Good news and bad news for those of us looking to rid Massachusetts of its senior U.S. Senator. The bad news is that she enjoys a fairly solid approval rating.  The good news is that she may be weak in Southeastern Massachusetts, a Democrat stronghold for many years.

A new poll by Public Broadcasting Station WBUR finds 55 percent of registered voters approve of the job Elizabeth Warren is doing.  It also indicates that voters generally know little about the Republicans, such as Whitman State Rep.Geoff Diehl, who have shown an interest in challenging Warren next year.   That is not unusual though given that the election is more than a year away and given all of the national press attention that Warren has received as a leader of the "resistance" movement.

What is interesting to note is Warren's high unfavorable rating here in Southeastern Massachusetts, an area long ignored by Republicans due to it's strong allegiance to the Democrat Party.  According to the WBUR poll 49 percent of registered voters in the New Bedford, Fall River area disapprove of Warren with only 39 percent viewing her favorably.  That could be because Warren completely ignores the region and has yet to take a position on issues critical to the region, including whether the New Bedford fishing industry will be able to keep fishing.

But of course they have their own spin.

Jeff Berry, a political science professor at Tuft's University tells WBUR:

"The economic boom that we see in metro Boston has not yet reached New Bedford and Fall River.  It is a whiter area, and it's a less educated area, so all of these things work against Senator Warren."

Translation:  We are racist and stupid and Liz Warren lives in a stratosphere we can only aspire to.

I have a better idea for why Warren isn't liked very much around here.  The people of Southeastern Massachusetts are smart enough to see through this elitist, socialist, loudmouth who hasn't spent a day stressing about the issues of working people in Massachusetts.  I'm sure Liz Warren can't see New Bedford from the back porch of her 5 million dollar Boston-area mansion that was financed by raping the higher education system and flipping mortgages as people lost their homes.

Senator Warren and Professor Berry ought to pay a visit to Southeastern Massachusetts from time to time to see all of the beautiful brown and black and Asian faces that blend so beautifully as part of the population here.  We can't be that dumb around here if we reject their kind of identity politics and elitism.

For all of her wealth and phony compassion, Liz Warren is without a doubt a swamp creature.  In fact people like her give swamp creatures a bad name.

By the way, the WBUR poll conducted in January found that 46 percent of registered voters felt it was time for Granny Liz to go.  We couldn't agree more.  Funny,  BUR didn't ask that question this time around.  Well, at least they didn't report the results if the did ask the question.

A bit of advise for Rep, Diehl who is hoping to retire Warren's number, do not ignore this region.  We were first to acknowledge your interest in the U.S. Senate and have responded to you.  You've got to keep kissing this baby.

Remember also, it is extremely difficult for a Democrat running for statewide office to win without taking Southeastern Massachusetts.  It is next to impossible for a Republican to do so.

The poll was conducted by MassINC for PBS station WBUR

Editor's Note: Barry Richard is the afternoon host on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from Noon-3pm. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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