I’d be shocked if 1 person in 1000 randomly asked at a grocery store could describe the political “leanings” of Blue Bell ownership/management.
That may very well be so but there is an irrational hatred by liberals for anything or anybody with ties to Texas. Once incident, granted anecdotal, comes to mind.
Several year ago, at a not-so-aptly named "Friendly's" restaurant near Watertown, MA, I committed the crime of driving while Texan. As I pulled into the parking lot with my Texas plates, a family of four (dad, mother and two kids) was coming out, saw my car and spotted the license plates since they're on the front and rear. Utterly without the slightest provocation, both the husband and wife confronted me about being from Texas. "So, you're from the Kennedy killing state!" and "I bet you cowboys down there had a party when Teddy died". I was told in a profanity-laced tirade that we "right-wing, redneck Texans" weren't welcome in their fine Commonwealth.
Sure, it was one isolated incident in this case. But there were numerous times I was greeted with a middle-finger salute by proud Massachusetts citizens on the traffic circles on Route 6, doubtlessly because of my Texas plates and Sarah Palin window sticker. And so went the "Spirit of Massachusetts" as I experienced it.