After boy wonder Scott Brown won the special election for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, the pundits declared a backlash against the Obama administration and the TeaBaggers' hope for a massive landslide in November looked more credible.
"This would be like the Democrats winning Orrin Hatch's seat in Utah. This is the most Democratic state in the union. We're talking about Edward Kennedy's old seat."
Has the tide turned in Massachusetts for the populist right? Not if the GOP gubernatorial primary is any indication...
Today, the GOP nominated Charles Baker as its gubernatorial candidate by a whopping 78% margin. As a pro-choice supporter of gay marriage, Baker is far from the Palinite, TeaBagging ideal. Even more interesting is Baker's running mate, Richard Tisei, an openly gay state senator who came out publicly last year. Tisei is even more queer-friendly than Baker, and he's currently sponsoring a transgender anti-discrimination bill, which Baker vowed to veto in a flier distributed to delegates at the convention. While Baker claims he opposes the bill, he doesn't appear too committed to that position:
'I think a guy who supports gay marriage and is pro-choice and has been pretty clear on those and picked a gay fella as his running mate is pretty much not pandering to much of anybody. . ."
Doesn't appear that the massive backlash against the country's "most radical president ever" is materializing, at least not in Massachusetts. Of course, there's been plenty of other evidence, for those who weren't so convinced. And while this particular tea leaf won't be considered significant as it defies the mainstream narrative of a conservative majority bent on taking back their country, it is an encouraging sign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangendered persons. This shows that the so-called populist uprising on the right isn't effectively threatening our progress toward full equality.
While I wouldn't vote for the dynamic duo if I were a Massachusetts voter, I'm extremely happy that coming out is no longer a career killer for Republican politicians. At least in Massachusetts.