Massachusetts Senate Hopefuls Trade Insults at Debate

The final debate of the Senate Democratic primary in Massachusetts “devolved into an exchange of insults and character allegations” as Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) “abandoned collegiality for a heated confrontation with one week remaining in their contest,” the Boston Globe reports.

“The sharpest exchange, though, came when Markey said Lynch’s opposition to federal financial assistance for manufacturers prompted an endorsement for Markey from an automobile workers union. Lynch retorted that he had voted for that bailout, frequently praised by the Obama administration as a successful countermeasure to the recession.”

Said Lynch: “I don’t want to call you a liar, but you are.”

Markey responded: “Steve was inappropriately, personally insulting.”