Top Ten Towns for Bush & Kerry in Mass

[Killarney]

[JuniorPlankton]

1. Most of these are minor backwater places

with a few exceptions like Cambridge of Somerville.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. Excuse moi?

I'm so fucking sick of people calling Western MA backwater hick country. We have a vibrant, progressive community here in the Pioneer Valley, and the views beat Eastern MA urban sprawl any day of the week. :mad:

[Bill McBlueState]

9. thanks for standing up for us!

Western Mass. rocks!

on edit: Six of the top ten Kerry towns are in the Pioneer Valley.

[Bonobo]

13. You tell him! Northampton here. We're definitely NOT hicks!

[TaleWgnDg]

28. That's a hell of an attitude problem !! sheesh n/t

[skippysmom]

2. Mostly it makes sense

P-town -- that's obvious. Cambridge-Somerville also obvious. Shutebury, Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, NoHo -- all in the fabulous Valley.

Aquinnah? On the Vineyard? I don't know why they are so Dem.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

3. Native American vote perhaps

:shrug:

[skippysmom]

4. I was thinking that too

eom

[Kat45]

5. I've lived in MA all my life, and I've never heard of some of these towns

Tolland? Montgomery? Granville? I'm assuming these are out in western MA? Looks like most of bush's towns are.

Never heard of Aquinnah either. Where the fuck is that?

[bicentennial_baby]

7. I think Tolland is SW MA

But I live in NW MA and don't know where Montgomery and Granville are. Western MA as a whole is very anti-bush.

[masshole]

16. Connecticut Border

Tolland borders Granville, Southwick, Westfield, and Connecticut.
Only about a 30 minute ride down rt. 57 west from Springfield.

Montgomery is a tiny town to the NW of Westfield. Most people think it's part of Westfield.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

8. Aquinnah is on the Vineyard

it probably has a large Native American population-the majority of year-round island residents have native american blood.

[Bill McBlueState]

10. yes, highly Native American

I have an old 'historical atlas of Massachusetts' that lists Aquinnah's Native American population at 30.6%, by far the highest for any town in the state. It's 1980 data, however.

[TaleWgnDg]

29. The Aquinnah Wampanoags (Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard)

are the (federally recognized) Indian tribe, who, a few years ago, tried to have a casino/race track in New Bedford, Fall River area . . . reportedly, they are still looking for a site in southeastern Massachusetts for same.

Kerry and Edwards included strong sovereignty language in their campaign position papers and have had excellent relations with tribes in their states. Native Indians were reportedly included in the drafting of the Democratic National platform.

I believe the operative issue is that many Native Indians are angry and disappointed at the so-called federal recognition process. Many Native Indians are angry that in order for the federal government to recognize them as a tribe, they must undergo a federal process and federal finding that they are, indeed, a tribe. It's a long and arduous process and typically disavows Indians, collectively, as a tribe (a sovereign nation).

It's been speculated that the only rationale behind Indians seeking federal recognition as an Indian tribe (sovereign nation) status is because with this federal recognition may the tribe then begin the process of a casino or other gambling establishment. Without that status then Indians may not set-up gambling establishments.

I don't mean to suggest or infer anything here other than what I've stated. One thing may not lead or infer any conclusion without more facts. For example, I really don't know the benefits that Native Indians derive from being federally recognized as a tribe (a sovereign nation) other than what I've stated. There may be many other benefits of which I am completely ignorant.

[semass]

11. Aquinnah formerly Gay Head

The western tip of the Vineyard, home of the Aquinnah Wampanoags

[Kat45]

12. Oh, so that's what it is! I remember Gay Head.

I think I vaguely remember the talk about changing its name; I guess I just never heard what it was changed to.

[Lenape85]

14. Seems like Boston isn't up there

I thought it would at least be in the top 10

Must be the Nader effect

[Kat45]

15. I wouldn't expect it to be there.

There are a lot of Catholics in the city, and working class people who may not be liberals. Massachusetts--and Boston--may be extremely liberal in relation to many other areas, but it's not as liberal as people think--it's kind of a myth.

[shawmut]

17. Boston voted 78% Kerry

[Cobalt Violet]

18. MV was the bluest, then western MA.

Central MA was the redest according to the purple map I saw here on DU.

[graywarrior]

19. Where did Lynn stand?

My home town.

[stepnw1f]

20. What About Jamaica Plain?

When I drive through my home town, I see a many cars with a Kerry Bumperstickers.

[curse10]

21. I love Aquinnah! My new favorite town!

LoL

[Arkana]

22. I had no idea North Brookfield was Bushville

How revolting.

[ExclamationPoint]

23. What about eastern MA

Holliston, Ashland, Hopedale etc.
I wonder how Nantucket rated? Even though it was obvious, Im glad P-town was there. When I was a kid, I used to call it the "magic city"

other thought: I get the non-white thing, but I don't understand the underacheivers thing. I thought the only republicans here were the rich ones.

[TayTay]

24. My town went Bush

Sigh! Tyngsboro was about 2600-2500 (or something like that.) Come to think of it, after all the Kerry-bashing in the Lowell Sun, not too bad!

I think Dracut went for Kerry. Anybody know how Lowell went?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

25. Lowell went for Kerry. Why is the Merrimack Valley so conservative?

It's prety blue collar.

[TaleWgnDg]

26. Frankly, I am surprised that more north shore towns

didn't go overwhelmingly Republican since for decades they have been the bastion of the Brahmin "horsey set" (old money) . . . re the Myopia Hunt Club enclave . . . Boxford is no surprise, Lynnfield is middle and upper middle class, mostly, . . . I guess Beverly Farms (staunch Republican enclave) is outweighed by downtown working class and middle class Beverly folks. I am surprised that Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Georgetown, Wenham, Hamilton, and other north shore Essex County towns didn't go "red state" . . . it seems that John Kerry did very well in his home state and that old-timers are either dying-off or are upset like hell about the deficit, the war, and Bush's "godlike appeal" -- nothing like an old time Congregationalist getting pissed off or an Episcopalian getting pissed off with Jesus-speak a la Bush. There's a reason why GWBush didn't feel welcome in the religion in which he was raised -- New England Episcopalian!!

As for Kerry . . . highest voting towns. No surprise. The western part of Massachusetts around Connecticut Valley is very liberal. Academia liberal. And we all know that Cambridge is . . . bless em. Somerville has become merely another extension of Cambridge over-flow. No surprise at all about P-town, nor about Martha's Vineyard's Aquinnah (Gay Head) . . .

Nah. There are no surprises here.

Edited to add: As for Lowell. That's where Kerry first ran for congress back when he got out of Nam. Kerry ran as a resident of Lowell. The Lowell Sun tanked Kerry horrifically. The Lowell Sun is run by an old fart who's a bitter s.o.b. It's now owned by a corporation with news media interests across the country, MediaNews Group, Inc. . . . rightwingnut. The Lowell Sun endorsed Bush for president in 2000 and 2004! Here's a sample of the Lowell Sun's 1800s reactionary positions: http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%257E4746%257E2567400,00.html

Here's MediaNews: http://www.ketupa.net/mnews.htm
http://www.cjr.org/issues/2003/2/dean-sherman.asp

[TaleWgnDg]

27. Did you know about the Lowell Sun's history re Kerry?

Take a gander, above, at my post #26. So much for the Lowell Sun!! LOL


.

[TayTay]

30. How could I not?

I get 2 papers every day, the Globe for national/state coverage and the Lowell Sun for local coverage. The Sun's national coverage is pretty much AP wire story stuff, but their local coverage is surprisingly fair and informative. (And my husband is always looking to see if they spelled his name right on School Committee stuff :^)

The Kerry coverage was actually so awful that it was pretty funny. (Sorry, but it was.) I think they expected that national conservative media was going to flock to Lowell to get their perspective on a 33 year old story. Nothing really happened. They ran this dopey bogus check story that nobody cared about, cuz it was dopey and bogus. And the LTTE's were downright hilarious. I have no idea how many people wrote in with the variation of "He's a commie, pinko lefty. I know cuz I saw his brother break into a campaign window 33 years ago, and fluffle, fluffle, fluffle." (It's like Woodstock in Lowell, everone remembered it and thought they were there. Apparently everybody was traumatized by this teensy little story from 33 years ago and couldn't let it go.)

I might actually have been bothered by this coverage had the LTTE's not also had a concurrent thread about Jack Kerouac, the great 50's writer going as well. Apparently, he was also a commie, pinko liberal bastard who was partly responsible in part for the fall of western civ, the sexual revolution and hippies. And since he said really mean things about his hometown, maybe they should oppose a new monument or park that might or might not go up to honor this commie, pinko liberal bastard. Honestly, could you take Kerry criticsm seriously after that?