On Wednesday, Seth Moulton, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, announced he is running for the US Senate in a Democratic primary challenge to incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). The next day, Moulton made another announcement — that he is returning all contributions he has received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and refusing to accept any more AIPAC donations or support.
Is the timing coincidence for this candidate who has received AIPAC money while in the House, or has Moulton’s nascent Senate campaign recognized it can do better in its primary challenge against Markey if Moulton can disassociate himself from AIPAC? The latter seems the likely answer. AIPAC is disliked by many people for its pulling of levers behind the scenes to ensure Congress members keep supporting the US government giving massive financial and military support to the Israel government despite opposition from the American public.
AIPAC can and does give candidates a lot of money. But, at least for some campaigns, the toxicity of being connected to AIPAC can impose a cost greater than the benefit AIPAC’s money can buy.
