Eastern Massachusetts liberal is a phrase in American politics

American politics

American politics is an area of study within the academic discipline of political science. It is primarily, but not exclusively, studied by researchers in the United States...

 which is generally used as a political epithet by Republicans

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 against Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 who are from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. It was most significantly used in the 1988 presidential race

United States presidential election, 1988

The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...

 by Vice-president George H.W. Bush against Governor Michael Dukakis

Michael Dukakis

Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...

, and again in the 2004 race

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

 by then-President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 against Senator John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

. The Democratic candidates (Dukakis, Kerry) lost both races.

Many of the citizens of Massachusetts hold the Commonwealth's liberal

Modern American liberalism

Modern American liberalism is a form of liberalism developed from progressive ideals such as Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism, Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. It combines social liberalism and...

 reputation as a badge of honor, and proudly describe themselves as "Massachusetts liberals."

Meanings of the phrase

The idea behind the usage of the phrase is, the state of Massachusetts is "out of the mainstream" in comparison to other states. Jane Elmes-Crahall, a professor who studies political rhetoric, has said, in swing

Swing state

In United States presidential politics, a swing state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes...

 and red states, "It (the phrase) still signals the antithesis of their (swing and red state) social and economic values." Hence, it is believed, people in these states will not vote for someone they believe to be a "Massachusetts liberal."

There are several specific ideologies that are implied in the phrase:

• Allegedly being "soft on crime"; specifically, one attack along these lines was seen in the infamous Willie Horton ads
  Willie Horton
  William R. "Willie" Horton is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder, without the possibility of parole, was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program...
  
  , which were envisioned by Lee Atwater
  Lee Atwater
  Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist to the Republican Party. He was an advisor of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.-Childhood and early life:...
  
    and the National Security Political Action Committee, and used by George H. W. Bush
  George H. W. Bush
  George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
  
  's Presidential campaign against Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis
  Michael Dukakis
  Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
  
   in the 1988 Presidential election.
• Alleged support for higher taxes. Among some, the state has a reputation for high taxes (5% sales tax, just increased to 6.25%; 5.3% income tax), and some Republicans refer to it as "Taxachusetts."
• Support for anti-war
  Anti-war
  An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
  
   ideas. This particular inference comes from the 1972 Presidential race
  United States presidential election, 1972
  The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
  
  , when Massachusetts was the only state where antiwar Senator George McGovern
  George McGovern
  George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
  
   defeated President Richard Nixon
  Richard Nixon
  Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
  
  .
• In more recent times, such as the 2004 presidential race, the term also is meant to point to the state's legalization of same-sex marriage
  Same-sex marriage
  Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
  
  . It was the first state where same-sex marriage became legal.