Posted on 03/02/2012 8:49:54 AM PST by raccoonradio
The nation and the world will be waiting for the results of the Super Tuesday primaries. But not so much the Massachusetts primary.
"I didn't even know we were having one," joked Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody.
Piles of delegates will be allotted to the various contenders for president as 10 states hold primaries on Tuesday, including Massachusetts, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
The contests could determine who will be the Republican nominee in November.
In states like Georgia and Ohio, the competition is expected to be fierce between the Republican candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
But the Bay State Republican contest appears to be locked up tight by the former governor.
State Rep. Brad Hill of Ipswich said he doesn't know a single fellow Republican who isn't voting for Romney.
"I think he's going to do very well here," Hill said.
Marblehead Republican Town Committee member Jack Buba said the same thing.
"I haven't heard a lot of back-and-forth about anyone else." A man who "turned around" companies is ideal for a country crying for a turnaround of its own, he said.
Berry also acknowledged Romney's strength locally, pointing to a sure sign of a confident campaign.
"Usually you can tell the kind of campaign it's going to be by the number of TV ads," he said.
The Romney campaign simply hasn't seen the need for a big TV campaign in Massachusetts.
The lack of a competitive contest in either race could lead to a very low turnout in the state. Judging by past performance, Salem City Clerk Cheryl LaPointe is predicting a turnout of between 36 and 40 percent in that city.
In 2008, the primary saw intense contests in both parties. It drew 43 percent of eligible voters in Salem. Matched against Arizona Sen. John McCain, Romney managed 51 percent of the vote statewide.
He's expected to do better this time.
"Polling shows Romney has about 60 percent of the people (voting Republican) saying they're going to vote for him," said Dan Mulcare, an assistant professor of political science at Salem State University.
Rick Santorum is considered too conservative on social issues for Massachusetts Republicans, Mulcare said. He added, "And this is one of the many states Romney lives in."
Despite the predictions of an easy victory and a low turnout, Buba uses his hometown as a gauge while predicting a happy surprise when it comes to turnout on Election Day.
"Marblehead came out strong for Scott Brown," he recalled of the January 2010 special election, "and we expect the same get-out-the-vote effort in this election."
"You should always cast your vote," said state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, D-Peabody.
She blames a perceived lack of enthusiasm — particularly on the Republican side — on the nature of the contest.
"The election is just too long," she said. "People are just tired of it. A whole year of ... fighting between the Republicans."
With independents a key to victory in November, Spiliotis thinks their attraction to the GOP, at a peak in the 2010 election, has waned as the economy has shown signs of improvement.
A good turnout helps even in an uncontested race, she said.
As Berry explained, getting Democrats to vote for the unopposed Obama could have a positive impact on the way the state is regarded by the federal government.
Meanwhile, Berry downplays Romney's tenure as governor in Massachusetts, saying he "did very little to improve the lot of people's lives."
Speaking to a belief that Romney only ever saw the state as a steppingstone to higher office, Berry added, "A month into his term, it became quite clear he was only visiting."
Anyone expecting Mass. to be a conservative stronghold is deluded. The state that gave us the Kennedys, Barney Frank (hey, JoeJoeJoe Kennedy has a good shot of winning the seat), Kerry, Tierney, Deval, and so many more. Only moderate Republicans can win: Brown, (former Sen) Ed Brooke, Weld, Cellucci, Romney et al.
>>Judging by past performance, Salem City Clerk Cheryl LaPointe is predicting a turnout of between 36 and 40 percent in that city.
Keep in mind Republicans are the THIRD most popular registration in MA, behind Democrats and Unenrolleds. Per cent? GOP has about 11. Many of the others will be unenrolleds.
Anyway, the result of this election is a foregone conclusion in MA --so much so that the absence of TV ads and lawn signs for ANY candidates is jarring. I'm not recommending Romney here--I'm just saying in MA it seems like an easy win for him, for what it's worth.
Let's hope Bielat can beat JoeJoeJoe in the 4th.
HC list ping. Do MA voters even realize there’s a primary coming up? Where are the ads and lawn signs?
oops, link to article
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x579800169/Romney-appears-poised-to-win-state-primary
I didn’t know. Has Howie said anything about it?
. . . which is why I'm "Unenrolled"!
Not really other than mentioning the race in general. The papers etc. say that MA votes on Super Tue.—next Tue., right? But where are the TV ads (there have been a few
radio ads but most were before NH)? Lawn signs (yes I know we have snow, but...)
Even after the NH primary you could still see a lot of lawn signs up THERE.
From Galvin/MA elections:
>>The Presidential Primary is on March 6, 2012 Voter Registration Deadline is February 15, 2012.
NOTICE Voters enrolled in a political party (Democratic, Green-Rainbow or Republican) may only vote in that party’s primary. Unenrolled voters (registered voters not enrolled in a political party commonly referred to as independent) may vote in the primary of their choice and remain unenrolled after voting. If you wish to confirm your voter registration status, please contact your local election official.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/
(Note: It used to be if you were unenrolled and took a party’s ballot you would automatically be enrolled in that party UNLESS you went to a table in the polling place, or the town clerk’s office, and asked to be placed back
as unenrolled. That is NO LONGER THE CASE. You can vote and stay an unenrolled.
I am unenrolled. I was able to VOTE AGAINST KERRY —TWICE— in 2004!
VT has primary too, Romney expected to win
Romney did set his eyes on the White House and only ran for that one term (donated his salary to charity). If he had run again could he have beaten Deval? As Howie has said the GOP had 4 governors in a row, and in a state like MA you knew eventually the Dems would get back in. (Add to that the
moonbats, union power, and the idea of having the first black governor...and did Christy Mihos, prostitution addict, prevent Muffy from having one-on-one debates with Deval,
thus ensuring her defeat?)
Deval isn’t running again in 2014. Who do the Dems have,
Crash Murray? Maybe Liz Warren should she lose to Brown
this year.
Mass voting for a conservative? Check out the primary from 2010:
Brown: Won 350 towns
Jack E. Robinson: Won 1 town.
Only RINOs can win here. This is MA, where a mighty 11 per cent are registered Republicans. Then again perhaps the GOP is moderate on the whole...so Romney, Brown etc. really ARE Republicans to the core...but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are conservative to the core.
Green-Rainbow - Grace Ross - remember it/her? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like I said, outside of your ping, I’ve heard ZERO about the MA primary. That being said, I’m sure Mittens will win it.
Yes, I remember Grace (I think Chuck Turner was Green-Rainbow too). Helped to cost John Depetro his job at RKO. After
saying “Fag Matt. Wife wears the pants”, John was suspended. Then after calling Ross a “fat lesbian” he was let go. Supposedly advertisers (like Charlie Baker’s Pilgrim Health
Care) were offended. (Ratings were kinda low too. I think
Reese Hopkins—still waiting for his day in court—was brought in, then Ingraham.)
Indeed, no big deal about the primary has been made here.
Romney had announced that he wanted to run for reelection, but his own polling told him that had become impossible.
Romney left with 34% approval, the Democrats took the seat, Romney left the state party badly shrunken and damaged, and the Democrats have had the governor's seat since.
Massachusetts preferred Republican Governors, since Romney, we don't know if that will change.
We all know who the candidate will be.
RINO’s have already decided.
Start holding your nose/
Oh yes - the dominoes falling at ‘RKO.
Reese Hopkins - wow...
The Romney campaign simply hasn’t seen the need for a big TV campaign in Massachusetts.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What does it say about RINO-Rom when he feels secure so secure about a victory in the most liberal state in the Union that he doesn’t even have to campaign?
Santorum switched to moderate pro-life from pro-abortion to run as a Republican when he ran for Congress, but he used to describe himself as a “Progressive Conservative”.
Endorsing Specter and Romney as his choice for American Presidents, supports that self labeling.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.