, he said.

Moulton wanted to know what the community is doing to address homelessness.

Stephen Huntley, executive director of the Valley Opportunity Council, took the opportunity to spotlight the end of supportive housing programs, federal money that helps get the chronically unhoused under a roof and supports them afterwards, sometimes for the rest of their lives.

Those programs are under threat by the Trump administration.

Moulton spoke of how mental health is a key component in addressing homelessness.

As a veteran running for office, he’s often asked about Iran.

It’s an illegal war, he said. The Trump administration did not have justification.

But the U. S. bombed. And Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz which had been open before the United States started the war.

“Suddenly America finds itself in the position of suing for peace, trying to get concessions from them to reopen the strait,” Moulton said. “Let me translate that. We are losing the war. We are losing the war.”

One solution is to invade with 300,000 Americans and stay for 10 to 20 years.

“Option two is you get to a negotiated agreement and that’s why I think it’s a positive step that there’s a ceasefire,” Moulton said.

The agreement former President Barack Obama had with Iran wasn’t perfect, Moulton said, but the United States is going to have to find a way to get back to the monitoring and inspections in that agreement. Or otherwise, Iran will rebuild its nuclear capabilities.

Moulton told an audience member who’d asked about working across the partisan divide that if she had access to closed-door briefings he attends as a member of the Armed Forces Committee, she’d be heartened by Republicans and the dissension from Trump.

“They don’t like his foreign policy. They think the Iran war is probably a mistake. They’re asking really tough questions about what happens next. They decry his behavior towards allies. They decry his allegiance to Vladimir Putin,” he said.

But she’d be disappointed to hear those same Republican congresspeople support the president on cable TV.

Moulton said you can see that as hypocritical.

“The flip side is at least they really think the right thing in private. So maybe when Trump is gone, they’ll be willing to be a bit more public,” he said.