Massachusetts: Encyclopedia II - Massachusetts - Politics

Massachusetts - Politics

Massachusetts - Banned in Boston

During the first half of the 1900s Boston was socially conservative, and strongly under the influence of Methodist minister J. Frank Chase and his New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878. In 1903, the Old Corner Bookstore was raided and fined for selling Boccaccio's Decameron. Howard Johnson's got its start when Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude was banned in Boston, and the production had to be moved to Quincy. In 1927, works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson were removed from bookstore shelves. "Banned in Boston" on a book's cover could actually boost sales. Burlesque artists such as Sally Rand needed to modify their act when performing at Boston's Old Howard. The clean version of a performance used to be known as the "Boston version." By 1929, the Watch and Ward society was perceived to be in decline when it failed in its attempt to ban Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, but as late as 1935 it succeeded in banning Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour. Censorship was enforced by city officials, notably the "city censor" within the Boston Licensing Division. That position was held by Richard J. Sinnott from 1959 until the office was abolished on March 2, 1982. In modern times, few of such puritanical social mores persist.

Massachusetts - Liberal reputation

Massachusetts has since gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. These liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence.

Massachusetts is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2005, it is by far the largest U.S. state represented totally by one party in the U.S. Congress. Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously since 1991, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most progressive Republicans in the nation. Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions.

In presidential elections, Massachusetts supported Republicans until 1912, from 1916 through 1924, in the 1950s, and in 1980 and 1984. From 1988 through 2004, Massachusetts has supported Democratic presidential candidates, giving native son John Kerry his largest margin of victory among states with a 25 percentage point margin and 61.9% of the vote. Every county in the Commonwealth supported the Democratic candidate.

Massachusetts - Defamation of the Commonwealth

In 2002, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania partially blamed the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal on Boston saying "...it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." These remarks resurfaced in July of 2005 when an editorial in the Boston Globe republished Santorum's comments. Although he was heavily criticized for his remarks, Santorum not only refused to apologize, but, on August 1, 2005 he complained that Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts "did nothing" about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in 2002. "They spoke nothing. They sat by and let this happen," Santorum said.

During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general. Ironically, he was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, and not Texas (although he falsely leads people to believe he's a native-born Texan). Furthermore, his father, George H.W. Bush was born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts - Contemporary political issues

Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first (and heretofore only) state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts - Famous politicians and public figures

• John Adams, 1st Vice President of the U.S., 2nd President of the U.S., 1800 Federalist presidential nominee
• John Quincy Adams, Congressman, Senator, 6th President of the U.S.
• Samuel Adams, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
• George H. W. Bush, 43rd Vice President of the U.S., 41st President of the U.S.
• Calvin Coolidge, 29th Vice President of the U.S., 30th President of the U.S.
• Michael Dukakis, Governor, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee
• Benjamin Franklin, Patriot in the American Revolutionary War
• Elbridge Gerry, Congressman, Governor, 5th Vice President of the U.S., namesake of gerrymandering
• John Hancock, Governor, President of the Continental Congress
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Supreme Court Justice
• James Michael Curley, Governor, Congressman, Mayor of Boston
• Edward M. Kennedy, incumbent U.S. Senator, 1980 Democratic presidential candidate
• John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator, 35th President of the U.S.
• Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (representing New York), 1968 Democratic presidential candidate
• John F. Kerry, Lt. Governor, incumbent U.S. Senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee
• Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Theodore Sedgwick, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Paul Tsongas, U.S. Senator, 1992 Democratic presidential candidate
• Henry Wilson, U.S. Senator, 18th Vice President of the U.S.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Politics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki