This is the Sept. 1, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.

“Moulton’s problem is every time they get on the debate stage, Markey’s alive and looks it. You can’t make the case that he’s Joe Biden.”

— Chris Matthews, former host of “Hardball,” on the Massachusetts Senate primary

In an era when younger insurgents are successfully primarying longtime Democratic incumbents, Massachusetts may be about to break the trend. Kevin Frey, an MS NOW congressional reporter, joined “Morning Joe” live from Malden on primary day with what voters are telling him about the Senate race between 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey and 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton. 

Willie Geist: Kevin, what are you hearing from voters about the age issue? 

KF: Democrats across the country have some agita about the age issue, particularly after the Joe Biden situation. But this is one place where that narrative is going in the opposite direction. 

It boils down to something that sounds incredibly clichéd but is resonating with voters: It’s not the age of the candidate — it’s the age of the candidate’s ideas. Younger progressives are rallying around Markey because they believe his leadership on the Green New Deal and other policy positions makes him the right standard-bearer, even though he’d be 86 at the end of another term.

WG: What are voters actually saying about Moulton?

KF: One voter told us Moulton’s ideas are “so old” and compared him to “Fetterman 2.0,” saying Massachusetts deserves better. Another said that for their whole time in politics, it felt like the Democratic Party has been defined by reactions to things like Donald Trump — but that Markey’s message actually puts Democrats on offense.

WG: And what is Moulton’s case for generational change?

KF: His argument is that you need an upper age limit — that it’s time for a new generation. He’s 47, he’s been in the House for some time, and he’s leaning on his experience working across the aisle, including on a suicide prevention hotline. 

But that doesn’t seem to be cutting through. The polling has Markey pretty comfortably ahead. And in the debates, there have been flashpoints around AI and whether Markey can really speak to modern technology. 

WG: So Massachusetts could break the pattern we’ve seen elsewhere?

KF: There’s a real chance this upends the narrative we’ve seen from some other primaries, where younger candidates have been defeating Democratic incumbents. We’ll find out tonight.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.

CHARTS OF THE DAY

Source: Gallup poll of 1,200 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 3-24, 2026. Margin of error: ±4 percentage points 

Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

WHAT THEY SAID

Richard Haass on Trump’s global positioning

“It wasn’t that long ago that the great structural comparative advantage of the United States was our pool of military, strategic, diplomatic, and economic allies across the world. The president seems to be going out of his way to undo that — and reach out to our adversaries instead. This is a real own goal.”

Retired. Gen. Mark Hertling on Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation 

“The Army can survive personalities coming and going. What’s worrying is the institutional damage — and not just because of the relief of generals. The hedging of the transformation efforts and the fact that we now don’t have any congressionally confirmed leaders within the Army is really problematic.”

Claire McCaskill on the White House ballroom 

“I think most of America sees this as such a symbol of the lawlessness of this administration. It is a symbolic middle finger to the rule of law in this country, and it always will be. Trump will be blamed for it, as he should be — but I hope people don’t forget that his enablers are just as guilty.”

Jonathan Lemire on Vice President JD Vance calling Abdul El-Sayed “evil” 

“It’s extraordinary identity politics. It’s racist and certainly Islamophobic. We’ve seen this before — Trump and his top allies resorting to ugly personal attacks and crossing every sort of line imaginable. And I’m sure now we’ll be greeted with silence from other Republicans because no one’s going to rush to condemn what the vice president said.”

The post Inside the Moulton-Markey face-off in Massachusetts appeared first on MS NOW.

From MS Now.