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Before World War II, Massachusetts was a politically conservative state. In 1932, under Democrat Governor Joseph Ely, Massachusetts was one of six states refusing to take federal aid for welfare when it was offered for the first time in U. S. history. Instead, Massachusetts met the social needs of its citizens by raising money within the state: teachers donated part of their salaries for charity; the Boston Civic Symphony raised money to help the jobless; Boston College and Holy Cross even played an exhibition football game to meet the needs of the unemployed during the depression year of 1931.
As evidence of Massachusetts’ political and fiscal conservatism, we can look at its former U. S. Senators. In 1950, that state’s two Senators were both Republicans: Senator Leverett Saltonstall, who traced his roots to the Pilgrims’ voyage on the Mayflower, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, a member of one of the state’s oldest and most distinguished families. When John F. Kennedy defeated Lodge for that Senate seat in 1952, Kennedy ran as a fiscal conservative. Even as president, Kennedy launched an impressive income tax cut that sparked economic growth in the U. S. during the mid-1960s.
During the 1960s, Massachusetts transitioned to a liberal state and elected its last Republican, the liberal Edward Brooke, in 1972. In part, that is what makes Scott Brown’s election to the “Kennedy seat” so astonishing and so meaningful. In the special election last week to fill Senator Kennedy’s seat, Brown tended to be free market in his ideas–he campaigned for no new taxes, death to Obamacare, and more offshore drilling. And he won in a stunning upset. Against an establishment liberal candidate. A candidate who had the president’s warm personal support and a visit from him right before the election.
All of this may or may not reflect a change in New England politics, but it surely represents a chance for the Republican Party to reestablish trust with American voters by acting on principle. That means supporting free markets, defending property rights, and denouncing earmarks and refusing to use them when a return to power beckons. The Tea Party movement is helping to shift the political discourse back to balanced budgets, the Constitution, and limited government. All hail Massachusetts.
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The purple state voters of Massachusetts are voting their pocketbook interests. Those earning a living in the private sector are particularly worried about the economic wheels coming off. Many of them hesitate to move out of the state and are compelled to stand and fight. The Democrats won many political victories in the last some twenty years because of indifference. Countless purple and red state Americans were earning high incomes and politics essentially bored these individuals to death. The good times seem guaranteed to last forever. Eighteen months ago the presidential election was perceived to be a ho-hum affair. Such naiveté no longer exists. Democrats are now perceived to be the enemy of progress.