The newly rebranded CommonWealth Beacon has put the concept of Massachusetts exceptionalism front and center lately with several thoughtful pieces about the quality of life in the Bay State based on the results of a brand new CWB/MassInc poll of Massachusetts residents. Michael Jonas’s Putting Massachusetts Exceptionalism to the Test asks whether Bay Staters can…
Category: Massachusetts Republican Party
Is Maura Healey Having a “Sister Souljah Moment”?
Maura Healey is more well positioned to win the 2022 governor’s race than any candidate in an open seat Massachusetts governor’s race in at least half a century. Nonetheless, Healey is apologizing for an analogy she used at the end of a 2020 Chamber of Commerce speech that is being used against her by Bay…
GOP Effort to Stop Permanent Mail-In Voting Highlights Unique Aspects of Mass Politics
The MassGOP lawsuit to stop permanent mail-in voting is more interesting than you might think. The state’s Republican Party Chairman, Jim Lyons, has taken a very weak outfit and turned it into an exceptionally incompetent one that is now engaged full-time in garden variety “lib trolling,” an activity that hasn’t been as useful for party…
Baker’s Decision will Help Protect His Legacy & the Statehouse Status Quo
Charlie Baker’s decision not to make an unprecedented run for a third consecutive four-year term in the Corner Office was a wise one for many reasons, most of which have been well and thoroughly discussed by thoughtful observers. The complications of his party having been thoroughly trumpified and the various land mines Democrats could detonate…
The Utter Futility of the MassGOP: Not New, Just More Obnoxious Lately.
The ongoing conflict within the MassGOP between Trumpist wingnuts and politically rational conservatives is as crazy and counter-productive as virtually every political analyst has indicated. It is, indeed, absurd for state Republicans to oppose Charlie Baker’s brand of conservatism. What it is not, however, is surprising or unexplainable. The most interesting thing about anti-Baker wingnuttery…
“Can’t Anyone Here Play this Game?” The Real Jim Lyons Problem
“Can’t anyone here play this game?” cried legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel, frustrated with the incompetence of his 1962 Amazin’ Mets. The Massachusetts Republican State Committee should be asking the same question—not because Jim Lyons is an inept chair but because Lyons is an inept culture warrior. The GOP needs to “reimagine” the chairmanship not…
Baker’s Re-election Depends on Pols, not Polls.
Charlie Baker’s decision about whether to seek an unprecedented third consecutive four-year term in the Corner Office is a lot more interesting and consequential than most people realize. If you really want to know whether Baker will run and whether he would win if he does run, pay attention to the words and deeds of…
MassGOP: The Party of Lincoln, Ignorant of Lincoln
What do you call a political party that claims to be “the Party of Lincoln” but has no knowledge or understanding of Abraham Lincoln and no interest in learning? You call it the Massachusetts Republican Party. The other day the state party sent out an email commemorating Lincoln’s birthday: Well, yeah, I agree we would…