It is at all times thrilling when a brand new governor takes workplace, accompanied by all the normal pomp and ceremony. The State House rocks on inauguration day, the corridors buzz.
Politicians from each branches of the Legislature collect in a joint session within the House chamber and enthusiastically greet the brand new governor.
The new governor delivers a speech, which is often forgettable, however everybody claps and cheers anyway. It is the warmest reception a governor will get from the Legislature within the subsequent 4 years.
Everyone is blissful as a result of all of them have been elected or re-elected and shall be on the state payroll for one more two or 4 years.
It will all occur once more at midday on Thursday when Democrat Maura Healey takes the oath of workplace and succeeds outgoing Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.
I’ve witnessed and lined the ceremonial inauguration of a dozen governors, all who occurred to be males.
This time it’s totally different.
It is totally different as a result of Healey is not going to solely be the primary lady elected to the workplace however the first overtly homosexual individual as properly.
It may also be totally different as a result of Healey shall be inaugurated alongside along with her working mate, Lt.Gov. Kim Driscoll, which implies for the primary time the workplaces of governor and lieutenant governor shall be occupied by ladies.
Later Healey and Driscoll will maintain an inaugural celebration at TD Boston Garden to which the general public is invited at $25 a pop. The theme is “Moving the Ball Forward” in recognition of Healey’s basketball background.
It is a theme she used to get elected to 2 phrases as lawyer normal and once more in her 2022 marketing campaign for governor.
But shortly, like Monday morning, Healey will understand that it’s time to give the basketball a relaxation and play the sport of governing.
In a enterprise the place it’s higher to be fortunate than good, Healey has led a charmed political life, topped off with Baker’s determination to not search re-election, after which confronted with a weak Republican opponent.
In addition, she hardly needed to marketing campaign towards Trump conservative Geoff Diehl. And when she did floor, she had the fawning institution media both on her facet or in her again pocket.
Rather than conduct any “deep dive” into her report, coverage or plans the woke and dope media did a stomach flop.
Things shall be totally different now that she is governor largely as a result of, in contrast to her eight years as lawyer normal, Healey shall be working in an open constructing the place it’s troublesome to cover, even in case you are governor.
Healey, for the eight years as lawyer normal, labored out of the closed 21’st flooring within the high-rise McCormack Building, not the State House. This meant that, in contrast to the open State House, she might keep away from the media and are available and go along with no reporters understanding whether or not she was within the workplace or not
State House reporters hardly bought to ask her questions and even see her. She not often held a press convention, was by no means accessible. She by no means visited the State House Press Gallery. She was like a phantom.
The governor can’t do this on the State House as a result of it’s an open constructing. The governor is seen day by day. He parks exterior the State House and takes a public elevator. He is accessible to reporters or to anybody else.
He exits within the hall exterior his workplace the place he’s met each day by reporters. The governor holds press conferences, or overtly roams the corridors on the way in which to hearings or conferences with House Speaker Ron Mariano or Senate President Karen Spilka. Healey has finished none of that,
For years she has been pushed to the underground storage on the McCormack Building and whisked as much as her workplace—and leaving the identical method—with out encountering anybody.
Healey has been essentially the most guarded of political folks in Massachusetts.
For years she was additionally capable of run the state’s highest regulation workplace as if it was a non-public regulation agency and she or he was a non-public individual.
It labored then. But it gained’t work now.
Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”