Now that Election Day is over, Charlie Baker will quickly trip off into political retirement however it’s unclear what the two-term Republican governor’s actual legacy can be.
Baker will go away in weeks as one of many nation’s hottest governors however he by no means actually translated that reputation into daring reform and alter.
Baker hardly ever challenged the Democratic Beacon Hill institution and when he did, his vetoes have been often overridden by the Legislature.
Out of step along with his personal celebration, Baker wasn’t a real conservative and infrequently clashed with the Trump wing of the GOP. Baker may have sought a 3rd time period however he declined, maybe as a result of he was afraid he’d lose his personal celebration’s nomination.
Derided as a traditional RINO (Republican in title solely) Baker doesn’t even management the Republican State Committee or its chairman and has extra in widespread with moderates.
Baker has not mentioned what he’s going to do post-Beacon Hill however it’s probably he’ll discover a high-paying personal sector job like his final job as well being care government.
Despite his reputation, Baker by no means emerged as a nationwide determine, not like earlier Massachusetts governors, and it’s not going he’ll be talked about sooner or later as a presidential or Senate contender. Baker didn’t attempt to use his clout to get entangled on this 12 months’s governor’s race, declining to endorse Republican nominee Geoff Diehl.
Baker did turn out to be the prototype of what a Republican governor should do to get elected in a Democratic-heavy state, working as a fiscal conservative however liberal on social positions.
Is that the form of Republican Massachusetts is destined to have in statewide workplace eternally?
Baker did lead the state by COVID-19 and we’ll miss these every day press conferences along with his ever-present masks on his wrist.
Baker didn’t win buddies, particularly in his personal celebration, along with his COVID mandates and shutdowns, and he could also be judged considerably harshly for his selections.
One factor you possibly can say in regards to the tall, lanky Baker was that he seemed like a governor.
After his preliminary defeat within the 2010 gubernatorial election, Baker remodeled himself from an aloof elitist into extra of a populist who was simply as at dwelling at a Patriots recreation as he was on Beacon Hill.
Baker actually leaves workplace so common that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Maura Healey, campaigned extra just like the Republican incumbent than a liberal Democrat. Healey usually praised Baker on the stump — generally greater than she praised her fellow Democrats.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”