Name & Party:
Barney Frank
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REPUBLICAN
Sean Bielat
Basic Info:
Fifteen-term incumbent
Age: 70
Consultant, Marine Corps major
Age: 35
Issues:
- Wants to raise taxes on richest Americans
- Supports repeal of "Don't ask don't tell"
- Voted for bank bailout
- Wants to extend Bush tax cuts for all Americans
- Says further study is needed on DADT
- Would have let big banks fail
Polling At:49%37%Campaign Chest:$1.1 million$365,000Key Quote:"I do not intend to be ambushed by the kind of right-wing smears that assailed John Kerry in 2004.""There are few individuals more responsible [for the financial crisis] than Congressman Frank."Petty Controversy:Frank's boyfriend James Ready alledgedly heckled Bielat during a media interviewBielat was "outed" as a former Democrat by a local news siteWild card:After Scott Brown's Senate victory last year, Massachusetts Republicans are feeling newly emboldened.
Dueling Ads:N/A"Banks": This ad argues that "you can bail out regular people or bail out the banks — and Barney chose the banks."
Sean Bielat's "Banks":
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Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
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‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
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Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
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Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
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Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardonTalking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
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The last words and final moments of 40 presidentsThe Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
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The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
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'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
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Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
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Democrats vs. Republicans: who are US billionaires backing?The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
