Mass rocks!

[City of Mills]

Whither the GOP?

With Democrats in total control of state government, the Massachusetts GOP should be a rising voice of dissent. Instead, it seems more impotent than ever.

Ask people to name the leading voice of opposition on Beacon Hill these days, and you’re likely to be told House Speaker Sal DiMasi — or Governor Deval Patrick, depending on which of the two is considered the current locus of political power.

That’s not the way the playbook was written for the Massachusetts Republican Party. By solidifying one-party control of state government, Patrick’s election was supposed to fuel a forceful dissenting voice. Just as Michael Dukakis in the late 1980s gave rise to William Weld and a surge in GOP legislators in the early 1990s, so the Patrick administration was supposed to have birthed a strong opposition party.

It may happen eventually, but it hasn’t yet. In fact, the GOP is barely acknowledged — media reports rarely bother even quoting Republican voices on the issues of the day. Meanwhile, a string of special elections have been won by Democrats, including four state-representative races earlier this month — at least two of which were in districts where their party should have been competitive, Republican insiders concede.

...more at http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid58298.aspx