A Red New England in 2014? |
In 2014, Republican Governors are staving off attacks in
their respective contests. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Michigan’s Rick
Snyder are breaking away from their Democratic opponents, despite a few months
of setbacks, with middling poll numbers. Other Republican Governors are
struggling, or have become political dead meat. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback
enshrined comprehensive tax and spending cuts. He also tried to get rid of
public funding for the arts, and attempted to put private special needs providers
in charge of disabled adults. Kansas Republicans as well Democrats have cried
foul. In a state which has been ruby red for decades, a blue governor and a
liberal independent may sweep state offices for the first time in years.
Other governors who are struggling for reelection include
Nathan Deal of Georgia, where allegations of cronyism and corruption have
marred his campaign. He has maintained a mere one point lead over President
Jimmy Carter’s grandson. Like Brownback, Governor Deal partnered with a ruby
red legislature, and enacted extensive conservative reforms, including expanded
concealed carry permits, as well as direct legislation repudiating the Affordable
Care Act. Have Georgians gotten tired of conservative principles? Do they
believe that Deal has gone too far?
The deeper ideological divides in the several states stem
from the unprecedented number of legislatures where the Governor and the
majority belonged to the same party. A laboratory of conservative reforms have emerged
in Republican states, and progressive activism (or epic stagnation) now defines
the supermajority Democratic states.
Nathan Deal (R-Georgia) |
Could the same be happening in one-party Democratic states?
California, one of the supermajority blue states, had a
moderate governor, old retread Jerry Brown. Yes, he balanced the state’s
budget, but only on paper, and the wall of pension debt lingers like the fiscal
sword of Damocles over the entire state. Four state senators have been arrested,
indicted, and/or convicted of corruption. Brown has turned California into a
sanctuary state for illegal immigration. The legislature passed laws to allow
transgendered youth to use public school bathrooms, and let owners take their dogs
out for dinner, and banned the plastic bag. Brown reelection is assured.
Illinois has the worst bond ratings, pension liabilities,
and crime rates. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has combined brass-knuckles
politicking with progressive pandering. Gun-control, jobs for illegals, and
salary increases for do-nothing (or do-wrong) teachers unions. Republican
gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner gathered the endorsements of life-long
Democrats, who recognize that the Land of Lincoln is in big trouble.
Then there’s New England. . .where Democratic majorities have
dominated key states for years. Will New England start going red again in 2014,
as part of the national voter backlash to entrenched hegemony?
Rhode Island has had a supermajority Democratic legislature
for eight decades. The result? A culture of cronyism, taxation, and regulatory
burdens. Like his Left Coast counterpart, GOP-Indie-Dem Governor Lincoln Chafee
has turned Rhode Island into a sanctuary state of progressive secularism: no
more eVerify for employers, HealthSourceRI (which is going bankrupt). No matter
how a state leans, however, money cannot materialize from nothing. Necessary pension
reforms put the Ocean State on the map, and the reform, Democratic gubernatorial
candidate Gina Raimondo, has the twin challenges of running against Wall Street
and the Labor Unions.
Enter Republican Mayor Allan Fung. He balanced budgets, enacted pension reforms,
supported businesses in Cranston. He opposes driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants,
will reinstate eVerify, and he opposes taxpayer payback for 38 Studios. Fung is
running neck-and-neck with Dem Gina in a five-to-one Democratic cesspool.
Then there’s Massachusetts, or Marxachussetts for its
defining cultural relativism, or Taxachusetts for the take-and-take-some-more
Beacon Hill legislature. Critics have lost count of the number of Mass Dems arrested,
indicted, convicted, then reinstated in the media or the Boston political
machine. In this deep blue state, a Republican state senator became a US
Senator, and the 2014 GOP Gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Baker, is polling
within the margins of error. Of course, he is running to the left of President
Obama on social issues, but by his word
he opposes illegal immigration. Will the Mass GOP take back the Corner Office?
Will the fallout over RomneyCare and then Massachusetts’ Obamacare add-on beef
up GOP numbers in Beacon Hill, too?
Illegal Immigration |
While Republican governors in deep red states are facing a
backlash for their sweeping reforms, Democratic leaders (and their party) are
bracing for the same backlash. Could New England be going red for the first
time since Reagan was President? If unrest continues over illegal immigration, and
individual candidates ride the anti-Obama groundswell, New England Republicans
may resurrect their presence and influence again.
A Red New England in 2014? |
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