Finally hitting paydirt in race for governor
AG money move looks like ticket to The Game
The Game is on. Not the Patriots and Falcons. We’re talking 2018: Baker vs. Healey.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is already gearing up his re-election campaign and it’s looking more and more like his Democratic opponent will be Attorney General Maura Healey.
Healey says she’s not running for governor but all the signs say yes. Look at what she’s doing, not what she’s saying.
Raising lots of money. Churning out legal challenges to President Trump. And now the clearest sign she’s running: Healey finally announced, after a lengthy delay, that she won’t keep a nearly $45,000 pay hike approved by the Legislature this week.
That’s because she knows the issue will be front and center in Baker’s re-election playbook.
Baker should thank God every day for the Democratic-controlled Legislature. By hastily shoving the $18 million pay hike down the throats of taxpayers, greedy lawmakers once again showed why Massachusetts needs a Republican governor.
Baker’s veto was overridden but that’s even better for him. He can now say he valiantly fought against the Democrats’ excess but couldn’t overcome the oneparty rule in the Legislature. A perfect argument to try and elect more Republican legislators.
It must have been agonizing for Healey to decline a 25 percent pay boost, but she can afford it. She still makes $130,000 and her partner, an appeals court judge, is in line for a $25,000 boost in pay thanks to the Legislature.
And the political price of accepting the raise is just too high. It got approved with the usual thoughtfulness and public input we’ve come to expect on Beacon Hill — which is to say zero. Most bills take months if not years to even earn a vote; this one magically surfaced and slid through in about a week. Lawmakers waited until right after they got elected, and while the nation was riveted on Trump.
But what a gift for Baker. He’s been under siege lately — hammered by liberals for not attending the march for women and not standing up enough to Trump, and hammered by conservatives for being too cozy with the Dems.
Then along come Democratic lawmakers to save the day.
A huge pay raise for themselves. In the middle of a state budget crisis. Perfect. Exactly the kind of thing that got Baker elected and why Democrats are now contributing to his re-election. Even another Democrat who may run against Baker, Newton Mayor Setti Warren, knew enough to oppose the money grab.
The pay hike also proved to be an unwanted diversion for Healey. The attorney general has been on a roll, challenging Trump’s new immigration restrictions, and making political hay out of just about everything else the new president has done.
She’s now positioned to be the Democrats’ best chance to beat Baker, and it will be tough to turn down. Just like that $45,000 raise.