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(NECN: Joe Battenfeld) – This election year, the political spotlight will be on Massachusetts. The races for president, senate and congress will have the media flocking to the Bay state. And that’s good news for the state.
Mitt, Scott, a Kennedy, too? It’s a campaign trifecta. And, once again, Massachusetts is taking its rightful place as the center of the political world.
With Mitt Romney closing in on the republican presidential nomination, it assures that media and political junkies will again be flocking to the state, especially, for better or worse, Beacon Hill where Romney served as governor. But wait, there’s more.
Senator Scott Brown’s re-election race against democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren will also be drawing national attention. It could be the most expensive in the nation; already, television ads have brought in millions in revenue from outside the state. And, if that’s not enough for you.
Throw in the specter of another Kennedy running for office and you’ve got the ingredients for some mass hysteria in 2012.
“It speaks to the DNA of the state politics is important take seriously the fact we have key people augers well for the state,” said Paul Guzzi.
Guzzi, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, says while the political boom may not revive the state’s economy, it will shine a big spotlight and bring in more visitors for one reason anyway.
“Can you imagine the media looking for dirt? I can’t believe that would happen,” Guzzi said.
And the fact that a Massachusetts republican may be the nominee may erase the stigma of past years when Michael Dukakis and John Kerry’s failed presidential campaigns led to some mocking of Massachusetts citizens as out of touch elites.
Of course, if Romney, like Dukakis and Kerry before him, fails to win the White House, it’s welcome back to loserville.
“For you in the media, this is going to be fun.”
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