http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/04210248.aspCONFUSED ABOUT the Massachusetts Republican Party’s prospects in the upcoming legislative elections? Don’t worry. So is the Massachusetts Republican Party.
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Taken together, this breathtaking drop in expectations and Romney’s apparent nonchalance raise some interesting questions. Did Romney truly think the "Reform Team" was a big deal back in May, or was he just after a good photo op? After raising approximately $3 million for the current election cycle, and getting all the buzz it could have asked for, will the Massachusetts Republican Party really be satisfied with just breaking even? And if — as some political pundits suggest — Romney’s political prestige is truly on the line, why does he seem so utterly unconcerned?
IF THE MASS GOP flops on Election Day, it won’t be the first time Romney has talked big and failed to deliver. Remember the $2 billion in waste and inefficiency Romney told voters he’d identified in state government during the gubernatorial campaign? Turns out that was either an embarrassing overestimate or a cynical ploy. Then there was the governor’s decision to scrap the state’s affirmative-action framework, which he promptly reversed when the political pressure became too intense. And whatever happened to Romney’s much-ballyhooed quest for an infallible death penalty, which seems simply to have faded away?
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