Charlie Baker’s effort to deflect tough questions by cozying up to the press is S.O.P., but the value of his “sweetheart” slip up to his critics and opponents is partly due to his campaign’s strategy of making the race about Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley, rather than about Democratic and Republican ideas about governance.

Because his chances of election hinge on avoiding association with his own political party, Baker has been forced to adopt a candidate-centered strategy, which not only makes media scrutiny of his character “fair game,” it also makes it very hard to complain about. Baker’s route to the corner office has always been a steep climb. Every time he loses his footing like this his chances diminish.