GOP a dying breed in New England

[jmjftw]

Published: 11/9/08, 2:05 PM EDT

By SUSAN HAIGH

 

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A generation ago the Republican Party was the dominant political force in New England, populating the region's congressional delegations with moderates like Connecticut's Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Rhode Island's John Chafee.

 

 

But today's GOP, led by a more socially conservative wing of the party, is finding votes harder to come by.

 

Voters on Tuesday cast out Connecticut's veteran Rep. Chris Shays, the last New England Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sen. John Sununu was voted out in New Hampshire, leaving that state's Judd Gregg and Maine's Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe as the only Republicans among the region's 12 senators.

 

 

Shays' loss to former Goldman Sachs executive Jim Himes marks the first time since 1969 that southwestern Connecticut will be represented by a Democrat in the House.

 

"I felt that we were going to win this, I really did," Shays told supporters. "I felt that people were so good to me, they were so nice to me. But they were deciding they were going to go the other way."

 

New England's decision to "go the other way" in recent elections is a dramatic transformation for a region considered a Republican stronghold a generation ago.

 

 

The Republican Party and New England have a long history together.

 

At their first presidential convention, in 1856, Republicans nominated John C. Fremont on a platform of abolishing slavery in the territories - a widely held view in the North. While Fremont lost, he carried 11 Northern states. Later, Abraham Lincoln captured the presidency by winning 18 Northern states.

 

 

By the late 1940s, Republicans held 21 of 28 of New England's seats in the House of Representatives. But the turning point came in 1964, when the Republicans nominated conservative Barry Goldwater for president, said Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

 

 

Known for being fiscally conservative but more socially liberal, Northeast moderates - dubbed the Rockefeller Republicans after the former New York governor - started to be eclipsed by the more socially conservative wing of the party.

 

 

"The eastern establishment got weaker and weaker," Rose said. "Today, there's really no eastern establishment to speak of."

 

Chafee's son, Lincoln, was appointed to the Senate in 1999 after his father's death and was elected in 2000 to a six-year term. A moderate like his father, Chafee was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against authorizing the use of force in Iraq. But he was defeated by a Democrat in 2006.

 

 

That same year, Reps. Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons of Connecticut also were defeated by Democrats, buoyed by anti-Iraq-war and anti-President Bush sentiment.

 

 

"There is no longer, to speak of, a moderate voice within the party," Rose said. "It's a party that's becoming more narrow and there's really no sense of compromise within the party."

 

Jennifer Donahue, political director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, said she believes the GOP can still come back, at least in independent-minded New Hampshire where the state motto is "Live Free or Die."

 

 

"It depends on the state. I don't really think you can look at it as a regional phenomenon," Donahue said of New England politicians trending Democratic. "The further north you get, the colder it gets, the more the voters look at (races) on a case-by-case basis."

 

A large increase of registered Democrats factor into Sununu's loss, she said. But those numbers can change, especially as more fiscally conservative tax refugees migrate north from neighboring Massachusetts.

 

 

"It doesn't necessarily indicate a long term pattern coming out of this," she said. "New Hampshire has a uniqueness in that way. It is not fundamentally a state that has in its essence more Democrats than Republicans."

 

Lawrence J. Cafero Jr., the Republican leader of Connecticut's House of Representatives, blames the image of the national Republican party for hurting the GOP in New England, where Republicans historically have often favored fiscal responsibility, abortion rights, protection of personal liberties and strong environmental policies.

 

 

He believes the problem worsened with the 1994 so-called "Republican Revolution," when midterm congressional elections added 54 Republican seats in the House.

 

"They lost their way and I think more and more New England people, especially those who were Republicans basically because of smaller government and less government intrusion into our lives, started to see their party led by people whose foremost issues were social issues, religious and values and morals, etc.," Cafero said.

 

"I think that turned a lot of people off in New England and they didn't feel the party was really with them," he added.

 

 

Carrie James, a regional press secretary with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports Democratic congressional candidates, said bad feelings about President Bush, the war in Iraq and the weakened economy have helped to persuade New England voters to support Democrats over the past eight years.

 

One bright spot for the GOP in New England has been their control of governorships. Republicans are governors in Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.

 

 

"A big part of our strategy this cycle was to link Republican incumbents with the failed policies of the Bush administration and it's not applicable in a governor's race," James said. "But certainly President Bush damaged the Republican brand across the board."

 

 

Rose said he believes Republican gubernatorial candidates in New England will face the same challenges as GOP congressional candidates. He said it's difficult to tell what Yankee Republicans represent and what role they'll play in the future.

 

"The only reason they've been able to survive is they've acted like Democrats," Rose said. "They too, I think are going to become endangered species."

 

 

Thomas Whalen, a political historian at Boston University, said he believes the Republican brand in New England will become even less popular over time, especially as some national party activists tout socially conservative Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the future of the GOP and the prime presidential candidate in 2012.

 

 

"I think that's going to turn off even more people (in New England)," said Whalen, author of "A Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage."

 

Whalen said there is now an opportunity for an independent third party that takes populist stands to develop in New England and envelop moderate Republicans. He said voters in Democratic-heavy states, such as Massachusetts, are going to want a choice at the polls.

 

 

"There is no place in the GOP now for the moderates and they need to find a home," Whalen said. "The brand is dead in New England."

[choppersdad]

The need for socialism grows strong on the east coast

[Slacker]

New England has come a long way since its' founding.

[Roadrunner]

New England has come a long way since its' founding.

 

 

It sure has. Downhill is a direction.

[Skitter]

Tis sad. Will miss the war machine profiteers.

[irlnd32]

[Jonesy]

NE didn't leave the party, the party left it.

 

Conservatism was once founded on principles like fiscal responsibility and smaller government. Northeast conservatives also always belived in the sepration of church and state.

 

Now the GOP has abandoned fiscal responsibility and massively expands the size of the government.

 

The party has also been hijacked by the religious right, who wants to use Federal power to impose thier beliefs on th states and also hijacked by people who are fiercely anti-intellectual.

 

So bacially, the GOP is now the party of stooopid.

 

now wonder it the party of southern rural peoples and that is all now.

 

inbreeding is bad...

[fishsticking]

Speaking for only Massachusetts, the % of voters that are registered "Republican" stands at 12% or even lower, so frankly I would not expect a Republican to be elected to National Office from Massachusetts. Our Governors have been Republican, but I think it more having a "Boogeyman" in the corner office to blame when the crap hits the fan ....... currently

 

162 State Representatives 19 or less are Republican

 

40 State Senators 7 or less are Republican

 

Governor Democrat

 

2 Senators Democrats

 

10 Congressmen Democrats

 

At least some of our Democrats have been allowed to leave a young woman in a car to die, molest a child, have a brothel run out of their Washington Residence, fail to pay property taxes (blame the accountant) and still be re-elected ........something all Democrats, that have cast votes for these individuals over the many years, should be proud of.

[Potomacduck]

The party has also been hijacked by the religious right, who wants to use Federal power to impose thier beliefs on th states and also hijacked by people who are fiercely anti-intellectual.

 

Oh brother, more anti-christian hatred being spewed from the left. If the so-called religious right hijacked the Republican Party, then how did McCain get the nomination ?!

 

Go ahead, make something up for us.

[needlefishaddict]

The party has also been hijacked by the religious right, who wants to use Federal power to impose thier beliefs on th states and also hijacked by people who are fiercely anti-intellectual.

 

Oh brother, more anti-christian hatred being spewed from the left. If the so-called religious right hijacked the Republican Party, then how did McCain get the nomination ?!

 

 

Go ahead, make something up for us.

 

Explain to me why Romney didn't get the nomination?

It seems to me there is only one answer.

[jmjftw]

NE didn't leave the party, the party left it.

 

Conservatism was once founded on principles like fiscal responsibility and smaller government. Northeast conservatives also always belived in the sepration of church and state.

 

Now the GOP has abandoned fiscal responsibility and massively expands the size of the government.

 

The party has also been hijacked by the religious right, who wants to use Federal power to impose thier beliefs on th states and also hijacked by people who are fiercely anti-intellectual.

 

So bacially, the GOP is now the party of stooopid.

 

now wonder it the party of southern rural peoples and that is all now.

 

inbreeding is bad...

 

 

Rush Limbaugh said something along the lines: "A number of prominent Republicans have left the party, and we need to do everything in our power to prevent them from getting back in.

" Sounds like a formula for success.

[Jonesy]

The party has also been hijacked by the religious right, who wants to use Federal power to impose thier beliefs on th states and also hijacked by people who are fiercely anti-intellectual.

 

 

Oh brother, more anti-christian hatred being spewed from the left. If the so-called religious right hijacked the Republican Party, then how did McCain get the nomination ?!

 

Go ahead, make something up for us.

 

 

it wasn't that long ago, you should be able to remember.

 

he got it beacuse Huckabee stayed in and the Religious Right was completely biased against Romney. the RR couldn't get there man in but they were able to keep one out and the rest of the country voted for McCain.

 

 

besides, I'm not the left.

 

so you're wrong on all fronts.

[Potomacduck]

The religous right was not against Romney. The press wrote about that but they had no idea what they were talking about.

 

If anything Mormons are PART of the Religious Right! No religion in this country mixes religion and politics more than the mormons.

[tony44]

Published: 11/9/08, 2:05 PM EDT

By SUSAN HAIGH

 

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A generation ago the Republican Party was the dominant political force in New England, populating the region's congressional delegations with moderates like Connecticut's Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Rhode Island's John Chafee.

 

 

But today's GOP, led by a more socially conservative wing of the party, is finding votes harder to come by.

 

Voters on Tuesday cast out Connecticut's veteran Rep. Chris Shays, the last New England Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sen. John Sununu was voted out in New Hampshire, leaving that state's Judd Gregg and Maine's Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe as the only Republicans among the region's 12 senators.

 

 

Shays' loss to former Goldman Sachs executive Jim Himes marks the first time since 1969 that southwestern Connecticut will be represented by a Democrat in the House.

 

"I felt that we were going to win this, I really did," Shays told supporters. "I felt that people were so good to me, they were so nice to me. But they were deciding they were going to go the other way."

 

New England's decision to "go the other way" in recent elections is a dramatic transformation for a region considered a Republican stronghold a generation ago.

 

 

The Republican Party and New England have a long history together.

 

At their first presidential convention, in 1856, Republicans nominated John C. Fremont on a platform of abolishing slavery in the territories - a widely held view in the North. While Fremont lost, he carried 11 Northern states. Later, Abraham Lincoln captured the presidency by winning 18 Northern states.

 

 

By the late 1940s, Republicans held 21 of 28 of New England's seats in the House of Representatives. But the turning point came in 1964, when the Republicans nominated conservative Barry Goldwater for president, said Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

 

 

Known for being fiscally conservative but more socially liberal, Northeast moderates - dubbed the Rockefeller Republicans after the former New York governor - started to be eclipsed by the more socially conservative wing of the party.

 

 

"The eastern establishment got weaker and weaker," Rose said. "Today, there's really no eastern establishment to speak of."

 

Chafee's son, Lincoln, was appointed to the Senate in 1999 after his father's death and was elected in 2000 to a six-year term. A moderate like his father, Chafee was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against authorizing the use of force in Iraq. But he was defeated by a Democrat in 2006.

 

 

That same year, Reps. Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons of Connecticut also were defeated by Democrats, buoyed by anti-Iraq-war and anti-President Bush sentiment.

 

 

"There is no longer, to speak of, a moderate voice within the party," Rose said. "It's a party that's becoming more narrow and there's really no sense of compromise within the party."

 

Jennifer Donahue, political director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, said she believes the GOP can still come back, at least in independent-minded New Hampshire where the state motto is "Live Free or Die."

 

 

"It depends on the state. I don't really think you can look at it as a regional phenomenon," Donahue said of New England politicians trending Democratic. "The further north you get, the colder it gets, the more the voters look at (races) on a case-by-case basis."

 

A large increase of registered Democrats factor into Sununu's loss, she said. But those numbers can change, especially as more fiscally conservative tax refugees migrate north from neighboring Massachusetts.

 

 

"It doesn't necessarily indicate a long term pattern coming out of this," she said. "New Hampshire has a uniqueness in that way. It is not fundamentally a state that has in its essence more Democrats than Republicans."

 

Lawrence J. Cafero Jr., the Republican leader of Connecticut's House of Representatives, blames the image of the national Republican party for hurting the GOP in New England, where Republicans historically have often favored fiscal responsibility, abortion rights, protection of personal liberties and strong environmental policies.

 

 

He believes the problem worsened with the 1994 so-called "Republican Revolution," when midterm congressional elections added 54 Republican seats in the House.

 

"They lost their way and I think more and more New England people, especially those who were Republicans basically because of smaller government and less government intrusion into our lives, started to see their party led by people whose foremost issues were social issues, religious and values and morals, etc.," Cafero said.

 

"I think that turned a lot of people off in New England and they didn't feel the party was really with them," he added.

 

 

Carrie James, a regional press secretary with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports Democratic congressional candidates, said bad feelings about President Bush, the war in Iraq and the weakened economy have helped to persuade New England voters to support Democrats over the past eight years.

 

One bright spot for the GOP in New England has been their control of governorships. Republicans are governors in Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.

 

 

"A big part of our strategy this cycle was to link Republican incumbents with the failed policies of the Bush administration and it's not applicable in a governor's race," James said. "But certainly President Bush damaged the Republican brand across the board."

 

 

Rose said he believes Republican gubernatorial candidates in New England will face the same challenges as GOP congressional candidates. He said it's difficult to tell what Yankee Republicans represent and what role they'll play in the future.

 

"The only reason they've been able to survive is they've acted like Democrats," Rose said. "They too, I think are going to become endangered species."

 

 

Thomas Whalen, a political historian at Boston University, said he believes the Republican brand in New England will become even less popular over time, especially as some national party activists tout socially conservative Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the future of the GOP and the prime presidential candidate in 2012.

 

 

"I think that's going to turn off even more people (in New England)," said Whalen, author of "A Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage."

 

Whalen said there is now an opportunity for an independent third party that takes populist stands to develop in New England and envelop moderate Republicans. He said voters in Democratic-heavy states, such as Massachusetts, are going to want a choice at the polls.

 

 

"There is no place in the GOP now for the moderates and they need to find a home," Whalen said. "The brand is dead in New England."

 

Wow! What a news flash! Did you hear we landed on the moon yet?

[fishnmagician]

The religous right was not against Romney.

 

 

so you ARE able to differentiate between "The Religious Right" and "Christian"

 

for a while I feared you saw them as interchangeable.