Here’s some breaking further evidence for my earlier post on the power of “Massachusetts” as a political symbol in Republican rhetoric. Tomorrow in the Manchester, NH, Union-Leader, Newt Gingrich is running this full page ad (pdf).
Note the contrasts here: Bold v. Timid, Conservative v. Moderate, and Reagan v. Massachusetts. Gingrich’s own home state (Georgia) never comes up, but Massachusetts is mentioned three more times. As an added bonus, Gingrich works in a reference to Barry Goldwater and a Romney quote disclaiming Reagan and Bush (Sr.)
As other candidates (with more money) start taking greater aim at Romney, here’s what I expect to see: grainy, black and white images of Romney with Massachusetts figures. For example, there must be pictures of him with Sen. John Kerry. As governor of the state that Kerry Represented, he can’t have entirely avoided smiling images together (though he probably avoided a hug). Mix these in with images of him working at Bain and some innuendo about his Mormonism and you’ve got an attack ad custom made for all the Tea Party supporters and evangelical Christian conservatives who will be rallying in South Carolina.