THE LITANY of well-known Republicans passing on the chance to succeed John Kerry as senator underscores the extraordinary feebleness of the state GOP. It underscores as well the degree to which politics is broken in the Commonwealth. The answer, perhaps, is not some vain effort to revitalize the GOP, but rather to rethink our elections altogether.
With no effective two-party system in the state, Democrats have a kind of hegemony. Gubernatorial races excepted, general elections are often pointless affairs: The Democrat always wins. The “real” election, if you will, is the primary: a small-turnout, intramural event dominated by partisans and often won by someone securing well less than a majority of the vote. Moreover, once in office, always in office. Parties discourage internal fights, so incumbents — whether at the state level or the federal — safely stay incumbents. The politics we get is often inward turning and (judging by the parade of House speakers who have faced criminal investigation if not jail) corrupt, largely immune from the check of voter dissatisfaction.
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It sounds like a good idea - BUT, it would be impossible to implement in this 1 party state. People are nothing but sheep in this state. Hopefully we have a fully staffed FBI office to at least keep the lid on the worst of the corruption.
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As long as GOP candidates in MA have to drag arround the primitive science and social planks of the national party's platform, then winning in this state, where belief in creationism is 40% points lower that in most red states, and rights for women and minorities are championed, will be nearly impossible.
The problem isn't voters. When you're trying to sell a product people don't want to buy, you really won't succeed by blaming your customers.
The system is fine as it is.
Apparently, you don't have very high standards concerning the behavior of elected officials.
This paper contributes to our 1 party state by constantly promoting the liberal Democrat agenda, ignoring it's failures(e.g. welfare fraud) and scandals, while belitting the MA GOP.
I'd rather read the Herald sometimes.
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Boy do you buy all that Democrat rubbish. You site not one example of ANTI anything that the republicans have done, yet they are against everything according to you. If you really want to see the "war on women" look at the the salaries for women in the Obama Admin as well as all the women he chose for his 2nd term.There isn't one!
Did I miss something, or are we just coming off a nearly 2-year window in which a Republican succeeded a long-term and well-loved Democratic US Senator from Massachusetts? To argue that "it can't be done" when it very clearly was done just 25 months ago is a little off the mark.
Term limits would solve so many problems.
Many fail to understand we already have term limits, and they are called elections. Usually when you probe their stated position it becomes clear all that they really want to do is to throw out the politicians they don't support, despite the fact that the majority does. What they fail to see, is that is the antithesis of democracy, i.e., it's democracy they hate.
Republicans don't run because they don't want to take the pay cut to serve in the Legislature, as UMass Boston political science Prof. Ralph Whitehead once opined.