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That's an impressive list Romney is accumulating with many very well known and respected, all-American conservatives and champions of the Constitution among them.

Indeed it is an impressive list Jeff. Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia should be on it, too.

Also such talk radio luminaries as Rush Limbaugh, Jeff Katz, Jay Severin, and Sean Hannity, all heard on Boston Talk Radio WTKK 1200 AM. (Glenn Beck is also on the roster, but I don't hear his show very often, so don't know what he's been saying lately.)

What I most admire about Rush is that he is unquestionably a most solid and principled political conservative, and yet he is not a dogmatist about it. Rather, he is a political realist.

A dogmatist rarely moves beyond the approved "text." A political realist, however, understands that politics is the art of the possible. That is, he is aware that a dogmatic position by itself cannot transform political reality, that a dogma as an end-in-itself is pretty sterile as a means of effecting political change. I believe this; and the history of Rush Limbaugh demonstrates this. He understands you have to work within the context of on-the-ground political realities, illuminating problems according to core principles, but not reducing their solutions to simple, pat, one-size-fits-all dogmatic answers.

In other words, a text — no matter how sublime — that is not transformed by lived experience guided by core principle does not actually bear much fruit. This involves the (humble) recognition that we "ordinary" people can do little by our own efforts to shape the political environment, but must participate in it anyway, just as we find it. This is directly analogous to the idea that "faith without works is dead." If that makes any sense at all....

To change the subject: A couple weeks back, P-Marlowe suggested that my vote for Romney in Massachusetts would be a totally wasted vote, because Obama was going to carry the state no matter what. (So I might just as well vote for Virgil Goode. But what would be better about that vote, since Obama is supposedly going to carry Massachusetts?)

I, as a "prisoner behind enemy lines" in Massachusetts, have noticed certain signs around the state in recent times that suggest Obama may not have a lock on Massachusetts' electoral votes.

I've mentioned one of them before, on another thread: The loud, long booing of Obama at Fenway Park on the Red Sox seasons' opening day. It happened to be the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park (a hallowed Boston institution), so the Prez put together a little congratulatory video, broadcast to the fans on the Jumbotron. The crowd roared their disapproval of him — music to my ears. Especially because a phenomenon like this happened in Massachusetts.

Then, David Axelrod — Obama's chief spear-carrier — made a speech here this past week, and hundreds of "protesters" showed up to heckle him. He totally lost control of his audience, and his speech could barely be heard. The look of shock on his face was priceless....

Plus, as already mentioned above, Boston Talk Radio WTKK's diverse line-up of political commentators are trashing the Prez, and arguing the case for Romney. This is the radio station that long-suffering political conservatives, libertarians, and "independents" living "behind enemy lines" in Massachusetts listen to.

I am heartened by these developments. On this basis, I'd hazard the guess that Massachusetts may be a swing state this year. I think the left-progressive political machine that runs this state is losing control over "the public mind" here.... There is a growing sense of "I'm mad as h*ll, and I'm not going to take it anymore."

I certainly hope my reading of this developing situation proves accurate, come November 6th.

We'll just have to wait and see....

Dear Jeff, thank you so much for your highly informative essay/post. Very nice work indeed!