Extinction of NE Republicans?

The NYT is running this pretty interesting article (by Pam Belluck) analyzing "New England Republicans."

There's a suggestion that the National GOP impacted races all the way down to local races:

Even so, in Rhode Island, city council members across the state lost longtime Republican seats, and in the Connecticut legislature, Democrats achieved a veto-proof majority for the first time in 25 years.

“Several states in New England have fairly high numbers of independent voters, and those folks broke 2 to 1 for Democrats,” said Constantine J. Spiliotes, director of research for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. “They usually split pretty evenly.”

There's also the suggestion that Republicans are doomed, unless the party becomes more welcoming:

Most newcomers are independent, “trying to figure out which party is more welcoming, and that’s clearly the Democratic Party right now,” Mr. Peterson said. “If the national party doesn’t make a home for independents, the Republicans are going to start losing. I don’t think they realize it yet, but I think they’re going to have to throw out their whole playbook.”

Nationwide, I think the GOP has its work cut out for it... from the hallowed halls of the US Capital to every Town Hall across America... or at least everywhere in the Northeast.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District