Biden: No reason why Markey ‘shouldn’t walk to victory’ in Mass. Senate race

Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday joined the parade of Democratic heavy-hitters campaigning for Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in the waning days of the Massachusetts Senate race.

{mosads}Biden told a crowd at an Ironworkers union hall in South Boston that Markey is a man who keeps his word and will stand with the middle class.

“Ed and I, … the president and I, we have a different vision for this country,” Biden said, according to a pool report. “Our vision rests on a growing, prosperous middle class, a fair tax code, investing in innovation.”

Biden criticized Republicans in Washington who “think compromise is a dirty word” and said he was skeptical when Markey’s opponent, Gabriel Gomez, called himself a new kind of Republican.

“You can’t call yourself different from the crowd down there if you are not for tax fairness and you can’t support closing outrageous loopholes for wealthy people,” Biden said.

“Why does Newt Gingrich talk about him like he’s the second coming?” Biden asked the crowd. “Why does Marco Rubio want him so much?”

“Look, I know [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell pretty well and if he wants Gabriel Gomez in his caucus, it’s not because he thinks he will ever disagree with him,” Biden said. “It’s because he wants a Republican majority and he knows he can count on the guy to vote with him on everything he needs.”

Markey introduced the vice president, whom he described as “wise and generous and kind and compassionate.”

“At the top of the list, this race is about jobs, jobs, jobs!” Markey said, adding that he supported a higher minimum wage and making sure that the wealthy pay their “fair share.”

“I want to go to Washington to fight: fight for Medicare! Fight for social security!” “I’m going to fight for the best jobs in the world,” Markey said.

A poll conducted by UMass Lowell for the Boston Herald showed Markey leading Gomez by 20 points just days from the election.