Why is Kerry so unpopular in MA?

[CTLawGuy]

Could someone from MA, or whoever knows, fill me in on this?

I was surprised by this Survey USA poll.


http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=5305947d-b38d-4e13-a5a0-9ff212a350dd

Kerry: App 48%, Disapp 50%
Kennedy: App 65%, Disapp 33%

I don't think Kerry's in trouble in '08, mostly because the MA repub party is in shambles, but I wonder what the deal is?

Happy last minute of Thanksgiving all!

[JI7]

1. that poll is flawed

another poll a few weeks from now could have total opposite numbers .

this same poll had Kennedy with high disapprovals among blacks and hispanics once.

[TayTay]

2. The Boston Globe ran a poll in Oct

that showed 55% approved, 38% disapproved and the rest were in the middle.

He's fine. That's about where he usually is.

[Warpy]

6. I can't see Mass. electing some pubbie to replace him

that's for damned sure.

I think most people in the state are going to have the rotten taste in their mouths from the Romney maladministration for a very long time.

[TayTay]

15. There isn't anyone in the Mass Repub party to run

They don't have anyone on the bench for that. IF there was a Senate race in '08, the action on that would all be in the Dem primary. That would be a free-for-all.

The pubbies could try and run Kerry Healey again. She has proved thata she will waste tons of cash on an effort. Maybe Charlie Baker, but then the pickings get pretty slim. They have no bench, only 12.5% of the registered voters and nothing coming up.

I don't think Markey would run either. He started running in '84, but then dropped out. He is 65 now and has some real power in the new Dem Congress. I don't know if he would risk it all on that.

McGovern might run, Meehan has been waiting his whole life to run and maybe Tierney (?) Meehan has the most money, but, who knows. It would be fun though, if it happens.

[antiimperialist]

3. They believe the media

the media made it seem as if Kerry said the troops are dumb, but the average American is too idiotic to do research for themselves.

[liberalpragmatist]

4. Kerry's always been respected, not loved in Mass.

For one thing, that poll has tended to show his support lower than most of the others. He generally gets mid-to-high 50s or low 60s, so he's in a perfectly good position.

Of course, some of his disapproval may come from liberals disappointed with his presidential campaign and some of the disapproval snapped right now could be due to the recent joke flap.

Keep in mind though that Kerry is not really the jovial, backslapping type of politician that is popular in Massachusetts (think Ted Kennedy). He's the more quiet type and so there isn't as much open affection for him as there is for many others. There is respect, though.

[LittleClarkie]

7. Right after the election the Globe had an article about how Kerry had finally gained that love

and that it had taken going all over the country campaigning to gain that love at home. So were they full of beans or what?

[Warpy]

5. Kerry seems to lose a lot of ground amoung women and the young

My guess would be that his "nuanced" position on choice would be a big part of that. Another reason for the relatively large disapproval might be the way he crumpled like a cheap suit so quickly after the obvious theft of the 2004 election.

His "nuanced" position on the war also pisses both groups off.

[WildEyedLiberal]

13. "Withdraw by 2007" isn't a nuanced position on the war

Did you forget about the Kerry/Feingold bill to withdraw American soldiers from Iraq?

Kerry has called the war immoral and wrong and has been calling for withdrawal for well over a year now. That is hardly "nuanced."

He's never voted against women's reproductive rights, ever. How is that "nuanced"?

You're still obviously bitter about 2004, but that's no excuse to distort the truth of his positions.

[BlueIris]

16. Kerry's voting record on choice, with which you are obviously

not familiar, speaks for itself. It's veritably pristine.

Kerry "seemed" to lose support with women because we had a fat pile of election fraud last time around and a ton of utterly false "reporting" about the demographics of the voters who supported him.

[Mass]

25. The poll last month was showing exactly the opposite. So, I would not lose one minute on this

particular poll.

[tritsofme]

8. Survey USA was all over the place in 2006

I don't know what to think of their polls.

[Sensitivity]

9. With invective from every media outlet and political faction Kerry should be despised in Timbuktu

kazakstan alaska bimini .. so why not Mass

[blm]

10. Name one other person who has been as WRONGLY vilified the last 3 yrs as Kerry has.

The media did this exact same thing to Gore and drove his numbers down intentionally by making him out to be the fool from 1999 - 2003. Then they shifted to Kerry.

[wisteria]

12. Exactly. And they do it with the blessing of our own Dem party who

do nothing- absolutely nothing to defend them.

[zann725]

17. One has to ask why...

repeatedly they fear most, those best skilled to lead us.

[Cha]

21. Dean

:)

[ProSense]

11. I guess popularity is relative to the poll:

Kerry defeated a strong Republican candidate, Weld, in 1996 by 53% to 45%.

Here is SurveyUSA's trend on Kerry:

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollTrack.aspx?g=167be8b3-bb54-4fb9-bd74-401e630f31d8

Kerry and Kennedy about the same when it comes to being reelected:

2006:
Kennedy 69%
Republican Chase 31%

2002:
Kerry 80%
Cloud 20%


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_1996
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_2002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_2006

Kerry also won the state with 62% of the vote in 2004.

[bigriver]

14. Six words: "Do You Know Who I Am?"

Kerry likes to pull that shit on people. Teddy never does that.

[Eric J in MN]

18. When does Kerry say that? NT

NT

[JI7]

19. he doesn't

and Kerry got a higher percentage of votes in his last election than Ted Kennedy did this year. which is more reliable about how people feel about them than a bizarre poll which a few weeks ago had Kennedy with high disaprovals among blacks and hispanics.

[cadmium]

36. You have your politicians mixed up. That wasnt Kerry

That was reportedly Joe Kennedy about 10-12 yrs ago. Did someone tell you that this was Kerry? You should inform them of their mistake

[Chemical Bill]

20. I have a friend from Mass...

who never knew Kerry had anything to do with the BCCI. I usually ask Kerry bashers why they support drug-money-laundering banks.

I blame the media for his negative portrayal.

Bill

[high density]

22. Probably because they just want him to STFU about 2008 and do his job

The guy doesn't seem to have any common sense.

[LittleClarkie]

23. When does he mention it when he hasn't been asked a question he had to answer

He's not the one who has to shut up about it. He doesn't bring it up. He's been working to get 2006 candidates elected and now is pushing the agenda for the next two years. He only talks about 2008 when someone asks him if he's going to run, and he has to say he's still thinking.

So no, that's not the reason. Got any other ideas?

[Mass]

24. because this poll is poorly done and some of the internals do not make sense

Last month, the same poll was showing Kerry very popular in MA. This is perfectly inept, but who knows how the sample is biased. People here like Kerry and when something happens, they can see he is one of the few statewide pols who actually does something here.

So, do not spend too much time on the SUSA poll. It is largely meaningless.

[mtnsnake]

26. Yeah, that explains why the poll said Ted Kennedy is so popular when

we all know he's not.

:eyes:

[JI7]

27. the same poll had Ted Kennedy with high unpopulars among minorities

just a few weeks ago.

[WildEyedLiberal]

31. I think Mass - who lives in MA - probably knows what she's talking about.

The bash-Kerry-at-all-costs crap is kinda tiresome. What's the deal?

[Jeff12]

28. Why is Kerry so unpopular in MA?

Because he is an idiot.

[ProSense]

29. Welcome, but you're so wrong:

He defeated a strong Repblican, Weld, in 1996 by 53% to 45%.

Kerry and Kennedy do well when it comes to being reelected:

2006:
Kennedy 69%
Republican Chase 31%

2002:
Kerry 80%
Cloud 20%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_1996
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_2002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections%2C_2006


Kerry also won the state with 62% of the vote in 2004

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LittleClarkie]

35. Care to expand that?

For discussion's sake, perhaps? Why do you think he's an idiot? It's not much of an answer all by itself considering more than one Massachusetts person has said he's quite smart.

[benny05]

32. Kerry is not unpopular in MA

Despite what Survey USA says. Kerry has been a good Senator to his state.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

33. Will Kerry run for senate re-election if he announces for Democratic presidential nomination?

[LittleClarkie]

34. In Massachusetts, I believe people have said that's not allowed. So no he can't.

He'll have to pick.