Is there any hope for Massachusetts? Or Rhode Island?

Or California, for that matter?

As a tide of red swept the electoral map on Tuesday night, a few enclaves of moonbattery reasserted their approval of business-as-usual.  Even in the midst of the largest G.O.P. victory in decades - an election which deposed Madam Speaker, decisively repudiated B. H. Obama's agenda, and left Harry Reid quivering in his boots - the voters of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California stuck their fingers in their ears: "la, laa, laaa, I can't heeeeeaaaaar yooooooou"

Or perhaps a better image would be them thumbing their noses at the rest of us.

California and Rhode Island have been hit hard by the recession. The unemployment rate in R.I. is almost 12%, and it's higher in Calif.  Masachusetts is facing a huge unfunded public pension liability, with their pension obligations only 63% funded (5th lowest in in the nation!) 

What kind of people vote for Governor Moonbeam over Meg Whitman, or Barbara Boxer over Carly Fiorina, or David Cicillini over John Loughlin, or Deval Patrick over... anyone?

And I didn't even mention Barney, who remains in my prayers (really) although I wouldn't vote for him for dogcatcher.

Meanwhile the rest of the country, or most of it, has woken up to the dangers we're facing.  I wonder what things will look like in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California a few years hence, in 2012?