I was really hoping escapefromboston and speedy would echo your post (thereby proving me right.) ; )
btw - I live in New Jersey, so I can relate to that feeling of aloneness. I'm sure it's even worse in Massachusetts, but the garden state is no rose garden.
I think Massachusetts politics was magnified this past year because of Kerry but more so the gay marriage issue. It was selected renegade judges who issued a law based on their beliefs and not that of the commonwealth's residents. Polls that I have seen verified that. We have a decent man as Governor, too.