Governor’s take on our troubled politics is close but not spot-on
In Emma Platoff’s article “Baker vows to stump for GOP moderates” (Page A1, Feb. 18), the outgoing governor bemoans, “The fact that we’re at a point in time where so many people aren’t listening to anybody other than their own voice — it’s incredibly distressing to me.” The key problem, however, is that “so many people” in the GOP listen only to Donald Trump.
As Charlie Baker knows, reasonable members of the Republican Party and most Democrats listen to lots of people. That is why the Democrats sometimes appear not to be united about anything. Reasonable Republicans and most Democrats recognize complex problems and work toward consensus to help solve those problems. That process leads to better government, even if each of us does not get everything we might like.
Chris Popov
Concord
So, where are all those moderates Baker could back?
Charlie Baker is a true moderate, which is why I, as a lifelong Democrat, have found him to be a deserving governor, and he has earned my vote. That being said‚ after he announced he would stump for GOP moderates, I had to ask: Who and where are they, governor?
On the national stage, we have Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, so-called moderate Republicans in the Senate, except when it comes time to vote, when they tend to toe the party line. Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret sit on the Supreme Court, thanks to GOP lockstep.
Republican Geoff Diehl, a candidate to succeed Baker, isn’t a moderate (an understatement). But Democrat Maura Healey would make a good governor. Baker should stump for her, and the Commonwealth would still be in good moderate hands.
Saul P. Heller
Peabody