Just as the term Southern Democrat is quickly becoming an oxymoron, so, apparently, is Northeastern Republican:
BOSTON, Nov. 26 ? It was a species as endemic to New England as craggy seascapes and creamy clam chowder: the moderate Yankee Republican.
Dignified in demeanor, independent in ideology and frequently blue in blood, they were politicians in the mold of Roosevelt and Rockefeller: socially tolerant, environmentally enthusiastic, people who liked government to keep its wallet close to its vest and its hands out of social issues like abortion and, in recent years, same-sex marriage.
But this election dealt the already-fading New England Republican an especially strong blow, one that some fear will increase the divide between the two parties nationally by removing a longstanding bridge between them.
Of 22 members of the newly elected House of Representatives from New England, only one is a Republican: Christopher Shays of Connecticut, who eked out a victory while two other Republicans from his state, Representatives Nancy L. Johnson and Rob Simmons, lost to Democrats.
In Massachusetts, where the Statehouse in Boston had been steeped in Republican governors for 16 years, voters threw the party overboard like so much tea.
In Rhode Island, exit polls gave Senator Lincoln Chafee, a popular moderate Republican from a long-admired political family, a 62 percent approval rating. But before they exited the polls, most voters rejected him, many feeling it was more important to give the Democrats a chance at controlling the Senate.
In New Hampshire, the state?s two congressmen, Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley, both Republicans, were ousted; Mr. Bradley was defeated by a virtual unknown with a virtually empty bank account. And for the first time since 1874, both houses of the state legislature now have Democratic majorities.
While one election is not the end of the world, this would certainly seem to confirm trends that have been in place for years. Interestingly enough, while the South, which the GOP continues to gain strength despite the results this November, is growing in population, the Northeast continues to lose population.
