If Massachusetts were only won by 16 points in November as PPP indicates, that would be the smallest net margin between a Democrat and Republican in the state since 1988.
In 2008, the Democrat won Massachusetts by 26 points.
In 2004, the Democrat won Massachusetts by 25 points.
In 2000, the Democrat won Massachusetts by 27 points.
In 1996, the Democrat won Massachusetts by 34 points.
In 1992, a 3-way race no less, the Democrat won Massachusetts by 19 points.
You'd have to go all the way back to 1988, when MA governor Dukakis carried the state by just 8 points to find a better net margin for a Republican than this poll indicates.
Of course, Romney probably should do better than most Republicans, given that he governed the state. But we're still talking about a REPUBLICAN for national office in Massachusetts here.
It's also worth noting that the Democratic candidates in '04 and '88 were from MA, which probably gave them bigger margins of victory than they would have got otherwise.
Clinton's '96 margin is pretty crazy though. Wow.
