Politics & Power Quote by Robert Torricelli

Torricelli’s line lands because it weaponizes a religious ritual to describe partisan identity: “baptized Democrats” isn’t just a quip about voting patterns, it’s a diagnosis of political culture as inherited faith. In one stroke, he frames Massachusetts not as a place where people weigh candidates, but as a state where party affiliation is absorbed before you’re old enough to argue back. The joke is doing political work: if Democrats win there, it’s not because they persuaded anyone today, it’s because the electorate is pre-committed.

The specific intent is contrast. Torricelli, a Jersey Democrat who spent his career inside the machinery of coalition-building, is drawing a line between “fixed” states and persuadable terrain. He’s implicitly arguing for strategy over sentiment: don’t treat every loss as a failure of message; sometimes you’re running against a civic identity.

The subtext has a sharper edge. By invoking baptism, he hints that Massachusetts Democrats aren’t merely loyal; they’re orthodox, maybe even smug. It’s a subtle dig at the state’s brand of liberalism as establishment culture, not insurgent politics - a reminder that “blue” can mean institution, not just ideology.

Contextually, it fits an era when operatives talked openly about “base” versus “swing,” and when ethnic, union, and Catholic networks still shaped northeastern party loyalty. The line flatters centrists who imagine themselves campaigning in the real world, while casting certain strongholds as political monasteries: secure, predictable, and a little self-satisfied.