Richard Neal (MA-2) (D) Calls in the Big Guns! – Victoria Kennedy Campaigns for Neal at Smith College Campus –Prefers Small Venue to Debate

Fromthe Gazette: Richard Neal got a little help from his friend, Victoria Kennedy, at a rally held Sunday afternoon to a room full of the party faithful, including local elected officials. Neal, did have the opportunity to Debate his opponent, Tom Wesley on WWLP, Channel 22 Springfield, but obviously had more important things to do that giving his constituents a chance to see how he differs with Mr. Wesley. The debate, however, took place without Congressman Neal. Neal, in speaking to the devoted audience, at Smith, a women’s college located in Northampton, MA, an exerpt follolws:

After first announcing that the Patriots had won in overtime, the widow of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy set about cheering for another team that she's a staunch supporter of - that of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.
"Are you going to send him back this Nov. 2? Absolutely," said Kennedy to cheers from about 70 or so Democratic faithful who attended a Neal rally at Union Station Restaurant. "I would go anywhere for Richie Neal."
It didn't take much to rouse those faithful. After all, it was a room where many among the crowd felt comfortable enough to address Neal as "Richie."
But Kennedy, a 56-year-old attorney, had many in the audience nodding their heads or smiling with her humor, her memories of the friendship between her late husband and Neal, and her straightforward reasoning as to why Neal deserves to be elected for a 12th term in Washington.
"The 2nd District is never left out or left behind," she said. "Richie Neal has never forgotten where he came from and why he was elected. He fights every single day for you."
Neal faces Republican challenger Tom Wesley, a former U.S. Navy pilot, for the state's 2nd Congressional District, a 41-community district he has represented since 1989.
Sunday's event drew several local representatives, including Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins, state Rep. Peter V. Kocot, D-Northampton, newly elected Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, Northampton City Council President David J. Narkewicz and Springfield City Council Vice President E. Henry Twiggs.
Politicians aside, the event drew many local Democratic supporters, enough that Higgins quipped during her opening remarks that, "elected officials don't outnumber" the residents in attendance.
Neal took the stage to the song "Simply the Best," by Tina Turner. When the music died down, he joked, "That was very good staff work."
Then he got down to business, calling the midterm elections a battle about the future that will be decided by who shows up to vote in little more than two weeks.
Neal, and later Kennedy, had a clear theme to their message, and they delivered it without mentioning Wesley by name. The message went something like this: Look to the future and let's move the country forward. The alternative is a step backward and a return to "the failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place," said Kennedy.
She said Neal is one of the best at helping the country move forward, and he might be tapped as the new chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. She recalled numerous times when the former Springfield mayor and her late husband would meet to discuss strategies and policies and how to make legislation happen.
"It's not easy work," she said.
Neal called out Republicans for their attempts to pin the nation's problems on President Obama, saying the notion is "preposterous." He noted that President Bush's tax cuts and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other initiatives, reversed a $5.7 trillion surplus when that administration took office in 2001.
"The people who set the fire are now the ones calling the fire department," Neal said.

(rest of article Here)

Neal failed to mention that those expiring Bush Tax cuts would cost every working family in the district, up to $5,000 annually regardless of their income level. This will occur because the Congressman along with a majority of Democrat Incumbents preferred to cut out of Congress early to get back to their districts to campaign, instead of working on the tax package, leaving businesses in limbo, effectively continuing hiring freezes. That said Neal appears to feel more comfortable in a controlled and smaller venue setting that his opponent, Republican Tom Wesley. That was apparent in a recent debate shown on Channel 57, Springfield Public Television, where the two met in a tightly controlled environment; however, even then it was apparent that Neal appeared uncomfortable.