As gov chills, Gonzalez attacks
Gov. Charlie Baker didn’t “take the bait” as challenger Jay Gonzalez continued to slam the popular incumbent in his talking points during the final hours before Election Day.
“The biggest thing we’ve tried to do is to not take the bait and I’ve had many people in the media tell us that we are the most boring administration they have ever covered, and frankly, we’re OK with that,” Baker said yesterday. “In the end, you never know where your next coalition is coming from.”
Baker, who has been ranked the nation’s most popular governor and has earned support from both sides of the aisle, said one of the biggest challenges in public life is to focus on common ground rather than getting sucked into party politics.
“There’s a lot of common ground there, even among people who don’t agree about everything, and I think people miss their opportunities when they don’t think about it that way,” Baker said.
He pointed to his track record over the past four years, creating a “bipartisan
approach” to governing. Baker has earned endorsements from Democrats, Independents and Republicans, including five Democratic legislators and 21 mayors. Organizations that generally support the Democratic ticket have remained neutral in the race, including Planned Parenthood, the Service Employees International Union and the Environmental League of Massachusetts.
Gonzalez, on the other hand, continued on the offensive, calling Baker a “status quo governor.”
“We should expect more from our governor than just being nice and not being a crazy right-wing extremist,” Gonzalez said yesterday. “We’ve got a lot of big issues we need to take on that are holding working families back across the state.”
Gonzalez has proposed a millionaires tax, which wouldn’t go into effect until after the end of his first term, and a $1 billion dollar a year endowment tax to pay for upgraded and expanded transportation and education.
“I’m going to take these issues on,” Gonzalez said. “I’m feeling really good. We’re getting a very positive response out there as I’ve been out and about all over the state and I think were going to surprise a lot of people tomorrow.”