Exposing Charlie Baker's con

BerkshireEagle:

A lot of people admire our governor, the impeccable Charlie Baker. After all, he has boyish good looks, smiles a lot, and talks softly. As such many regard him as a moderating force, the "grown-up in the room." Of course, that's what they thought of another Bostonian — Trump's chief of staff General John Kelly — until the general opened his mouth and proved he's just another right-wing ideologue like his boss.

Clearly, Charlie's smarter than the general, but are his record-high approval ratings deserved? Have they enabled him to push a vision for Massachusetts? As former gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem remarked, Charlie should "do something with [those ratings] other than `getting to no' on everything from raising revenue to investments in infrastructure to competing with 49 other states."

So what's going on? High ratings, but few accomplishments, and clearly no vision. Isn't it time we compared Charlie's actions with his well-crafted "moderate" image to see whether it's all just a con? Remember, he came to government in 1991 as a highly touted manager from the conservative Pioneer Institute. So, to paraphrase John Mitchell, Nixon's attorney general: "Look at what he does, not what he says."

Let's start with Charlie's exalted reputation as a manager.

There's more. Go read it.