Presidential Polls in Massachusetts Mid-Summer

Massachusetts certainly isn't indicative of the political dynamics featured throughout the United States, but a state as traditionally liberal as Massachusetts still has a considerable and competitive conservative voting base that should make the coming presidential election interesting.

The 7 News Suffolk University Poll indicates that 30% of Massachusetts residents are John McCain supporters, while Barack Obama leads the polls with 53%. This particular poll was taken on June 12 which is still five months off of election day. Nationally, the USA Today Gallup Poll indicates that 43% of Americans would vote for McCain today if given the opportunity and 46% said that Obama would be their man. 11% of the people polled were undecided.

While Massachusetts resident have historically been considered amongst the most liberal in the United States, Republican governors had been voted into office for almost 15 years straight until Governor Deval Patrick was voted into office in 2007. Governor Patrick, who is an African American, represented reform from the waste and unproductiveness of the Governor's Office and Massachusetts Executive Offices associated with the Republican presence since 1991. Additionally, former Governor Mitt Romney went on to unsuccessfully run for president in 2008 which left the citizens with a completely open office to fill in.

Few doubt the dominance that Obama will have in Massachusetts drawing many voters from Hilary Clinton's base as well as some moderate conservatives looking for a path out of the woods that the Bush Administration has lead America into. McCain's base seems shaky at best with many hard-line conservatives not wanting to vote for him due to his moderate and sometimes liberal policies in his legislative career.

November may display the usual polarization that occurs during presidential elections where the traditional "Red" and "Blue" states vote accordingly, or there is a possibility that many will find that both candidates lack the essential traits that they look for in a president and abstain from voting at all. Some political analysts agree that Obama has a significant advantage over McCain due to his close relationship with the Bush Administration, but Obama has his own racial and cultural obstacles to overcome as well.

The national scene is a big toss up, but as a Massachusetts resident I predict a dominating showing of Obama supporters as the polls have suggested. Little to no indication has be shown that residents of a long-time Blue state such as Massachusetts would suddenly switch to the Republican candidate; but this is an election unlike no other. Either way the results have been and will be remarkable and historically significant for our country.

Resources:
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/general-election/massachusetts.html

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/polls/

http://www.masshome.com/governors.html