Gov Baker’s Appeal Shines Brightly

Winthrop has been a solidly-Democratic town for the past 50 years (we would note that up until the mid-century, Winthrop was a staunchly Republican community — Winthrop voted in favor of all four of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s GOP opponents in the Presidential campaigns from 1932-1944), but there is no doubt that Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, will do very well here and in every city and town across the state in the upcoming gubernatorial election in 2018.

Charlie Baker carried Winthrop by 500 votes in 2014 (3,325-2,825 over Democrat Martha Coakley) and figures to do even better in 2018 for a simple reason: Gov. Baker exudes a degree of genuineness that is in all-too-short-supply on the political scene these days.

The governor’s brief remarks at Friday’s presentation of a check to town officials for $2.38 million from the MassWorks program highlighted his unique style of governance and statesmanship: A down-to-earth manner that belies a sharp, business-oriented acumen, blended with a spirit of bipartisanship, that has characterized his administration from its outset.

After discussing the goals of the MassWorks program and how it will impact Winthrop, the governor spoke of how he worked with the Democrats in the legislature, and Speaker Bob DeLeo in particular, to enhance the MassWorks program so that it will bring much-needed economic revitalization and development to cities and town across the Commonwealth.

The governor then went on to mention that he developed a “fondness for Winthrop and the great people here” while he was a parent-spectator at Winthrop-Swampscott athletic events (his children played for Big Blue sports teams) and while often dining at restaurants in Winthrop.

He noted that the Winthrop High teams always exemplified the highest ideals of sportsmanship and athletic competition, and then mentioned a personal anecdote of how his elderly parents once were assisted to their seats at a crowded game by an anonymous Winthrop student — an act of kindness that the governor said exemplified the people of our community that he never has forgotten.

And then, when Winthrop Hall of Fame basketball player Chris Tsiotis came over to shake the governor’s hand, the governor instantly said, “Hey, you were one of the Winthrop parents I got to know at our daughters’ games!”

It’s that kind of personal touch that Charlie Baker brings wherever he goes. It’s the sort of sincerity that voters of all political stripes are craving to find in their leaders these days — and it’s why Charlie Baker will be a runaway favorite for reelection in 2018.