PRESS RELEASE: FORMER MA-04 CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK AND GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS DECRY THE UNFAIR, INACCURATE ATTACK ADS AND MAILERS THAT HAVE “MISLED VOTERS” AND DISTORTED ALAN KHAZEI'S RECORD IN THE RACE TO FILL JOE KENNEDY’S SEAT

(Brookline, MA) — Former Congressman Barney Frank, who represented the Massachusetts Fourth Congressional District from 1981 to 2013, and Governor Michael Dukakis, who served the Commonwealth for three terms, weighed in for the first time in the MA-04 race for Congress to formally denounce the false, negative spending by secret money groups in the Fourth Congressional District Primary.

In a statement, Congressman Frank and Governor Dukakis expressed their “deep disappointment at the inaccurate and unfair attack” against Khazei. Frank and Dukakis stressed that Khazei is a “strong Pro-Choice Democrat”, and that the negative attack is a “distortion of Khazei’s views on this issue, and therefore misleads voters in this race.”

Congressman Frank and Governor Dukakis also warned that misleading attacks such as these “obstructs serious efforts to enact important policy into law.”

Frank and Dukakis continue,“When every tactical decision that has to be made in stressful circumstances to achieve a major advance is subject to retroactive, uninformed criticism based on the worst possible interpretation of the motives of those who are fighting the good fight, the result will be a lot of self-righteous rhetoric and no constructive action.”

Congressman Frank and Governor Dukakis conclude we never would have achieved the Affordable Care Act had this kind of politics determined the approach to passing the bill into law. “Millions of low-income people who now have health care would not have it, had that approach governed the health care battle,” they asserted.

Frank and Dukakis’ statement comes as the Boston Globe Editorial Board released an editorial denouncing the false attack ads, saying Khazei “is getting ambushed — mugged, even,” while urging voters to “ignore” attacks on Alan Khazei’s record and characterizing such attacks as “devious and distasteful” and “shady politicking.” Congressman Frank told the Globe that attacks on Khazei are “misleading and irresponsible and it is symptomatic of destructive politics.”

Under significant criticism, the Washington DC based website fueled by secret money, took down its false attack on Khazei.

Alan Khazei, who has been on the receiving end of a half million dollars in the false attack distorting his record and views, warned about the pernicious effect of corrupt money on our legislative process over ten years ago when he was among the very first Congressional candidates nationwide to reject all corporate PAC and lobbyist money. At the time, Khazei challenged fellow Democrats to do the same. “It was a lonely fight back then. I’m proud to say it’s a litmus test now,” says Khazei.

“I deeply appreciate Congressman Frank and Governor Dukakis denouncing these false attacks and sharing their views with the voters of the Fourth District to set the record straight about my strong pro-choice record. We need to put people before politics. That is why my friends and I started City Year, that is why I took a stand against corporate PAC and lobbyist money over a decade ago, that is why I backed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s strategy in passing the Affordable Care Act and that is why I am the only candidate in this race who has offered a detailed action plan for each and every one of the 34 cities and towns in the Fourth District,” said Khazei. “This election needs to be about the voters and the issues they care about: dealing with the coronavirus crisis and providing health care to everyone, restoring jobs and jumpstarting our economy, saving our planet from Climate Change, ending gun violence, achieving racial justice and restoring the American Dream.”

Karen Mulhauser, former Executive Director of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and Founder of Every Women Vote 2020, endorsed Alan Khazei for the Fourth Confressional District seat. “I’ve known Alan for more than three decades. He is one of America’s preeminent non-profit entrepreneurs and movement builders,” said Mulhauser. “He is a strong champion for Women’s rights, including the right to choose and healthcare for all. He will be an outstanding member of Congress who has the experience and skills to build intersectional coalitions that will protect women’s rights and the rights of all people.”

Read the full statement from Congressman Frank and Governor Dukakis below:

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE BARNEY FRANK AND GOVERNOR MICHAEL DUKAKIS ON THE ROLE OF CHOICE IN THE 4th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CAMPAIGN

We are not supporting any of the several good candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat, but we are speaking out to express our deep disappointment at the inaccurate and unfair attack being voiced on Alan Khazei, who is a strong Pro-Choice democrat.

Khazei, is being attacked because he voiced support for the thoughtful, responsible legislative strategy that Speaker Pelosi executed in 2009 to pass the ‘Affordable Care Act.’ Faced with the need to work with a bloc of anti-choice democrats if we were to pass any meaningful health care bill, the Speaker negotiated a process that gave us the current very valuable extension of health care, while protecting the right of choice to the maximum extent possible.

Apparently, the criticism of Alan Khazei is that he speculated that he might have voted for the bill after the final House-Senate agreement, even if it were not as good as we would have liked it to be. But the thrust of the criticism does not focus on this highly hypothetical and uncertain point, but gives the false impression that Khazei would have refused to fight for the pro-choice position.

This is not only a distortion of Khazei’s views on this issue, and therefore misleads voters in this race; it builds on, and reinforces an attitude which obstructs serious efforts to enact important policy into law. When every tactical decision that has to be made in stressful circumstances to achieve a major advance is subject to retroactive, uninformed criticism based on the worst possible interpretation of the motives of those who are fighting the good fight, the result will be a lot of self-righteous rhetoric and no constructive action. Millions of low-income people who now have health care would not have it, had that approach governed the health care battle.

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Alan Khazei, City Year co-founder and service movement leader, is running for Congress in MA-04. He lives in Brookline with his wife, daughter, son, and dog Zuzu. Leading on the COVID-19 crisis, Khazei co-authored two Politico Op-Eds on saving small businesses and ramping up national service, issued a comprehensive COVID-19 Action Plan and published a three-part path forward on Medium. He also launched a comprehensive policy vision on climate action and on transportation, found on his website. Khazei has been endorsed by Senior Senator from Colorado, Michael Bennet, Former President and CEO of the NAACP, Professor Rev. Cornell William Brooks, State Senator Marc Pacheco, Massachusetts State Representatives Jeff Roy and Smitty Pignatelli, Newton City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Holly Ryan, former National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador Susan Rice, Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal, Congressperson Jamie Raskin, former Mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu, former Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy, former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Douglas Wilson, Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Saya Ameli Hajebi, National Spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, lifelong Civil Rights activist Hubie Jones, prominent civic entrepreneur Colette Phillips, The Italian American Democratic Leadership Council, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Leadership Now Project, and Moms Demand Action as a Gun Sense Candidate
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www.alankhazei.com