Keller @ Large: Beware The Massachusetts Connection
BOSTON (CBS) - One thing you quickly learn when you cover politics is that if you look carefully enough, any major story has a Massachusetts connection.
Sometimes you don't even need six degrees of separation to find it. For instance, we can't have a presidential election without at least one Massachusetts name in the mix, if not more.
And now that old cliché has been proven true once again with the news that Utah senator Orrin Hatch will retire this year after more than four decades in office.
Hatch had clearly worn out his welcome in Utah, where 75-percent of voters were telling pollsters they didn't want him to run again.
What's the Massachusetts connection? It seems that our former governor, Mitt Romney, is the odds-on favorite to succeed Hatch.
That's right, Mitt Romney, the twice-failed Republican presidential candidate who was arguably the most blunt critic of candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, at least within the GOP.
After Trump humiliated Romney by snubbing his bid to be Secretary of State, Romney has continued to throw elbows at the president over issues like his response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
So, inquiring minds want to know - what would it mean to the balance of power on Capitol Hill if Romney joins the wafer-thin Republican majority? And who better than we who know him best to speculate on that?
Let's just say this - Mitt Romney is a man of principle who has also been known to go with the political flow. But he doesn't like Trump much, and he'll only be 73 when the next presidential election rolls around.
Mr. Trump had better watch his back. As they say in politics, beware the Massachusetts connection.
Your feedback is welcome via email at keller@wbztv.com, or you can reach me on Twitter, @kelleratlarge.
