The Plymouth County GOP invited me to speak at their rally and straw poll event last night. (You can see some of the video here, courtesy of DaTechGuy)
No doubt it was a good night for the local GOP. They’ve got some great candidates for state legislature like Tom Keyes (running against Therese Murray!), and the 10th Congressional is going to be a wild race.
But the biggest cheers of the evening were for Barack Obama, Barney Frank and Martha Coakley. Because they were preceded by the phrase “defeat.” The most powerful motivation in most elections isn’t the desire to put someone in, but rather to get someone out. Most voters are, at their hearts, W.C. Fields voters: “I never vote for anyone. I always vote ‘against.’”
This is the Democrats’ problem. It explains why they keep dragging out the political corpse of George W. Bush (who, by the way, is more popular than Obama right now in the key swing state of Ohio). They need to give angry voters someone to vote against, too.
But when you’re Democrat Gov. Patrick and you’ve got a legislature that’s 90% Democrat, and 100% of the Bay State delegation to the House of Representatives is Democrat—who’s left for you to run against?
Republicans aren’t going to sweep in November, particularly not in Massachusetts. But there are surprises waiting to happen. When Barney Frank’s seat is in play—and it is—you’re going to really see (apologies to Deval) magic happening here in Massachusetts.
“If a young adult cannot produce enough of value to justify being paid a living wage, nothing we do to the minimum wage will help. He, the institutions which trained him and the society in which he lives, have far bigger problems."
--Economist Tim Harford 
