Where liberalism lives

[meegbear]

Remember how this all started -- back in January, when we all looked up, shocked to discover a Republican on the verge of winning the Senate seat Ted Kennedy had previously held for more than 46 years?

Scott Brown’s triumph in Massachusetts' Jan. 19 special election, the first Republican victory in a Bay State Senate race since 1972, was the first clear, indisputable evidence how toxic the combination of soaring joblessness and total Democratic control of Washington could be for the party this year. That combination resulted in the GOP’s takeover of the House on Tuesday night, with the party gobbling up around 60 Democratic-held seats, and its significant gains in the Senate -- a pickup of six seats, it appears. Republicans also gained numerous governorships and state legislative chambers.

But, curiously enough, there’s one place where they didn’t do much winning on Tuesday night: Massachusetts.

Take Deval Patrick, the state’s embattled first-term Democratic governor. When Brown won in January, Patrick rocketed to the top of the endangered list, especially with Republicans fielding Charlie Baker, a former William Weld lieutenant who shared his old boss’ appealing mix of economic conservatism and social liberalism. As his running mate, Baker chose an openly gay state legislator. Brown’s victory had demonstrated that swing voters in the Bay State, for the first time since before the Gingrich/Bush era, were willing to vote for Republicans, and Patrick’s approval numbers were anemic. The setup, in other words, was perfect for a GOP takeover of the State House.

And yet, Patrick won on Tuesday night -- with remarkable ease. When the final votes were tallied, he’d beaten back Baker’s challenge by a comfortable 7-point margin. The outcome came after a campaign in which Patrick mounted a vigorous, good-spirited defense of his record. His happy warrior act reminded voters of the man the optimistic outsider they’d elected in a landslide four years earlier -- and contrasted favorably against the cool public demeanor of Baker. It’s true that an independent candidate, state treasurer Tim Cahill complicated the race, but he didn’t win it for Patrick, who still received 49 percent of the vote; campaign polls showed Cahill’s supporters split about evenly when they were forced to choose between the top two candidates.


Nor was Patrick’s success an aberration. Republicans launched a concerted push for two down-ballot statewide offices, auditor and state treasurer, but fell short in both contests. (The winner in the treasurer’s race might be a familiar name: Steve Grossman, who served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee under Bill Clinton.) All six of Massachusetts’ constitutional offices will still be controlled by Democrats going forward. Even Martha Coakley, who was last seen melting down in her race against Brown, had no trouble retaining her post as attorney general, beating back a weak Republican effort (the GOP candidate only made the ballot after launching a write-in campaign in the primary).

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http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/11/03/massachusetts_deval_patrick

MY STATE!!! :woohoo:

[pinto]

1. Cangrats Massachusetts ! There were some bright points in last night's results.

Out here in CA we elected a top down Dem State government. And re-elected Boxer. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: