As Gov. Baker prepares to give remarks to the Log Cabin Republicans tonight, it is worth remembering that just last month, Baker raised money for Jim Lyons, one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ members of the legislature who opposes equal marriage and transgender protections.
I’m sure Baker will say nice-sounding things about LGBTQ+ rights at the Log Cabin Republicans tonight — but he also chose as his Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, one of the leading voices in the legislature against equal marriage.
By endorsing Donald Trump’s campaign co-chairman Geoff Diehl for US Senate, Baker is saying that he thinks that we should replace U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren with a reliable vote for Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda in Washington.
Massachusetts deserves Jay Gonzalez, a governor who will fight for LGBTQ+ rights ALL the time, as a matter of principle, rather than a governor who gives nice speeches and then turns around to appoint, endorse, and raise money for people who want to take us backwards.
Quentin Palfrey is the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, running with Jay Gonzalez.
Please share widely!
“”Charlie Baker shows phony leadership when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality and instead of deserving a second term in the Corner Office he should be shown the door.” Jeremy Comeau, Bay State Stonewall Democrats co-chair. Boston Herald 5/9/18
How’d this line of attack work four years ago? Politio reversed course and even performed a same sex marriage. She had the same position in 2006 that Hillary Clinton had at the same time. Weak sauce.
As are these other affiliations. Most voters do not know or care to know who Jim Lyons or Geoff Diehl are. There is no way the latter becomes a US Senator or the former resonates anywhere beyond his Andover district.
What voters do care about is the collapsing T, inequitable schools, and a local economy that benefits the wealthy few and not the ordinary many. Focus on those issues and find a way to get other state level Democrats in safe re-elections to give their time and money to this effort to get the attention your ticket deserves.
Otherwise your goose is cooked. In so many ways that reality is the fault of the media, the legislature, and the state party, but focusing on the wrong issues cost Coakley a winnable race. Do not make the same mistake.
I enthusiastically agree with everything except the reference to Ms. Coakley.
I would invert the order:
1. Wealth concentration
2. Inequitable school funding (as a special case of local aid)
3. Public transportation
I think a fourth is important:
4. Protecting Massachusetts residents from an out-of-control ICE
I think an overwhelming majority of Massachusetts voters believe that the battle about LGBTQ+ rights is already won. They may be mistaken, but that is not a perception that any campaign will change in the next few weeks.
Yes! I think a lot of Baker’s soft support from registered Democrats comes from the perception that he’s the “nice Republican” while Trump is a “mean Republican”. Baker sometimes even criticizes Trump for being mean!
Yet the reality of the matter is they have identical policies toward immigrants. The refugee decision was appalling amoral and betrays the values this Commonwealth was founded upon. So do family separations and deportations-tools Baker is enthusiastic to use as he surrenders state sovereignty over law enforcement to the very same Trump administration he *occasionally* chastises for “being mean”.
“Why would you vote for Charlie Baker again?
When Gov. Baker’s supporters are asked this question, the universal answer is that he seems like a nice guy.
Merriam-Webster defines “nice” as pleasing, agreeable. It’s precisely this meaning that contradicts the nature of the Baker administration to date. I do not consider the policies , inactions or hypocrisy of this governor to be nice, pleasing or agreeable. In fact, I think Charlie Baker redefines the term “ice cold.” ” Michael Lake Boston Herald 5/9/18
Mike Lake continues : “It is cold, not nice, to cold-heartedly cut $1.9 million in funding for critical support services that could have saved the lives of people suffering from addiction.
It is cold, not nice, to heartlessly take away medical services from 140,000 people.
It is cold, not nice, to illegally deny children shelter, forcing them to sleep in emergency rooms.
Gov. Baker lacks a record of leadership and positive impact to merit re-election. Those who define Baker as a “nice guy” should reconsider their definition of “nice.” Until then, there is one consolation in the old saying that “nice guys finish last” because last is exactly where Baker deserves to finish on election night.”
It’s not just a “line of attack”.
For some of us, it’s called life. Some of us do not have the luxury of picking and choosing our issues. I, for one, pay very close attention when someone who is supposedly so ‘reasonable’, ‘affable’ and ‘civilized’ supports a senate candidate who co-chaired the presidential campaign of someone who ridicules civil and human rights, is one of the biggest frauds in the history of American politics, and who is doing everything in his power to destroy domestic and international democratic traditions.
Do I think it will matter to Massachusetts voters that he supports the senatorial campaign of a campaign official of this mendacious master of today’s morass of amorality and malevolence, who admires dictators and ridicules the key entities in the world that defend human rights, putting vulnerable and historically unpopular and threatened racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities at real risk of history’s human rights disasters recurring if it is put before them effectively? Do I think people are capable of understanding what it means to be on the team of bigots, if these arguments are made aggressively and he is not permitted to hide from these ties?
YES, I DO.
It’s not ‘either or’. The topic of Quentin Palfrey’s post is civil rights. I think Terry – in his questionable grammar – is trying to say : “Please don’t tell me not to talk about civil rights.”
I agree that my syntax was tortured. But it was enjoyable writing it in any case.
My point, though, is really a plea:
I hope that we can honor Quentin Palfrey’s point, rather than slapping him down with false dichotomies that play into the Know-Nothings’ hands.
Let’s offer meat and potatoes AND defend vulnerable minorities. We can do both.
(In fact we must.)
Sure but what do we lead with? Especially if the candidates will be lucky to afford a single ad buy. What’s the issue to lead with at the debates? The only time the media will bother covering this race.
It’ll be a lot harder to paint Baker as an anti-LGBTQ bigot when his brother is gay, he signed the transgender equality bill, and is not nearly as bad as Republicans in every other state of the union, Congress, or the White House.
He is just as bad as those folks are on immigration, on climate, and on favoring the wealthy instead of the few. Campaigns are won or lost by choosing what to emphasize. I do not doubt Gonzalez-Palfrey would do a better job on LGBTQ issues than Baker-Polito. I do doubt it’s the issue that will convince people to vote for them.
We should not cede ANY issue on our progressive Democratic agenda to the Republicans – especially justice and equality for ALL.
We should definitely spend our energy on electing a Democratic Governor for a multitude of reasons. I’m a both/and kind of guy. I wont begrudge LGBTQA Democrats from hitting Baker on his soft spots on a civil rights issue. I also think we have to make sure Yes on 3 passes-and that will be a fight.
My point for the LG candidate specifically was that focusing on social issues where the candidates are *largely* in agreement to the exclusion of the economic, racial, and climate justice issues where they are wide differences is not a winning strategy. I think emphasizing those issues is just as important and has been getting short shrift from the media and the state party.