Charlie Baker

Governor Baker would be wise to take note of the disconnect between key values he espoused on the campaign trail and what the 2024 Games would look like and do to the state’s finances.

Public service motivation reminds that there is more to governmental services than just efficiency. Sometimes government allots resources because it uplifts the community at-large. Right or wrong, watching the Pats parade on TV or knowing the rite-of-springtime St. Patrick’s Day parade is going on is worth it. We must make sure that the resources diverted for the parades come from all Boston’s neighborhoods -- not just less affluent communities. But with this substantial caveat I say, “on with the parade!”  Sometimes government acts best when it acts inefficiently – and making ourselves feel better about this winter is something all of Boston needs.

Where to assign blame for the calamitous performance of the MBTA? I nominate the candidate debates in the last governor’s race.

It is T time for the new Governor. 

Governor Charlie Baker didn’t have the MBTA high on his governing agenda. Then it snowed – a lot.  

Last month I suggested Charlie Baker’s path from defeat to the Corner Office might be a model for Mitt Romney’s third run for the White House.

Today I’d like to suggest another path that the former Governor should seriously consider.  That’s the one taken by John Kerry.

Charlie Baker’s inaugural speech was moderate and even a bit Democratic; he offered a Republican’s business approach to save Democratic government.

National political discourse suggests the Baker v. Patrick comparison features two opposing views on government:  too often the problem according to Republicans and regularly the solution for Democrats.  This narrative does not apply to Charlie Baker as both he and Deval Patrick see vital, necessary roles for government.   I submit that a comparison of Charlie Baker’s inaugural speech yesterday and Deval Patrick’s  final State of the Commonwealth address last January make their respective takes on the role government should play, and their conceptualization of Massachusetts residents, clear.   

Later today Governor Deval Patrick will take the final “lone walk” out of office. When did this uniquely Massachusetts tradition begin? Until recently, it was widely believed to be the invention of a politically lonely Benjamin Butler in 1884.

UMass exit poll shows Coakley and Baker about equally distant ideologically from median voter, with Baker’s victory hinging on his performance with moderates, Independents, and women.