but split-ticketing voting is rapidly can declining. 6% of romney voted for the opposite house. party labels used to mean very different things to very different people. today they speak to deep geographic cultural and ethnic divides in our society. more than ever, we're becoming a nation of straight-ticket voters. especially when it comes to federal office. in a blue state like massachusetts, that makes it a lot harder for republican like gomez to break through or for a democrat like ed markey to blow an election. in fact, massachusetts is the most dramatic illustration of the trend toward straight-ticket voting. the state has nine congressional districts and ten for the two decades before the most recent round of redistricting. not a single one of those districts has elected a republican to the house since 1994. there have been 91 individual house elections in massachusetts in that time, and 91 of them have been won by democrats. last fall republicans were sure they were going to end that streak. john tierney, democrat democrat

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