A Great State of the State

Gov. Charlie Baker’s impressive and commanding State of the State address to the state legislature Tuesday evening truly was one of the most powerful such speeches in recent memory.

Gov. Baker listed a host of accomplishments of his administration, most notably the progress in combating the opioid addiction crisis and reducing homelessness across the state.

However, as is his style, Gov. Baker, a Republican, was quick to point out that these accomplishments were achieved through bipartisan cooperation with the overwhelmingly-Democratic state legislature .

“We live in a great state filled with creative, community-minded, hard-working, and decent people,” the governor said, “and what they want from us is opportunity, possibility, and hope. Not noise. Not name-calling. And not finger-pointing. They want progress on the things that help them help themselves.”

There is a reason that Gov. Baker, who won election in 2014 by the smallest margin in the state in 50 years, now rates as the most popular governor in the country: Gov. Baker’s decency, compassion, and dedication to our Commonwealth and its people is readily-apparent and second-to-none.

In short, we have a governor who wants to do the right thing for all of our people; who sees his mission as a uniter; and who is proud of his practical-minded approach to solving our problems.

Gov. Baker has set the standard for elected officials not only in our state, but at the national level as well — and we are indeed very fortunate to have Gov. Charlie Baker at the helm of our ship of state in Massachusetts.