I voted for Charlie Baker in 2010, but decided to vote for Martha Coakley this year. After bearing witness to the extremism and excesses of Republican governors in other states over the last four years, I figured that the risks of Baker behaving in a similar fashion were just too great.
I would love to be proved wrong about Baker (“Now, Baker must deliver on his reformist vision,” Editorial, Nov. 6). If he can revive the sort of non-reactionary New England Republicanism that the Bay State’s previous GOP governor, Mitt Romney, destroyed, Baker will be remembered as a political miracle worker.
It will be interesting to see whether he demonstrates the leadership on environmental issues that defined the New England Republicans of yore. Matthew Nisbet, an associate professor at Northeastern University, noted that during his campaign, Baker embraced a pragmatic vision on the issue of human-caused climate change. If he holds fast to that vision, and continues the Commonwealth’s commitment to a clean-energy future, he could create a Republican Party that blue-state voters could support instead of scorn.
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