Charles Baker Sets New LOW for Campaign Ethics
Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker has gone over the edge. Rather than attacking incumbent governor Deval Patrick on his record, Charles Baker pulled a number out of a hat and claimed Patrick could raise the income tax from 5.3 to 7 percent. Patrick has never announced such a proposal.
According to the Boston Herald story,
During a press conference at Fenway Park [map], Baker said he felt comfortable with his conclusion, which he printed on a poster that was used as a prop, because of Patrick’s record of passing tax increases and the lack of specific plans from Patrick to solve next year’s $2 billion projected budget gap.
Here’s what Baker has done in my household: I have been weighing the merits of voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, whose politics are much closer to mine than Deval Patrick’s, or voting for Patrick, the Democrat, because he could win and would be far better than his two other rivals. Patrick has been a decent, but uninspiring and sometimes clumsy governor. Baker not only has views I find icky, but this latest faux pas has me questioning his core ethics (and where is the outrage from Fox News, dare I ask?) Cahill, the independent candidate, has made a series of remarks that make me extremely uncomfortable, including some that I and many others interpret as bigoted.
Thus, between hearing a recent Patrick speech and finding myself agreeing with almost everything he said, and my deep concerns about living under either a Baker or Cahill administration, I will be marking my ballot Tuesday for Democratic governor Deval Patrick. Charles Baker can take at least some of the credit for my vote.
A lifelong activist, profitability and marketing specialist Shel Horowitz’s mission is to fix crises like hunger, poverty, racism, war, and catastrophic climate change—by showing the business world how fixing them can make a profit. An author, international speaker, and TEDx Talker, his award-winning 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, lays out a blueprint for creating and MARKETING those profitable change-making products and services. He is happy to help you craft your messaging and develop profit strategies. Learn more (and download excerpts from the book) at http://goingbeyondsustainability.com
Shel, I have found Baker’s campaign dishonest from start to finish. He repeatedly blames the high unemployment rate in MA on Patrick, ignoring the Great Recession brought on by his fellow Republican George Bush and Wall Street. He takes great credit for turning around Harvard Pilgrim when all he did was raise rates and cut staff, two things anybody could have done. At no time have I heard him point out one major change to cure the underlying reasons of why health care costs are spiraling out of control.
Here’s the odd thing. I happened to spend two days with a small group of CEOs called together by one of my clients in the wake of 9/11. Charlie Baker was one of the people who came. At the end of two days, I thought he was one of the most thoughtful and pleasant people I’d met in a long while. I keep wondering where that guy went and where the mean-spirited, angry and truth-bending Charlie we’ve seen on the campaign trail came from.
Yes, it does seem that politics often turns good people into not-so-great. The level of vitriol in the political sphere lately is simply appalling. And meanwhile, the Dems seem powerless as usual, and the GOP is finding new depths of mean.