BAKER OUT OF THE RACE ... FOR PREZ
Gov makes one thing clear; still on the fence, but raising money on Cape
Gov. Charlie Baker continued to play coy with his intentions for for a third term during a swanky private fundraiser at a Mashpee estate complete with mini horses in attendance, but said definitively that a presidential bid is off the table.
“That president thing?” Baker asked, addressing a crowd of about 100 at public relations executive George Regan’s home on Thursday. “That will not be happening.”
Former Boston Police Commissioner William Gross floated the idea during his introduction for the governor, saying Baker is “truly, truly, truly a model to be followed.”
Addressing supporters at the $500- to $1,000-a-head soiree, Baker shared war stories from the height of the pandemic including a play-by-play of the first time the New England Patriots sent its team plane to China to load up on much-needed KN95 masks as supplies ran out for Massachusetts medical workers
and first responders.
“It was a miracle,” the
governor said, describing how the plane routed from
T.F. Green in Rhode Island to China and home through
Alaska to evade federal authorities that had already “stolen” 3 million masks headed to the Bay State.
It was a feat the Patriots and the Baker administration and would repeat eight times, Baker revealed for the first time.
The popular Republican governor shrugged off one heckler who shouted “one more term” as he wrapped up his speech.
Baker said nearly two months ago in July that he’d make a decision about reelection “soon.” Sources close to the governor say he’s still mulling the decision.
The fundraiser is Baker’s second since his campaign suspended fundraising for much of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to anemic donation hauls that have left many questioning if a third term is on the table at all for the 64-year-old Baker.
Other than miniature horses Snowflake and Boo from Cranberry Sunset Horse Farm, the guest list included a bipartisan list of big-name politicians, including former Democratic
Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, typical of the moderate governor’s broad appeal.
It’s Baker’s embrace of Democrats that prompted conservative group United Cape Patriots founder Adam Lange to organize a small crowd in support of former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, the first GOP candidate to declare a bid for governor, on the other side of the wrought-iron fence that separated the gated community where the fundraiser was hosted. Most toted Diehl signs.
“We have issues with the governor. He’s totally divided the Republican Party in our state,” Lange said. “Now, we are Trump Republicans or Baker Republicans. Baker has to go so we can begin the healing process.”
So far just one other Republican candidate has declared a bid for governor, Lowell’s Darius Mitchell.
On the Democrat side, former state Sen. Benjamin Downing, Harvard professor and political adviser Danielle Allen and state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz have declared their candidacies.