you've lost that lovin' filling...

So something that has come up in conversation since Anne Coulter and other conservatives have been working to discredit Ted Kennedy: has Mr. Kennedy redeemed himself since his not so meritable younger days?

--The_Lex Thu Jan 26 11:08:30 2006

I don't have a strong opinion on Ted Kennedy. I think he'll always have strong support around here because of A. the Kennedy mystique B. much of MA thinks of itself as blue state desipte our series of Republican governors and C. it tends to be in states' best interest to have more senior senators.

On the other hand, I've heard a few dumb and/or kneejerk liberal quotes from him, but didn't listen closely enough to know how out of context they might've been.

--Kirk Thu Jan 26 11:46:14 2006

On WBUR once, they described MA voters as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative." I think they did so to address the whole blueness when it comes to national politics but redness for governor.

Personally, I think it has to do with the students. Darn those students, mucking up the city, causing all types of mayhem and traffic, vandalizing. . .. Grrr, growl.

--The_Lex Thu Jan 26 14:22:14 2006

You do have a bit of a split, probably roughly conforming to inside/outside 128. Maybe 495.

NY has the same thing, with "upstate" tending to be a lot more conservative than the city.

--Kirk Thu Jan 26 14:25:21 2006

Sounds about right to me.

--The_Lex Thu Jan 26 15:32:56 2006

Washington State has the same sorta deal, with the densely populated Western WA (which is to say, west of the Cascade Mountains) is quite liberal (and makes up about 3/4 of the state's population) while Eastern Washington is sparsely populated and pretty conservative. There's always talk of making two states, "Washington" for the liberals," and "Lincoln" for the conservatives. It'll never happen, but I wouldn't say I'm against it.

Also, when it comes to criticizing Bush's drunk driving, I wouldn't bring up Ted Kennedy, cars, and women in the same frame. Kennedy has actually killed someone with his driving, whether he was drunk or not, philandering or not, at the time, and like Bush he certainly benefitted from strong family connections that wouldn't save you or me. The Repubs who hang on to Bush while condemning Kennedy are no more hypocritical, in this instance, than the Dems who hang on to Kennedy while criticizing Bush. And since Kennedy will outlast the administrations of both Presidents Bush, I don't think the conservatives are out of line in any way by keeping after ol' Teddy.

--LAN3 Thu Jan 26 16:12:04 2006

I agree with some of your viewpoint, LAN3, but I think despite Teddy's political longevity, ultimately the power wielded by Bush dwarfs what Teddy has utilized and is able to in the future.

I suppose this ignores the whole "changed man" thing that Bush does that plays so well to the galleries, but still his poor decision making early in life, combined with a general sense of him not being much of a thinker or analyzer, makes him a pretty worthy target...more relevant to the landscape than Clinton or Teddy jokes.

--Kirk Thu Jan 26 16:46:21 2006

Well, Teddy's in the forefront these days for a good reason-- his performance in the two recent SCOTUS nominee reviews, in which he pandered with the worst of them and gave both men a bit of guff for their associations in the past, when his own past is questionable. Not to say that Bush isn't a worthy target, just to say that Teddy jokes are indeed worthy, even if they should evolve a little to reflect his recent and current shortcomings more than his historical ones. Heck, even with Bush-- if you're still kicking Bush over a decades-old drunk driving conviction, it's fair to say that either you're a card-carrying member of MADD or else you've just been defrosted from cryo-sleep and have just been informed that W is president, but haven't yet been briefed on this Iraq thing.

As for Clinton and Gore, I only make fun of them when they manage to surface in the news; I'm pretty well over the "Cigar/blue dress" jokes and the "I invented *" jokes, respectively. Clinton jokes these days have more or less evolved into how he reflects on Hillary and their marriage, and have little at all to do with cigars and blowjobs.

--LAN3 Thu Jan 26 22:14:21 2006

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