Captain Oblivious

President Bush and his team have recently revived an old tradition among the GOP: bashing Massachusetts. They accuse John Kerry of being a Massachusetts Liberal, as though that were anything to be ashamed about. Folks who only listen to the Republicans, or possibly those who live in other parts of the country and haven't visited New England, may actually believe there IS something wrong with that. I recently read a charming little diatribe against the people of Massachusetts on one arch-conservative blog (no link, you can figure out where it was pretty easily if you are really interested), which basically said if you're from Massachusetts you're too liberal to be allowed to live. So I'd like to take this opportunity (it's my blog, and I'll invent my own opportunities wherever I want, so there...) to set the record straight about what liberals from Massachusetts actually believe. Note: this will be a generalization, of course - plenty of Massachusetts citizens aren't liberal at all, and quite a few of us are more liberal than others. Bear in mind that all sweeping generalizations are inherently false. Including that last one. Ouch, damn paradox!

True or false: people from Massachusetts are socially liberal? True. No question about it, the average citizen of Massachusetts is more socially liberal than the average citizen of Alabama. Whether this is a bad thing or not depends on whether you think all people are truly created equal. Are women equal to men? Blacks equal to whites? Gays equal to straights? The average Massachusetts citizen will answer yes to all three questions, and will support legislation that enforces that equality (because society has demonstrated over the last several centuries that without such legislation there will be no such equality). The average social conservative may offer lip service to one or two of those questions, but will not vote in such a way as to support the disenfranchised.

True or false: people from Massachusetts are fiscally liberal (as in "tax and spend liberals")? False. No, really. I'm serious. This is the single largest misconception about Massachusetts Liberals in general, and John Kerry in particular. What the Republicans conveniently ignore (and would like undecided voters to remain ignorant of) is the simple fact that most people who live in Massachusetts are Yankees. No, not the kind that wear pinstripes (damn them!) and beat up on people wearing red socks. The kind that are legendary for their basic frugality. Waste not, want not? A Yankee saying. But wait, you're thinking: isn't Massachusetts the most highly taxed state in the union? Not even close. At one time (the 1970s) Massachusetts earned the label Taxachusetts, but that era was short-lived. Currently, Massachusetts is in the top five LEAST taxed states in the country, based on state taxes. Our federal income taxes are higher than most other states, but that's simply because salaries in Massachusetts are higher than average and federal income taxes are graduated.

There was some noise recently around a report showing that "blue" states pay more in taxes than "red" states, and contribute significantly more to the federal budget than they receive in benefits (in "red" states the trend is reversed) and certainly my state bears that out. But you won't hear the proverbial Massachusetts Liberal complain that his tax dollars are supporting folks from Mississippi, because he believes that, as Barack Obama said in his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, "I AM my brother's keeper. I AM my sister's keeper." That's a traditionally liberal position to take, but to understand it from the perspective of a Massachusetts Liberal you have to apply Yankee common sense and fiscal responsibility to it: "And I can't support social justice or enhance my siblings' opportunities unless I have a solid financial foundation." In other words, Yankee Liberals believe in the "pay as you go" style of government budgets. FYI, John Kerry has pledged to run the federal government under that rule. He's a Yankee and a Massachusetts Liberal; that pledge is entirely consistent with his (and the state's) character.

By the way, in case you're wondering who the most liberal Senator really IS (as reported by the National Journal, the publication the Bush campaign cites as their source), here's the top ten list. Note that John Kerry is not on it (oh, all right, he's 11th - the horror... John Edwards, by the way, is 27th out of 48 Democratic Senators, which would make him pretty damn moderate by any logic):

1. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.
2. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md.
3. Jack Reed, D-R.I.
4. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.
5. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
6. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
7. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
8. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
9. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
10. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt

National Journal, by the way, has an article online about the misuse of their statistics. Worth reading.