State Democratic Chairman Rallies Berkshire Voters

State Democratic Committee Chairman John Walsh rallied Berkshire Democrats on Sunday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — John Walsh delivered a dose of adrenaline to Berkshire Democrats on Sunday as the party ramps up campaigning for Edward Markey.

The chairman of the state Democratic Committee was the main speaker at a ceremony opening the regional Democratic office on North Street. Walsh was joined by state Rep. Paul Mark and state Sen. Benjamin Downing in giving rally speeches.

Walsh asked local Democratic leaders to forget about their other responsibilities for the next month and focus on the campaign because the U.S. Senate seat, he said, is too important to lose.

"I don't want a United States senator voting in my name against an assault weapons ban, against a women's right to choose, against Social Security. I want Ed Markey and I know with Ed Markey that I can trust him because he's done this for us. He's a national leader," Walsh said to loud cheers from dozens gather at the new office.

"We're never going to replace the glory days we had with Ted Kennedy and John Kerry as the stalwarts of the United State Senate. But, I'll tell you, with Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, that's pretty good."

Markey is going up against Republican Gabriel Gomez in a special election on June 25 to fill the seat vacated by Kerry, who resigned to become secretary of state. Voter turnout is going to be key, Walsh said, because many people will forget about election day.

"I know it is a bad time. I know it is a challenging time of the year. Your friends, who you can count on, will forget this," Walsh said.

He encouraged Democrats to do everything they can in the next month to spread the word and remind people to vote. He called for campaign leaders to have "face to face" conversations with voters, knock on doors and make phone calls because Democrats can't afford to again lose a Senate seat.

"Are we going to send somebody to Washington who will support President Obama's agenda or are we going to send someone who will become a national figure in opposition?" Walsh said. "We spent a year and a half making sure that we finally sent a strong woman to the United States Senate in Elizabeth Warren and it is about time."

Warren's vote would be countered by Gomez, he said, recalling how Democrats lost the last special U.S. Senate election in 2010 when Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley. The party doesn't want that to happen again.

"The first thing is to remember how you felt the morning after the last United States Senate special election. Remember that feeling. Now, remember how you felt on election night last November. Remember how you felt when the networks called for Elizabeth Warren. Remember those two feelings," Downing said.

The opening of the regional North Street office, a partnership with Berkshire Brigades, is an indicator of the importance of the coming elections to the Democratic Party even in deep-blue Western Mass., where Warren picked up 70 percent of the vote.

"We could sit idly by as Republicans in Washington try to spin small mistakes into big scandals, try to spin huge coverups out of nothing. We can sit idly by and we can can get one of those results. Or we can do what we do best as Democrats," said Downing. "We can go door to door. We can talk to our friends. We can talk to our family members. We can talk to our neighbors. We can talk to our fellow employees in the business place. We can talk to everyone we know about why we need Ed Markey to be our United States senator and we could have that exact same feeling that we had in November."

Brown's election was seen as an affirmation of the tea party movement and led to many Democrats being ousted from seats, Mark said.

"We're not going to let that happen. We're not even going to let Gabriel Gomez get within 5 percent. We're going to put him away because we're not going to have him drafted for governor. We going to make sure we win this year; we are going to make sure we win next year," Mark said.