GOVERNOR
:-(
I give up on you, Massachusetts.
Mass. Races
Not one Republican, not even for auditor?
Shame on you, Massachusetts!!
US Rep. Olver reelected in W. Mass.
Ballot question results
I think I'm going to go get that drink now.
Related:
"Frank wins reelection
Barney Frank, the irascible powerbroker who has survived scandal, repeated redistricting, and the ups and downs of the Democratic Party, today easily beat back his strongest challenge in years.
Frank crushed Sean Bielat, a little-known Marine Corps reservist who had waged a surprisingly energetic campaign that attracted national attention by attempting to blame the longtime congressman for mishandling the nation’s economic woes while serving as chairman of the House financial services committee.
At the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Newton, a couple of dozen Frank supporters mingled between a table of appetizers -- a Chinese-Jewish hybrid of knishes, potato latkes, egg rolls, and chicken skewers -- and a cash bar."
Meanwhile, up in New Hampshire it was a clean sweep for the Repugs on the representative side -- and I can't say I am unhappy. Such hope and promise from Shea-Porter followed by such disappointment.
I will say this about the national elections and flip of power in the House (Democrats look like they are going to hold on the Senate):
The American people are SENDING a MESSAGE that they NO LONGER LIKE being LOOTED and LIED TO!!
Not that it is going to stop because of the game of musical chairs down there. The same interests -- wars, Wall Street, and Israel -- are going to be serviced.
Also see:
- Rubio, Paul lead GOP surge
- Christine O'Donnell loses Senate bid in Del.
- Ayotte takes US Senate seat in N.H.
- Paul wins US Senate in Ky.
- Blumenthal bests McMahon in Conn.
- Leahy of Vt. wins 7th term in US Senate
"Patrick roars to 2d term; State Democrats sweep; sales tax cut voted down" by Frank Phillips and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | November 3, 2010
Governor Deval Patrick defeated Republican rival Charles D. Baker yesterday to win a second term, a dramatic end to an election in which Democrats crushed hopes of a Republican resurgence in Massachusetts.
Patrick overcame a devastating recession and a high unemployment rate to convince voters that he was best equipped to lead the state toward economic recovery. His triumph was the cornerstone of a Democratic rout that set the state apart from the rest of the nation, which saw major Republican gains....
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Patrick had 48.8 percent of the vote to Baker’s 41.7 percent....
Baker struggled, especially in the early chapters of the campaign. He adopted the angry tone of the political season reflected in his motto, “Had enough?’’ but struggled to introduce himself to workaday voters.
Apparently, Massachusetts voters are the most placid in the whole nation. Nothing makes them upset, not even stealing from them.
Yeah, don't get angry Mass. voters. I won't be anymore. In fact, I'll be dropping a whole pile of state coverage now. It's all yours now!
Beloved by GOP insiders, he suffered from low likeability ratings, particularly among women.
Will you now open up that pocketbook, pleeze?!!!
See:
Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
See why you needed to keep taxes high (and they will be going up further in this one-party liberal fascist state) as services are still slashed?
But don't worry; I'm sure the banks will take care of you (even as we set record foreclosures month-after-month).
Democrats sought to paint him as wealthy and out of touch, mocking the $1.7 million salary he drew at Harvard Pilgrim while the company was increasing insurance premiums. Baker was also dogged by questions about his role in crafting a finance plan for the Big Dig that relied on heavy borrowing and modest toll increases, deferring the toughest decisions on tolls and taxes to future governors.
Give 'em an R or a D and they STILL WORK for BANKERS!
Related:
“We’ve still got people complaining about the Big Dig.... But in the end, 20 years from now, people are going to look back on it and they’ll still say it was cheap for what we got, and they’ll try to figure out how they can replicate it.’’ -- Senator John F. Kerry
Please REMEMBER THAT ONE, Democrats!!!
Chuck Baker DID YOU A FAVOR and YOU SPAT in HIS FACE!!
But many voters embraced the candidate’s message that Massachusetts needed to hold down spending and slash taxes....
Yeah, but SOMEHOW the QUESTION 3 was SOUNDLY DEFEATED and NOT ONE REPUBLICAN WON! Something MAY BE A-STINKIN' in old Massachushitts!!!!
The state GOP, with its hopes raised of becoming a bigger force, failed to win a single one of the 10 congressional seats or any statewide offices, including open seats for state treasurer and state auditor.
A closely watched ballot question to slash the state sales tax rate was defeated, as was a measure to repeal the state’s affordable housing law. But a ballot question to erase the sales tax on alcohol won....
So all us disappointed voters can hoist a few.
In a race that drew national attention, US Representative Barney Frank, a liberal icon and a target of conservatives across the country, more than survived a challenge from Republican Sean Bielat of Brookline. In the end, Frank beat Bielat handily in the Fourth District.
And he will be RETURNING TO MINORITY STATUS!!
:-)
The Democrats also won four other congressional seats that had been targeted by Republicans. William R. Keating beat Republican Jeffrey D. Perry for the open 10th District seat. US Representatives Niki Tsongas of Lowell, James P. McGovern of Worcester, and John Tierney of Salem cruised to victory by comfortable margins.
Republicans will never win here ever again. If they couldn't win this year, they will never win. I'm putting up the white flag.
In the contest for treasurer, Steve Grossman, a prodigious Democratic fund-raiser and Newton businessman, defeated Karyn E. Polito, a Republican state representative from Shrewsbury. In the race for auditor, former Democratic state representative Suzanne M. Bump of Great Barrington narrowly beat Republican Mary Z. Connaughton of Framingham.
That last one is the most egregious.
See: MSM Monitor: Bumping the Incumbent Auditors
So what you are getting -- rather than a certified CPA who is qualified for the job -- is a Democratic Party hack who will cover up all the criminal conduct and corruption (like the last guy).
The GOP picked up seats in the Legislature, knocking off several incumbents.
Negligible gains that will mean absolutely nothing.
In the attorney general’s race, Martha Coakley, 10 months after she suffered a crushing defeat in a US Senate election, easily prevailed over her Republican opponent, James P. McKenna, to win a second term.
I voted Republican there.
Her victory revives a political career that had been severely damaged after Democrats blamed her for losing Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown....
Pffft!
Now it MAKES HER LOOK EVEN WORSE!
The LONE DEMOCRAT to LOSE to a Republican in Massachusetts!!
And TED KENNEDY'S SEAT of ALL THINGS!
Related: Mass. Hypocrisy in Full Flower
Little bit of poetic justice there, no?
--more--"
"An incumbent defies odds to the end; Governor stays true to his core principles" by Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | November 3, 2010
Charles D. Baker, who for years has been considered the ideal GOP candidate in Massachusetts, was an awkward candidate....
Out of the public arena, he is a sincere, thoughtful, and dynamic personality. On the stump, he was somebody his friends did not recognize....
When polls showed female voters flocking to Patrick, the Baker campaign’s response was a dog-and-pony show for the media in which Baker appeared before a group of women who were friends and supporters. They dutifully testified to his virtuous softer side. We learned he likes mac and cheese and playing board games. It was bizarre political theater....
And the Globe was right there to cover and write about it.
They didn't seem to be as critical then, did they?
I guess it was "news" back then.
Campaigns try to reduce opponents to caricatures, and the Democrats apparently succeeded with Baker, reducing his years in government to his role in devising the cumbersome financing scheme for the Big Dig and his rescuing Harvard Pilgrim and making it one of the best health insurance companies in the country to the fact that his salary was $1.7 million when he left and premiums rose 150 percent in 10 years. It didn’t matter that the salary was not out of line with his peers or that the skyrocketing underlying cost of health care drove up premiums for all insurers.
Yeah, but it is OKAY if NEWSPAPERS or DEMOCRATS DO IT because THAT'S OKAY here in Massachusetts. But if a Republican does it all hell breaks loose!
I should know; every time I mention Democrat corruption, malfeasance, or misleading around here I get "Well, George Bush and the Republicans did it.... But the Republicans.... "
Yeah, I see, because THE GUYS YOU HATE DID IT it's OKAY for YOUR GUYS TO DO IT!
See you in the funny papers, Massachusetts voters.
--more--"
Yeah, OPEN UP that WALLET (unless you want a drink), voter!!!!!
"Voters limit repeals to alcohol sales tax" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | November 3, 2010
A ballot question to repeal the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages passed by a narrow margin last night, but voters soundly rejected a more sweeping measure to slash the general sales tax rate by more than half....
Related:
"Legislators also agreed last week to change legal language in the recently passed sales tax hike to assure credit agencies that $100 million earmarked for the Turnpike Authority would go toward paying off Big Dig debt"
Wall Street banks thank you, Massachusetts voters.
Carla Howell, a leading supporter of the tax cut, said “We still have work to do informing people on where their tax dollars go and what they support.’’
They don't want to hear it, Carla.
I HAVE TRIED with my FRIENDS and RELATIVES and they JUST DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT!
They WANT TO CLING to their BELIEFS no matter WHAT the FACTS!
--more--"
My eyes are wide-open, though:
"Republicans’ revolution fades in Massachusetts" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | November 3, 2010
I don't think one special Senate election is a revolution.
So much for the Scott Brown revolution, at least in his home state.
He was a national inspiration and a local hero — an against-the-odds winner from Wrentham — who inspired Republicans up and down the ticket to challenge the state’s powerful Democratic establishment. He campaigned throughout the state last weekend, telling sign-holding Republicans at rallies that he was getting “flashbacks’’ to his own improbable US Senate victory.
Yet 10 months after that seismic result, Massachusetts turned decidedly blue again....
“I don’t know how they view this as anything but a total disaster,’’ said Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College in Easton. “I just don’t know what a political party does if all indicators across the nation, across the state, all point to a Republican year and they can’t win any races of note.’’
To make a significant statement that Massachusetts has become a true two-party state, the GOP would have had to claim the governor’s office, at least one US House seat, perhaps a constitutional office or two, and at least a dozen new seats in the state Legislature.
The party didn’t come close....
The party’s only major victory came in the state Legislature, where Republicans appeared to have increased their membership to 34. They currently hold 20 of the 200 House and Senate seats....
Massachusetts Democrats, with most power preserved, may now feel a renewed sense of invincibility after withstanding the Republicans’ best shot, even as the Democratic Party felt sweeping losses elsewhere in the nation....
Are you READY to be LOOTED, Massachusetts voters?
--more--"
