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btw in MA there were several terms for D gov Mike Dukakis then in ‘90 he chose not to run and the next few governors were Republicans—Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci, and Jane Swift
(Swift not elected: Became acting gov when Cellucci became
ambassador to Canada).
Not conservatives—remember this is Massachusetts, and the next conservative Republican will be... the first one.

The Left condemned them for being “Rethuglicans” for trying (at least it seemed that way) to cut government. Weld, to his credit, did wipe out some Registry of Motor Vehicle fees and made some Mass Turnpike tolls “free”. Trying to privatize some state functions led to bumper stickers saying
“Privatization: A Weld $cam”. Again, these were RINOs but in MA they were considered far right wackos. And yet they
did win. But Jane Swift was a disaster with positive ratings of, what, 10 per cent?

In came Romney on a white horse to save the day. Neither he nor his Lt Gov Kerry Murphy Healey (they only served one term) accepted a salary. We got our money’s worth.

Anyway, Mitt (who ran vs. Ted Kennedy in ‘94) would not have become gov. had it not been for the sad state of
the MA GOP in allowing the inexperienced Jane Swift
to get the job (and thus create the need for Romney.)

more on how Mass. got Romney
2002, Time

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,219417,00.html

>>Jane Swift looked like she had been through hell. Her eyes were swimming with tears that she refused to let fall. Voice quavering, the acting governor of Massachusetts announced Tuesday that she would not run for the governor’s seat this fall. Swift looked as shocked as the members of the state’s political establishment, who were expecting her to put up a fight. Only the day before, she was defiantly vowing to contest a late primary challenge from Mitt Romney, chairman of the recent Winter Olympics. But after a night discussing what that fight would be like with her closest advisers and her husband, she was dropping out of the race. “I’ve never walked away from a fight in my life,” Swift said. “That’s probably the toughest part of this.”

>>It’s tough, but it’s the smart move. Some might question Swift’s political toughness — the incumbent, she dropped out of a race before her opponent even formally announced his candidacy. But Swift is no pushover. And she knows this was a fight she could not win. By dropping out now, she has done a favor for the state Republican Party. Party leaders will owe her one when she decides to make her political comeback.

>>It’s testament to Swift’s brand of Republicanism that she was there in the first place — calling Massachusetts liberal, as they say, is like calling Alaska chilly. Still, Republicans of Swift’s stripe have managed to hold on to the governor’s office for 12 years now. When Governor Paul Cellucci resigned to become ambassador to Canada last April, Lt. Governor Swift stepped into his job, and at first it looked like she’d easily win election this November. She’s young, bright and inherited a state in good fiscal condition. Swift’s a trailblazer, too — the first female governor in Massachusetts, she was pregnant with twins when she took the job. After she gave birth, the sight of the ultimate working mom holding those babies gave her high approval ratings. But then Swift started making mistakes, and those cute babies were no longer political assets.

Swift’s first wounds were self-inflicted. An ethics panel fined her for using state aides as babysitters.

(SEE LINK FOR THE REST)

Yeah. I remember Weld. What a piece of work he was. I guess compared to the usual Mass commie of that time, he was an improvement.

He was big into pushing homos on the kidos in public schools. He joined Whitman in a leftist media circus to protest the GOP convention for abortion (he was big on killing them babies. If they made it out, he’s get ‘em with the homos in the schools.) At that time it was popular for the Rinos to threaten to switch parties if the GOP did not go liberal to accomodate their loser NE selves.

Then the idiot was picked to be an ambassador for Clinton - to Mexico, I think, and old Strom Thruman gave him the axe in committee and knocked Weld’s Rino a$$ out of politics!

I noticed old pruneface baby killer Whitman urging a third party rino run to Jon Huntsman. As if America is begging for some country club pup tent Rinos in power...like we don’t have enough wrecking the country already! She’s still mad she was a big fat loser as the NJ Gov. and the Grinrich Congress did not kiss her elitist toes as ordered.

Baby killing and boy butt buglaring was not a ticket to success for Whitman and Weld.