Why Baker may be ‘America’s best politician’
From the Department of Astonishing Numbers:
Republican* Charlie Baker is more popular in deep-blue Massachusetts than right-wing Republican Kay Ivey is in deep-red Alabama.
Or Greg Abbott in Texas, Henry McMaster in South Carolina or any other non-asterisk Republican in every other much-morered-than-Massachusetts state. His 69-17 percent approval in the new Morning Consult poll is more proof that, pound for pound, Charlie Baker is the best politician in America today — period.
And he’s facing some stiff competition for that title … though not here in Massachusetts. Jay Gonzalez is the sacrificial lamb Democrats have sent out to get slaughtered. Charlie Baker is the Harlem Globetrotters and Jay Gonzalez is the Washington Generals. He’s only there because Charlie has to have someone to beat.
No, Baker’s competition for best American pol comes from Maryland and New Hampshire, where Republican governors are also flying high in politically unfriendly skies.
Larry Hogan is the Republican governor of Maryland; a state Hillary Clinton won by 26 points and hasn’t backed a Republican president since 1988.
North of the border in New Hampshire, Chris Sununu ranks fourth in the Morning Consult governor rankings, with a 61-22 percent rating. To some, being a popular Republican governor in New Hampshire may not sound like a big deal. Hey, it’s “purple,” right?
Is it? The last Republican governor in New Hampshire was one-termer Craig Benson elected back in 2002. All four members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation are Democrats, and while it was close, Hillary Clinton still won in 2016. In fact, Democrats carried New Hampshire in six of the last seven elections.
And then there’s the “Trump” issue. The same Morning Consult poll found Trump underwater in the Granite State by 17 percent — a 40-57 percent (dis)approval rating. And yet Sununu is +39 percent.
Which brings us back to the miracle that is Charlie Baker’s political success as a Republican* in a state where the head of his party is underwater by a gasp-inducing 27 percent, 35-62 percent. Where the media is dominated by pro-Democratic voices. And where failure to practice public liberalism is viewed as an antisocial crime.
How does Charlie Baker operate in this environment and remain — not just popular — but the most popular governor in the country? Simple: by sticking with politics and avoiding leadership.
Baker’s approach is fundamentally the same one Bill Clinton took: Why lead when you can follow? When Clinton was first elected, he was all “Hillary Care” and tax hikes. Two years later, the GOP won the House for the first time in 40 years and Bill immediately flipped to “The era of big government is over.”
He didn’t care. Clinton didn’t want to lead America. He wanted to be loved by it. As a result, Clinton was perhaps the most popular and unaccomplished president in American history.
I’m not suggesting Baker has any of the psychological neediness of Bill Clinton. I have no idea why Baker wants to be governor. Maybe he’s a born public servant, maybe he just likes the job.
And who knows where Baker could lead a state that had more partisan pliability, one where free-market ideas could get a fair hearing and knee-jerk liberalism wasn’t a non-negotiable demand. Charlie Baker might be an amazing leader. I don’t know.
What I do know is that he doesn’t live in such a place, and he’s a good enough politician to adjust accordingly. His critics complain that he doesn’t do any heavy political lifting, because they know that if he tried to push even an ounce of actual conservatism into the bloodstream of the commonwealth, he’d be done. Charlie Baker is much smarter than that.
Charlie Baker, G.O.A.T.