The Markey-Gomez campaign to replace John Kerry (now Secretary of State), has attracted political heat, but voters in the Bay State were cool about the whole thing.
The heads-up between the two was a luke-warm affair, to begin with. Like most Democratic legislators in Massachusetts, Markey was predictably, loosely, and embarrassingly liberal. At least Barney Frank was fragrantly offensive enough to institute massive banking rules, then once in a while cross over so that internet gambling would face no further legal sanction. Of course, a Congressman with a boyfried who runs a brothel out of the office can be pretty heated stuff, too.
Massachusetts is so blue, it’s just plain sad. In order to compete statewide, Republicans have to attract not just Republicans, not just Independents, but also Democratic votes, too.
That’s a tall order, when you are running under a label differing from the person whose vote you are soliciting (not Barney Frank style, of course).
Liberal Republicans do not have to be a walking contradiction. If they stick to their guns on fiscal issues, like keeping tax rates low and fair, getting the government out of your head, your hopes, and your home, than New England Republicans are and should be a welcome branch of the family.
You can be liberal, you can be a libertarian, if you can be consistently so. Liberal Progressive Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio started to shine out his libertarian streak later in his tenure, decrying “Big Brother” and “Big Government” at the heart of our nation’s troubles. He sought to sponsor articles of impeachment against President Bush for the wars in Iraq, yet he also championed bringing down the encroaching surveillance state, which has expanded its veil over three hundred million people under the Obama Administration.
Ryan Fattman, state legislator from Sutton, stresses fiscal conservatism. He won his constituency by a large margin, even though the representation on the voter rolls skews against him. If a politician is willing to knock on every door, make himself known and well-knowing, there is no reason why a candidate cannot win over voters from the other side of the aisle. Scott Brown in the pick-up truck picked up votes not just by running against Washington, not just by castigating President Obama, but reaching out to voters, rain or shine. It’s about making the home state home for everyone.
Leave me alone, live and let live, libertarian: sounds like the perfect combination for the Republican Party in the Northeast.
Then there was Richard Tisei, the openly gay real estate agent, former state senator, and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate. He had a fighting chance against John “My Wife, Not Me, is Corrupt” Tierney. Yet Tisei was not much different from the “other guy”. In addition to being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage, he supported tax increases. Where’s the “Live and Let Live” in that? The message was clearly unclear, if you ask me. Still, Obama supporters also wrote to the local press that they would press for Tisei in the Congressional election. Tisei lost by one percentage point. If he had been more clearly conservative on the fiscal issues, would he have gotten that extra percent to win? Perhaps. . .
So, Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset, Massachusetts won the Republican Party nomination to replace John Kerry in the United States Senate. He was clearly more liberal than his two other primary challengers.
Granted, the Massachusetts GOP rejected some aspects of the National GOP platform last year, and so should other states. Many conservatives feel that limited exceptions in abortion are not only tolerable, but necessary, such as in the cases of rape and incest, not just the life of the mother. The national GOP platform precludes those exceptions. The GOP “1%” is not listening to the grassroots, the Tea Party affiliates, nor the concerns of conservative-leaning independents and libertarians, many of whom are alarmed by the aggressive growth of government at the expense of the individual, including the assault on religious liberties and time-honored traditions.
So, what about Mr. Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset? He was not just liberal on key issues, but his liberalism muddied his conservative values, too. Gomez donated money to Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign in 2008, and even sought the interim post for the US Senate in a letter to Democratic President Deval Patrick, citing his support for the “Hope and Change” President. Gomez supported the Keystone pipeline, yet he also believes in climate change as a serious matter which the government must do something about, or else. The facts, the research, the consortia of opinion, including disagreements among respectable scientists, should prevent any massive government overreach. He is pro-life, won’t tough Roe vs. Wade, but he openly supports gay marriage. How about getting government out of marriage altogether? He wants to maintain lower taxes, yet he supported a ten dollar minimum wage, which would all but ensure higher unemployment. Where’s the consistent fiscal conservatism? Gomez double-dealing of liberal-yet-also-trying to seem conservative is disconcerting.
Gomez was not Republican enough on the “Live and Let Live” issues, and the Northeast needs more “Live and Let Live” Republicans.