Dear liberal America. There are a few things I'd like to say about Gov Charlie Baker, in light of his signing our state's first automatic voter registration bill today and being championed by national media. Am I happy he signed the bill? Yes. However, it's complicated... #mapoli
Over the last two years, Charlie Baker has been characterized as a "reasonable, moderate, bipartisan Republican" who often stands up to Trump. The adjectives are debatable. However, when it comes to the "standing up to Trump" part, nothing could be further from the truth #mapoli
When Trump accused Massachusetts of sending busloads of voters into New Hampshire during the election — when he accused our state of being complicit in an InfoWars-esque voter fraud conspiracy — Baker's response was, "I don't know much about what goes on in New Hampshire" #mapoli
When ICE began rounding up immigrants in MA towns such as Lawrence — including longtime residents who were in the middle of applying for green cards — Gov Baker did nothing to help. He also ignored a bill called the #SafeCommunitiesAct that would have protected immigrants #mapoli
When Massachusetts activists and lawmakers rallied for a progressive income tax reform that would have raised taxes on those making over $1 million annually, Baker criticized the bill and rallied against it. The new revenue would have supported public schools and transit. #mapoli
When Trump and the GOP passed a plutocratic tax reform package — a wealth transfer that disproportionately punished blue states like Massachusetts — Baker was silent. Not a single idea about how MA could reclaim some of its money from the coffers of guys like Wilbur Ross #mapoli
Also, when Trump and the GOP killed #NetNeutrality and a handful of governrors began looking at ways to create local net neutrality laws for consumers, the most Baker could do was mumble something about "talking a little bit" with the bolder, braver governor of Montana. #mapoli
I think you get the idea here. Charlie Baker has been given ample opportunity to stand up to Trump and advocate for constituents whose livelihoods (and in some cases, lives) are threatened by what's coming from Washington. Time and again, Baker does the bare minimum. #mapoli
And yet, because Baker *does* compromise with liberals often — which is pretty much a requirement of being governor here in Massachusetts — he gets rapturously applauded for it. This is Trump relativism. Baker comes out smelling like a beautiful bipartisan rose each time. #mapoli
Look, I get it. The Republican Party has become an extremist organization and people want to believe that relative moderates like Baker are heroes we can believe in. Baker is the embodiment of nostalgia for the days when civil bipartisanship was a hallmark of US politics. #mapoli
However, the real situation on the ground here in MA is that Charlie Baker is not moving us forward. There's a lot of grassroots energy in MA for surging left, politically, but that's not going to happen as long as Baker and his lackeys in the legislature hold onto power. #mapoli
Right now, there are two qualified Democrats challenging Baker. Either of them would make a better, bolder, morally courageous governor. And yet, I fear that Baker may have just won re-election by signing the automatic voter registration bill and once again looking heroic #mapoli
Signing this bill was not a brave thing for Baker to do. It sailed through the MA Senate and House with strong bipartisan support. It polled well among local voters. And yet, it sat on Baker's desk *for nearly 10 days* before he finally signed it at the eleventh hour. #mapoli
So it's a little bit confounding and depressing for liberal Massholes like me to see Charlie Baker paraded around as the most courageous governor in America *for doing something that thousands of people in Massachusetts were literally calling his office begging him to do* #mapoli
Please understand that with every new iteration of the Baker lovefest, it becomes even harder for us to replace him with a better governor who *will* stand up to Trump and protect vulnerable Massachusetts residents from the cruelty of the current administration. #mapoli
I mean, Baker wouldn't even go to the goddamn Women's March #mapoli
As a voter, an activist, and a writer covering progressive politics, I've spent the last two years looking at the disconnect between who people think Charlie Baker is, and what kind of governor he actually is. This man is no #Resistance hero. He is a coward and a fraud. #mapli
In closing, here's something I wrote about Baker last November. It remains as relevant now as it was back then. Even after yesterday's AVR bill signing #mapoli wbur.org/cognoscenti/20…
