Tsongas, Ogonowski to face off in race to fill Meehan's seat
LOWELL, Mass. --Republican Jim Ogonowski and Democrat Niki Tsongas kicked off their race to replace former Rep. Martin Meehan on Wednesday with a sharp disagreement on whether their campaign is a referendum on President Bush and the war in Iraq.
Ogonowski, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel and brother of a pilot whose plane was hijacked in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, said he opposed the president's decision to invade Iraq. He said he also disagreed with Bush's bid to allow illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship and his abandoned effort to privatize Social Security.
"This election is not about George Bush," Ogonowski told about 30 supporters gathered in his Chelmsford headquarters early Wednesday. "When they talk about George Bush, they are only engaging in the same partisan bickering and attacks that the American people are tired of."
Barely an hour later, Tsongas, widow of senator and presidential contender Paul Tsongas, refused to relent during a unity rally with her former Democratic opponents. The general election is Oct. 16.
"Make no mistake: This election is a referendum on the presidency of George Bush and the most important issue we face in this country, the war in Iraq," Tsongas said as Gov. Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley and local legislators joined her on stage at the same hotel where she had her victory party the prior evening.
"And make no mistake, my Republican opponent cannot run and cannot hide from the fact that this is what this election is about and it's what we're going to talk about," Tsongas added.
She favors an immediate withdrawal of troops and an effort to provide enhanced care for returning soldiers.
Patrick, who endured some pointed criticism last year as he battled to reclaim the Gov.'s Office after 16 years of Republican control, tried to gird the Democratic legions for the upcoming campaign, which will likely attract national GOP support.
"I want us to appreciate this is not going to be easy, it's not going to be simple," Patrick said. "There's a strong candidate on the other side. He's wrong about a lot, but he's not going to go down without a fight."
Tsongas, 61, a Middlesex Community College dean making her first bid for elective office, bested four other Democrats in their primary. She faced her most serious challenge from Lowell City Councilor Eileen Donoghue, who developed an election machine over 12 years in their home city of Lowell. In the end, though, it could not overcome the Tsongas name recognition.
Ogonowski, 49, of Dracut, easily defeated Thomas Tierney, of Framingham, a perennial candidate for the seat.
Two independents, Kurt Hayes and Patrick Murphy, and Kevin Thompson, a representative of the Constitution Party, also will be on the general election ballot.
Meehan, a Democrat, announced in March he was resigning after 14 years in Congress to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
The state's current congressional delegation is all-male, and all-Democrat. The 5th district has not elected a woman since Edith Nourse Rogers of Lowell, who died in 1960 amid her 19th congressional campaign.
Coakley noted the fact when she told the rally crowd: "A lot of us have said for a long time we need a women in the House, right? And it's about time for Massachusetts."
The 5th Congressional District also has not elected a Republican to the House since Paul W. Cronin in 1972. Paul Tsongas knocked him out of Congress two years later.
In the general election, Ogonowski faces not only the challenge of political history, but also record low approval ratings for the president stemming from opposition to the Iraq War. The recently retired veteran said he did not expect that to affect his candidacy, but he told WBZ-AM he would decline if the president offered to campaign for him.
Ogonowski also tried to neutralize Tsongas' efforts to connect him to Bush, telling his supporters, "The president and the Republicans in Congress have failed us."
He added: "Niki's a nice person. I like her. I know she means well, but let's face it, she presents more of the same tired Washington that continues to fail us. She is wrong on the issues and she is not right for this district."
