#82 - The Good Republican

Just like our bodies have good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, our country has good Republican leaders and bad Republican leaders.  It’s easy to forget I know, with opportunistic, selfish dweebs such as Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan at the helm, but the truth is there are good Republicans out there, there really are.  You just have to be open minded and have a real desire to look for them.

I am proud to say, we actually have a record of growing, good, well-intentioned ones right here in the liberal bastion of democratic, true - blue Massachusetts. Surprised?

The fact is the last five out of the six Massachusetts governors have been Republican starting with Bill Weld (before he had his second or third mid-life crisis and became a Libertarian) Paul Cellucci, Jane Swift, Mitt Romney (yes, an early architect of Obamacare), followed by Democrat Deval Patrick, and now our current governor, Charlie Baker.

Some of you may flinch at the name of Romney, who we all know ran against Barack Obama in his second term, and while he somehow found it politically expedient to forget his Romneycare roots in Massachusetts to dis the federal counterpart, you cannot deny that he has been successful businessman who truly made it in his own ...with no help from Daddy, and more importantly,  no matter what you think of his politics, he has always, always been viewed as a kind a decent man. Perhaps these latter qualities stem from his strong Mormon upbringing, I don’t know, but if you have any doubts about the man, just ask yourself honestly, how he compares to the current bozo taking up space in the Oval Office.

How do you feel now? Right, I rest my case. 

But I really want to talk about our current governor, Charles Baker who just completed the third year of his first term.  For his first two years in office, I didn’t pay that much attention to Charlie. He had this reputation of being a dull and boring guy, and he didn’t get a lot of headlines,  but he was getting things done. Maybe it’s because I am far down the dull and boring spectrum myself or maybe it’s because dull and boring was the perfect antidote to Donald J. Trump and his surprising Presidential election victory, but whatever the cause,  I started paying more attention to Charlie.

And two days before Trump would be inaugurated; Charlie rewarded my hopeful curiosity when he delivered his State of the State address. Charlie was on fire that night and it was a love fest with the predominantly Democratic Legislature ( I think the Democrats hold somewhere between 105% - 110% of all the seats in the state) who were clapping and hollering, and hollering and clapping.  You would have thought Tom Brady himself was at the podium showing off all of his (there are too many to count) Super Bowl rings.

Charlie went on to deliver the good news of the day.   Massachusetts has the lowest unemployment rate of all time - 3.7%, Our schools were number one in country for the sixth year in row.  We stole General Electric right out from under the nose of the state of Connecticut.  Bloomberg Business rated us the most innovative state in country for the second year.   The MBTA ran on time a couple of times last week.  It when on and on, and each time Charlie would get met with a standing "O".....from the Democrats!   The Democrats!

Holy Ravioli Batman, what planet is this?

And as he spoke, he actually paused to thank everyone for working together and he complimented Democrats by name, by name!   But the real beauty was in his closing where he pointedly addressed the divisiveness in our country. 

“I want to thank you, the (Democratic) legislature, for your goodwill.  This may seem like a small thing.  But it’s not. Too much of what passes for political dialogue these days isn’t dialogue at all.  It’s talking points. Character assassination. And deliberate misrepresentation. Wedge issues may be great for making headlines, but they do not move this Commonwealth forward.  Success is measured by what we accomplish together.  Our obligation to the people we serve is too important to place politics and partisanship before progress and results.”

In the Age of Trump, it was a magical night.

And I just wanted to run out into the street and hug someone.

Fast forward to this past week, where Charlie delivered his final State of the State address ….of his first term anyway,

You knew at the start that this would be as anti- Trump as you could get, without ever mentioning his name, when the invocation was conducted by a local iman who quoted the Koran and the pledge of allegiance was recited in English and Spanish by two Puerto Rican students.  The melting pot of America was on display and being quietly showcased by a sitting Republican governor!

Charlie began his speech reviewing the accomplishments in the Commonwealth over the last year alongside the Democratic legislature, and here is the kicker -  the majority of which dealt with helping those most in need. They included:

o fewer opioid overdose deaths and opioid prescriptions

o a huge reduction in the number of homeless families living in motels at state expense, from 1,500 in January 2015 to 56

o lower caseloads for the state social workers charged with protecting abused and neglected children.

o sweeping changes at the state prison for men with mental illness, replacing almost all the guards with a specially trained security force.

o his defense of the state’s universal health care (Romneycare!) law

o. his opposition to his party’s effort to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act.

o and he highlighted a law he signed in November that mandates free access to contraceptives for many Massachusetts women, an initiative sparked by Trump’s own efforts to roll back coverage.

You can’t believe this guy is a Republican, you say? I know, I know, but wait, it gets better!

His speech then went in to discuss his proposed new initiatives including:

o $83 million in new funding to bolster community-based services for adults with serious mental illness

 o an additional $2 million to help plan for climate change

 o an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit, which helps the working poor and could benefit about 450,000 residents.

o a drive for the creation of 135,000 new affordable homes in Massachusetts by 2025.
 o a desire  to pass his wide-ranging opioid bill that follows the one passed by the Legislature and signed by Baker in 2016

There was little mention of how well businesses were doing in Massachusetts. Perhaps because they are doing fine on their own. Instead the humanity of Republican Charlie Baker, a dull and boring pragmatist was on display and they weren’t just empty words, they were identifiable actions.

Except for the small number of lesser known Democrats who plan to run against Charlie in November (and who will lose), the reviews were once again, all positive.

Acting Senate President Harriette L. Chandler, a Worcester Democrat, said, “There is no partisanship when we get things done.’’  Echoing that sentiment, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat added. “He talked about what we were able to do together, unlike many other states where we see partisanship getting involved,’’

A recent survey by WBUR found 74 percent of voters approved of the job Republican Charlie Baker was doing as governor, as governor in liberal, left leaning, Massachusetts.  No doubt they all agreed with Charlie’s as he closed out his speech and said:

 “We live in a great state filled with creative, community-minded, hard-working, and decent people.  And what they want from us is opportunity, possibility, and hope. Not noise. Not name-calling. And not finger-pointing. They want progress on the things that help them help themselves.’’

All in all, It was a gentle reminder, at least to those in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who took the time from their busy lives to stop and listen, that there still are really good people out there, who actually care about others and who actually know how to govern, know how to compromise, and know how to put people over politics.  And despite what you might think, some of them are actually Republican. 

I already knew what to expect from Charlie this year, so there was no particular surprise for me in his speech on this day.  Still at the end, I was blubbering like a baby, and the honest-to-gosh truth was … he had me at hello.