The “one-party” South, of blessed memory, had nothing on Massachusetts, which may have voted for Ronald Reagan but shows no other sign of having moved farther rightward or having become more Republican in recent years. Since 1978, when Senator Edward Brooke lost a reelection bid to Paul Tsongas, a Democrat of similarly liberal stripe, the Bay State has had but two significant Republican office-holders: Representative Margaret Heckler, who lost to liberal Democrat Barney Frank and now languishes in Dublin, and Representative Silvio Conte, who boasts a voting record nearly indistinguishable from those of his liberal Democratic colleagues. Massachusetts is as hospitable to Republicans as the Catskills are to Arabs.
Republicans make up for their lack of clout with vitriol and an internecine instinct for the brotherly jugular. This year the GOP enters the election season with a ticket almost bereft of a gubernatorial candidate and a reputation as the party that did more to eviscerate itself than ever its opponents could hope to do on their own.
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