A G.O.P. Breed Loses Its Place in New England
By PAM BELLUCK
New York Times
BOSTON, Nov. 26 — It was a species as endemic to New England as craggy seascapes and creamy clam chowder: the moderate Yankee Republican.
Dignified in demeanor, independent in ideology and frequently blue in blood, they were politicians in the mold of Roosevelt and Rockefeller: socially tolerant, environmentally enthusiastic, people who liked government to keep its wallet close to its vest and its hands out of social issues like abortion and, in recent years, same-sex marriage.
But this election dealt the already-fading New England Republican an especially strong blow, one that some fear will increase the divide between the two parties nationally by removing a longstanding bridge between them.
Of 22 members of the newly elected House of Representatives from New England, only one is a Republican: Christopher Shays of Connecticut, who eked out a victory while two other Republicans from his state, Representatives Nancy L. Johnson and Rob Simmons, lost to Democrats.
In Massachusetts, where the Statehouse in Boston had been steeped in Republican governors for 16 years, voters threw the party overboard like so much tea.
In Rhode Island, exit polls gave Senator Lincoln Chafee, a popular moderate Republican from a long-admired political family, a 62 percent approval rating. But before they exited the polls, most voters rejected him, many feeling it was more important to give the Democrats a chance at controlling the Senate.
In New Hampshire, the state’s two congressmen, Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley, both Republicans, were ousted; Mr. Bradley was defeated by a virtual unknown with a virtually empty bank account. And for the first time since 1874, both houses of the state legislature now have Democratic majorities.
“That to me is one of the most astounding things that happened on Election Day,” said Warren Rudman, the former New Hampshire senator who embodies the essence of the New England Republican. “What that tells me is that huge numbers of people in New Hampshire who are either moderate Republicans or independents voted a straight Democratic ticket. They turned out people who had served long and well in the New Hampshire legislature.”
Yankee Republican is “a label that’s almost lost its meaning in 2006,” said Gary L. Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. “The Republican Party has lost a very important voice internally, too, and that only further exacerbates the polarization between the parties. Something’s going to be lost here in American politics without their voice.”
(The rest is here.)
New York Times
BOSTON, Nov. 26 — It was a species as endemic to New England as craggy seascapes and creamy clam chowder: the moderate Yankee Republican.
Dignified in demeanor, independent in ideology and frequently blue in blood, they were politicians in the mold of Roosevelt and Rockefeller: socially tolerant, environmentally enthusiastic, people who liked government to keep its wallet close to its vest and its hands out of social issues like abortion and, in recent years, same-sex marriage.
But this election dealt the already-fading New England Republican an especially strong blow, one that some fear will increase the divide between the two parties nationally by removing a longstanding bridge between them.
Of 22 members of the newly elected House of Representatives from New England, only one is a Republican: Christopher Shays of Connecticut, who eked out a victory while two other Republicans from his state, Representatives Nancy L. Johnson and Rob Simmons, lost to Democrats.
In Massachusetts, where the Statehouse in Boston had been steeped in Republican governors for 16 years, voters threw the party overboard like so much tea.
In Rhode Island, exit polls gave Senator Lincoln Chafee, a popular moderate Republican from a long-admired political family, a 62 percent approval rating. But before they exited the polls, most voters rejected him, many feeling it was more important to give the Democrats a chance at controlling the Senate.
In New Hampshire, the state’s two congressmen, Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley, both Republicans, were ousted; Mr. Bradley was defeated by a virtual unknown with a virtually empty bank account. And for the first time since 1874, both houses of the state legislature now have Democratic majorities.
“That to me is one of the most astounding things that happened on Election Day,” said Warren Rudman, the former New Hampshire senator who embodies the essence of the New England Republican. “What that tells me is that huge numbers of people in New Hampshire who are either moderate Republicans or independents voted a straight Democratic ticket. They turned out people who had served long and well in the New Hampshire legislature.”
Yankee Republican is “a label that’s almost lost its meaning in 2006,” said Gary L. Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. “The Republican Party has lost a very important voice internally, too, and that only further exacerbates the polarization between the parties. Something’s going to be lost here in American politics without their voice.”
(The rest is here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home