any difference between D and R in MA and CT?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Uh, Mitt Romney was very different than the head-scratching Shannon O'Brien.

Personally, I find the most stark difference in candidates for governor in Massachusetts this year to be competence. One has muddled through four years in office while the other is ... well, admittedly, I can't say for sure Baker would be a clear improvement, but it's worth taking a chance.

I'm much more excited for the down ballot races here, like State Auditor.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Personally, I find the most stark difference in candidates for governor in Massachusetts this year to be competence. One has muddled through four years in office while the other is ... well, admittedly, I can't say for sure Baker would be a clear improvement, but it's worth taking a chance.

It's funny how much more effective Patrick has been than Republican governors, in spite of his problems, by virtue of being in the same party as the legislature.

Bill Weld was rather effective at working with the legislature. Mitt Romney, not so much, but that was more by choice -- he was much more interested in butting heads than in making compromises.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

As far as I can tell, the major party governor candidates in MA and CT seem to be one center-left candidate versus another.

(and the race between Chafee and the Dem in RI seems to fit the pattern also.)

IIRC, Kerry Healey (R) who got rolled by Deval Patrick in 2006, was a particularly vile candidate - anti-choice, anti stem-cell funding and staunchly pro-gun.  Not exactly one center-left candidate vs another.

I thought that she was nominally Pro-Choice. Her real problem was that she could not contradict any of Romney's new crazy positions. Which largely explains the 35%.

I'm pretty sure she was pro-choice too, but whatever. At the end of the day, she was never really a serious candidate.