Gail Collins makes a good point. Massachusetts voters are furious at their state government, not federal government. Obama and Democratic candidates around the country will pay the price. Brace for changes -- the wrong changes.
The voters of Massachusetts were definitely angry about taxes, although the ones they seemed most ticked off about were in the state. Everyone was really, really angry about the state government. This is a national theme. Vitriol also abounded last November in New Jersey and Virginia. And payback is coming soon in Illinois, which is going to have its primaries in a couple of weeks.
So many states are knee-deep in debt, and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it since no matter how hard the various governors try to change things, the recalcitrant, entrenched state legislators always resist. That drives people crazy, causing them to express their ire by voting out the governors. Or Martha Coakley. The only officials who never get voted out are the legislators. Because they are entrenched.
Here's what Collins doesn't say: it was the Bush administration that starved state governments -- "starve the beast." The political bill comes due now, during the Democratic presidency. Remember when we used to think that Bush/Cheney (an administration marked by wild spending) planned it this way?
