A Leader in the Corner Office

The Valley Patriot- Somehow, some way we made it through a massive blizzard without once seeing Andrea Cabral or her waving fan. I don’t how we did it, but we did. No, on second thought I know exactly how we did it. We elected serious, thoughtful adults to run the Commonwealth.

We’ve seen the first example of why my fellow Swampscotter Charlie Baker was elected Governor. He was cool, calm, collected and clearly in charge. There was nobody who watched him who could ever doubt that he was born to be anything other than an effective leader and efficient manager.

Politics aside, just about every time that I saw the former Governor on television I felt that he was always playing catch up. Deval Patrick struck me as someone who truly seemed to be befuddled by the most basic aspects of management. His answers were always to look for “firsts” but never, it seemed for “bests.” He had the ability to inject partisanship into every situation whether it was required or not. He was able to target and label others as enemies, but clearly, getting people to pull together was above his pay grade.

Contrast that with Charlie Baker who has made it clear since his days on Swampscott Town Meeting and as a Swampscott Selectman that his concerns were bigger than himself. He had accomplished great things personally and had done well for his family. For many of us, that is enough. For some, the opportunity to serve and help others becomes a great motivator and that’s clearly the case with our current Governor. We in Swampscott knew that he was someone to count on.

The knock on Charlie during his first campaign for the Corner Office was that he was too focused on details and not enough on glad-handing. It was a curious charge since anyone who’s encountered him on a personal level knows that he’s got a total grasp of the issues and the budget but also a great sense of humor and an appreciation for the rest of life from the Patriots to the Dropkick Murphys.

We’ve finally got a Governor who is not concerned with drapes or spending money we don’t have to decorate an office we do have. We’ve got someone who has sought out the best people for the tasks at hand without regard to their political party or physical appearance.

Swampscott is the quintessential New England town. When people say, “you can’t get there from here” they are usually sitting someplace in my town. Nonetheless, we’re happy to share our guy with the rest of the Commonwealth. Oh, and you’re welcome.