BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Democrats are hoping to take a notch out of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s sky-high popularity numbers by lashing him to Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
In a series of tweets and in an online petition, the Massachusetts Democratic Party has called on Baker to denounce a string of top Trump advisers and Cabinet picks.
“Most cabinet picks have been selected - @CharlieBakerMA it’s time to end “wait and see” approach and #SpeakUpCharlie,” the party tweeted Friday.
Specifically, Democrats have faulted Baker for not denouncing Trump’s choices for White House senior adviser (Steve Bannon), Environmental Protection Agency director (Scott Pruitt), education secretary (Betsy DeVos), labor secretary (Andy Puzder), treasury secretary (Steven Mnuchin), attorney general (Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions) and secretary of state (Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson).
The strategy is tricky partly because of Baker’s very public break from the GOP president-elect early in the campaign, when he said he’d never vote for the New York businessman.
“I have some concerns about Mr. Trump’s temperament and some of the things he has said about women and about Muslims and about religious freedom that I just can’t support,” Baker said in May.
Since Trump’s win, Baker has taken a more cautious approach.
“There’s way too much prejudging going on here,” Baker told reporters after the election.
Newly elected state Democratic Party Chairman Gus Bickford said that’s not enough. He has criticized Baker for adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude, noting that many of Trump’s top picks have track records that should raise red flags.
“It doesn’t matter if he didn’t vote for Trump. He is our chief executive. He needs to stand up for the state and be our chief advocate,” Bickford said. “The Republican Party is in a tough position because they have to defend this president whether they voted for him or not.”
Massachusetts Republicans say the criticism is a political ploy.
MassGOP Chairman Kirsten Hughes said Baker has been delivering on his campaign promises, including cleaning up what she called the mess left by Democrats on Beacon Hill.
“It is no surprise that Baker’s opponents are launching desperate attacks to draw attention away from his continued success,” she said.
It’s not just Bickford who has found Baker’s lack of outrage lacking.
Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey also faulted Baker for not speaking up more forcefully.
“It’s concerning to see the governor, who sat out this election, take a wait-and-see approach on something like Steve Bannon,” Healey tweeted in November.
Bannon previously headed the Breitbart website that appealed to the so-called “alt-right” - a movement often associated with far right efforts to preserve “white identity,” oppose multiculturalism and defend “Western values.”
Peter Ubertaccio, director of the Martin Institute for Law & Society at Stonehill College, said the Democratic tweets are aimed more at keeping the party faithful engaged rather than stirring up outrage in the general public.
“I don’t think asking any governor to take a stand against this or that Cabinet secretary resonates at all with the average voter,” Ubertaccio said.
Democrats have a tough road ahead if they hope to retake the governor’s office in 2018. Baker has avoided any major gaffes during his first two years, and polls have shown him among the most popular governors in the country.
But a Republican is never a shoo-in in a state that gave Democrat Hillary Clinton one of her most lopsided wins, with a 27 percentage point victory over Trump.
Bickford says he’s confident Democrats will have solid gubernatorial contenders in 2018.
“I think we will have a very strong field,” he said.
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