Massachusetts, The Stigma State

[stevedeshazer]

With All That Political Baggage, How Far Can Its Candidates Go?

Michael S. Dukakis is on the phone. He sounds annoyed.

The former Democratic presidential nominee is asked if being from Massachusetts contributed to his defeat in 1988 and whether it will hurt the candidacy of his former lieutenant governor, John Kerry. Dukakis does not like the conceit.

"It's absolute nonsense," he says. "We had a great president named John F. Kennedy who was from Massachusetts. I didn't lose because I came from Massachusetts. I lost because I ran a lousy campaign against George H.W. Bush."

The latter point is widely agreed upon. The former is not.

Because in fact, no state carries as much political baggage as Massachusetts, the perceived liberal outpost and home to several failed presidential candidates of recent vintage (Dukakis, Ted Kennedy, Paul Tsongas).

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1790-2004Jan31.html?nav=hptoc_p
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Is being from Massachusetts a fatal flaw? What states are "acceptable" for Presidential candidates to be from? And should I end sentences with prepositions?

[Bombtrack]

1. Vermont is no better

it's electorate is probably seen as more fringe-like than Massachusetts, and much, much smaller. There's a reasons people call Vermont an "obscure" state and not Massachusetts. It's the second smallest in population. It elects a socialist congressman, Pat Leahy and Jim Jeffords. Also civil unions, Ben and Jerry, and Phish.

Whether it was a right-winger who said it or not, I forget, but someone said many people might think it was a Canadian province. And I think that's a cogent point

[stevedeshazer]

4. True

So, should Presidents only come from, say, Ohio, or Texas, or Virginia, or New York, or California? Can any candidate ever win if not from the "right" state? This drives me nuts.

[Bombtrack]

8. A nom could win from any state, but that doesn't mean it's not an issue

a very big issue. The best state a democrat could come from in this day and age would definetly be Florida. In the 70's and 80's the best state a republican could have come from is California.

[lcordero]

9. Vermont sounds like a paradise

:toast:

[Bombtrack]

14. Not to most people. As a liberal, I'd rather live in Texas than Vermont

and I'm from Massachusetts.

[David Dunham]

2. Mass has had 4 straight Republican governors; it's not liberal anymore

[arewethereyet]

12. Virginia mixes governors but we're a republican state

people will vote up or down to manage state taxation and act totally differently when thinking nationally.

MASS is poison on the national level.

[blackcat77]

3. It's all baloney

Clinton was from Arkansas and they didn't like that either.

[Bombtrack]

5. Uh no, Clinton split the south twice and won Arizona and Nevada

It's very doubtful that Paul Tsongas could have done that.

He benefited greatly from coming from a southern/middle american state

[fairfaxvadem]

6. what a bunch of junk that is.

Massachusetts, or as the right-wing likes to call it "The Peoples' Republic of Massachusetts" has given this country some of its greatest patriots. Living in "aristocratic" Virginia and all THAT baggage (tax laws that still reflect an agrarian economy, a Republican legislature that still thinks we're fighting the Civil War, etc.), I'll take whatever baggage assigned to Mass in a heartbeat. Yes, I know the Commonwealth of VA (Mass also being a Commonwealth) gave us TJ, GW, Mason, Madison, etc., but no one of note since the founding of the country.

At least Massachusetts is still producing some solid political leaders in the modern era, which is more than I can say of my state, who sends idiots like George Allen to the Senate. Our only hope right now is our governor, otherwise, Dems have very little influence in this state.

I would consider Massachusetts extremely lucky.

[blackcat77]

7. "Taxachusetts" is what I've heard it called nt

[fairfaxvadem]

11. maybe it is Taxachusetts.

But why aren't folks rebelling against the taxes or leaving in droves? Same for NY State. Not exactly a cheap place. And yet I would say that my relatives who live north of Albany have a better quality of life than I do living outside of DC on many levels.

[mot78]

10. They've elected nothing but Repug Governors for the last ten years!!

Ever heard of Mitt Romeny?

[Bombtrack]

15. only because the people don't want complete autocracy

Democrats have about 90 percent of the legislature I believe. And every person in the congressional delegation is a liberal democrat

[DemBones DemBones]

13. After Nixon won re-election against George McGovern,

with McGovern carrying only Massachusetts, two bumper stickers became popular.

One was "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For McGovern"
(the first "Don't Blame Me'" slogan, I think.)

The other was "Massachusetts: The Lone Star State."

:7 :7 :7 :7 :7


A Democrat will be criticized and called a liberal no matter where he's from.

Yet we manage to win rather often.