A Night to Shine for Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker came to Plymouth last night and was well-received by a large crowd of supporters, lead by host, Vinny deMacedo. Also in attendance was Charlie's running mate, Richard Tisei, Congressional candidate, Jeff Perry, incumbent Plymouth County Sherrif, Joe McDonald and a host of elected officials representing local government. It's been a while since we have heard Charlie in person, and we all came away with the recognition that Charlie is hitting his stride as a speaker. he has, of course, always had a well-reasoned platform supporting his candidacy, but now we are hearing the emotion and conviction, which underlines the rhetoric. It was exciting to hear him and he brought the crowd to its feet several times. And while there were no reports of leg tingles, ala Chris Matthews, Baker's message came across loud and clear.

Three main points have consistently been the main support for Charlie's strategies: Spending, taxes and jobs, as well a clear recognition that our government has lost sight of the equity due to those who pay the bills, the taxpayers. Another Baker axiom is "time is not our friend", when it comes to solving the state's problems, and a tight focus on each issue in turn is more effective than a sense of universal concern.

What voters are now understanding is that in order for state government to be effective, it must first put its fiscal house in order and create a business climate that will support the growth of jobs and opportunity. To make this happen, we need leaders with a clear sense of priorities as well as the experience and skills to craft a lasting recovery. The incumbent governor, Baker pointed out, has over forty union endorsements. The very thing that has hindered his efforts over the past four years, has been his need to satisfy his debt to these groups, at the expense of developing long range solutions. Let there be no doubt, Charlie baker and his team know how to turn this around.

While it is tempting to crow about a Republican re-emergence, it is more interesting to note that support for these ideas is coming from all across the political spectrum. Republicans, conservatives, Libertarians, Independents and even many Democrats are realizing that the tax and spend strategies are digging us a hole that future generations will have to deal with.

The election is five weeks from today. Get involved, get active and let's make it happen on November 2nd.