ARI HERZOG

My Personal Blog

The Kennedy Kerfuffle

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Vote.
Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels

Massachusetts Primary Day arrives on September 1, 2020.

The Democratic ballot has a 2-way race for the U.S. Senate and a 9-way race for a U.S. House district, and Joseph P. Kennedy III is the reason for both races. Among my friends who follow state politics, it’s chaos.

A grandson of U.S. Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, JPK III is the current U.S. Rep. for the 4th Congressional District. I live (t)here. He is challenging incumbent U.S. Senator Ed Markey. Both men are Democrats, and both were elected to their respective seats in 2013.

Because of his Senate run, Kennedy’s House seat is up for grabs — and nine Democrats and two Republicans want it. More on them in a moment…

The Senate Race:

Markey, 73, brings tenure and experience to the race. He has represented Massachusetts on Capitol Hill since 1976 (as a Representative and a Senator). He’s the old guard with a built-up war chest of funds, contacts, and resources.

Kennedy, 39, is a 4-term Congressman. He is the new guard, and he has many allies (including the late great John Lewis).

They have comparable policies. Debate reactions indicate voters really like both men. A recent poll shows Markey leading by only 3 points.

“Analysts say that a primary race like this would typically see low turnout, with only the most dedicated Democrats casting ballots — a result that would likely favor Markey. But this year Beacon Hill passed a law allowing every registered voter to cast an absentee ballot by mail…”

“The unprecedented scenario could lead to a larger turnout, and more participation by less-active voters, all of which analysts believe would boost Kennedy.”

– Victoria McGrane in The Boston Globe, July 31, 2020

Markey has two factors in his favor:

First, it’s hard to unseat an incumbent. From 1964-2018, American voters re-elected House members 93% of the time and re-elected Senators 82%. This is not to say that Markey is a shoo-in as Mass. voters remember that two years ago, Ayanna Pressley beat 10-term incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano in a primary election.

Second, Kennedy is running in part with his family name. I read a fascinating analysis earlier this year suggesting that Kennedy wants to fulfill the Camelot legacy like his grand-uncle and get elected to President. It’s a logical argument and it’s easier to accomplish the goal as a Senator.

I like both men. I’ve met both men. I’m confident that they can both get the job done.

I support Markey for a single reason: He has a long history of internet advocacy including net neutrality.

As the country struggles with racial inequality, it is crucial that we reduce the digital divide. Markey doesn’t need to be trained in the importance of an open web. He speaks geek.

And, Markey doesn’t have presidential dreams. He should keep the job.

The House Race:

There are nine Democrats and two Republicans vying for Kennedy’s open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district comprises 34 cities and towns.

WBUR profiled the candidates and asked everyone the same four questions. It’s a wonderful guide to learn their passions, how they (or their staffers) write, and what makes them tick.

On political parties, I don’t think a Republican will win. Anything is possible but the last Republican to hold the seat was defeated in 1947. The state and district are predominantly blue.

If the past few months have taught the country anything, it’s imperative that we eliminate social inequities. Race, gender, economic protections. The United States needs to turn the page on the past and unite for a better tomorrow.

I think that the best way to fill Kennedy’s shoes is to elect one of four women. Reviewing the elected history for the district, every office holder was a man. It’s time for a change.

Of the four, I’ve known Jesse Mermell the longest. We connected on LinkedIn in 2016.

At the time, she led a nonpartisan organization called The Alliance for Business Leadership. It served (and still exists) to convene stakeholders who were committed to promote social responsibility of the state economy. She and I had dozens of mutual connections and it made strategic sense to send her an invitation to connect. She accepted.

I’ve seen Jesse speak. She has clear diction and is well-prepared. She has the context and the contacts to succeed on Capitol Hill.

Endorsements don’t vote but hers (at that link) include a who’s who of local and state leaders such as Pressley and numerous statewide unions.

Primary Day is on September 1.

My ballot will include filled-in ovals in support of Ed Markey to be re-elected to the Senate, and Jesse Mermell to be elected to the House.

Any questions or comments?

Thinking About Disabling Blog Comments

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I remember when commenting was a feature at the bottom of every newspaper and media website article. Initially, anyone could add a comment without a profile. That led to vulgarity and incivility, which in turn began moderation with publishers employing a mix of robot algorithms and human checkers. Readers grew frustrated with the lag between the time they posted their comments and the time the comments were approved. Readers turned to social media, especially Facebook. Some posted links to the articles and added their own commentary. Others found the original articles linked on social media and replied there.

The Boston Globe continues to accept comments. For instance, at the bottom of this article about Governor Baker responding to social gatherings, there are (currently 72) comments. Create a profile and write what you want.

On the other hand, NPR disabled commenting in 2016. If you like what they post on their website and you want to say something, you can share a link to your favorite social media platform and write whatever you want.

This brings me to blogs…

When I mentioned Seth, Dave, and Dan at the bottom of my post the other day about blogging every day, their blogs don’t enable comments. Some of them used to, but these days they do what NPR does. If you want to say something, say it wherever you want. (Dan goes a step further by linking to Facebook posts at the bottom of his posts. In this way, readers who want to converse with Dan and other readers can do it in the same place.)

My friend Julia Campbell continues to ask her readers to add comments on the blog. At the bottom of this post about nonprofit marketing techniques after the pandemic, there is an option to fill in some fields and write whatever you want her and other readers to see.

Bloggers in 2020 are a mix of Dans and Julias. Some bloggers prefer comments and eventual conversations on the blog. Others want the dialogue to occur elsewhere which carries with it more features (including less spam moderation, a greater desire to be civil because your full name and profile link is attached to whatever you write, and you can opt to “like” or “share” the original post from Facebook whenever you want).

Granted, asking would-be commenters to interact on Facebook implies readers have accounts there. But if not, they can comment on Twitter or LinkedIn or just send an email. I like email too.

Should comments remain on my blog or should I disable them?

Since 2007 when I started this blog, I approved over 11,000 comments! In response to people writing them, I contributed 2,500 of my own comments.

But since resurrecting my blog to focus on pandemic topics about four months ago, it’s hit or miss if people comment. I usually receive email responses instead of posted comments. I’m glad they want to share their opinions with me, and I always reply back, but why not share with others?

There’s no urgency if I decide to disable blog comments, but it’s something I’m thinking about.

As an experiment, I’ve disabled comments on this post.

If you want to share your thoughts, click here to chat with me.

Symptoms of Infection

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The #1 symptom of COVID-19 infection, evident in about 88% of patients, is a fever over 100.4 (F) degrees. This is usually accompanied with a dry cough and fatigue.

Less common symptoms, according to the WHO, include body aches and pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, skin rash, or discoloration of fingers or toes.

Some people get infected with mild symptoms. Others experience gradual progression.

About 80% of infected patients recover without hospitalization. The virus doesn’t care about a person’s age; and people of all ages have become seriously ill and/or died.

This blog post is in memory of 670,000+ residents of Planet Earth, including over 150,000 Americans, who died from the coronavirus. May they rest in peace.

Why I Deleted 52,000+ Tweets

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My first tweet from @ariherzog was on September 30, 2009 but I can’t link to it because it’s not there. It’s probably accessible in the Wayback Machine or from archived search engine crawls — but it’s erased from Twitter’s servers.

(I initially joined Twitter on April 5, 2007 but I can’t link to that either because that account was deleted in 2009.)

During my early years of tweeting, I was self-employed in digital marketing and I used the platform to market my services in social media and related topics. Over time, I created curriculum on the business benefits of using Twitter for college classes and corporate workshops. I tweeted a lot for myself and on behalf of my clients and students.

I’m a different space now. I closed my business a few years ago and I recently shifted into elementary and secondary education. I still tweet but for different reasons. In addition, I was receiving frequent notifications of trolls discovering old (and now irrelevant) content and sharing it.

After chatting with people who deleted their tweets, I found articles in Wired and in The Washington Post from authors who decided to delete. I read their reasons. I nodded along.

Last weekend, I used a free service called TweetDelete to delete anything older than six months. There is a limit to how many tweets can be deleted at once, so it took many attempts over a day and a half until they were gone.

And then — I looked at my total number of tweets. I deleted over 52,000 tweets!

I feel a little sad that I won’t easily be able to find the old stuff but I don’t miss them. They don’t define me anymore.

These days, I tweet about the coronavirus, education, and current events. I neither follow nor care about social media marketing content that reflected the majority of my Twitter archive. I prefer to be perceived by what I tweet about today, not what I tweeted a decade ago.

Heroes are Always Heroes

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Ask a child for his or her favorite hero and you’re likely to hear Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Black Panther, the Hulk, Elsa, Leia, or Harry Potter. Maybe someone else.

Ask an adult for his or her favorite hero and you’re likely to hear the same.

Once a hero, always a hero.

The pandemic introduced a new crop of heroes. They don’t wear capes and they don’t have superhuman strengths but they stand united in their willingness and passion to get the job done.

I saw a sign during a recent neighborhood walk.

I used to see these thank you signs everywhere during the initial weeks of the pandemic when nearly everyone stayed home.

Now that the economy is reopening and non-essential workers are returning to their workplaces, there are less signs and less universal awareness of our pandemic heroes.

First responders and healthcare workers are continually thanked.

What about postal workers, bank employees, grocery staff, and delivery drivers? What of school teachers, nannies, food prep workers, and janitors?

I want to believe that everyone listed, and everyone who should be listed, is (still) a hero and worthy of our continued honor and appreciation. I want to believe that their essential contribution to society is more relevant today than yesterday.

It’s great that California pledged support to essential workers, and that Massachusetts sued rideshare companies for its drivers to be classified as employees. I want to see other feel-good stories pop up around the U.S. and the world as government leaders treat essential heroes with respect. The White House should bail out child care, for instance, to the same intensity as it gave billions to airlines. Child care workers are also heroes.

If we remove heroes from the list, we begin to accept a life without a killer coronavirus. We can’t back down. We have to remain as vigilant today as we did during the early days. We must protect our heroes so that they remain heroes until we don’t need them anymore.

Blogging Every Day

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This is the 1,526th blog post since May 2007.

Granted, some of those were written by other people who contributed guest posts. The vast majority are mine. Suffice to say, I like blogging.

I appreciate that the pandemic arrived to inspire me to write on a more frequent schedule, whether I’m sharing my thoughts of the day or opinions about a researched topic.

Looking back at my blog archive, I recognize that years went by when I didn’t write much at all.

  • June 2020: 19 posts
  • June 2019: 0 posts
  • June 2018: 1 post
  • June 2017: 0 posts
  • June 2016: 0 posts
  • June 2015: 1 post
  • June 2014: 7 posts
  • June 2013: 1 post
  • June 2012: 5 posts
  • June 2011: 14 posts
  • June 2010: 17 posts
  • June 2009: 23 posts
  • June 2008: 13 posts
  • June 2007: 17 posts

I look at those early years and compare the monthly frequency of posts to this year; and I’m impressed. This is partially because I have more free time, but also because I enjoy the art of writing. I view my blog as an outlet for my creativity and capability. I can count on many fingers the number of jobs I’ve held that either developed or depended on my writing skills.

The goal is to blog every day.

For years, I’ve admired prolific writers including Seth Godin, Dave Winer, and Dan Kennedy who publish a blog post nearly every day, weekends included.

I don’t want to write a post for the sake of writing a post. However, I am writing blog posts on most weekdays. If I have something to say or share, I’ll find a reason to type some sentences and hit submit.