As long as the Jim Lyonses of the world are in the driver's seat at MassGOP, it is hard to see how another Republican gets elected governor of Massachusetts.
Shortly after Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito announced today that neither had a desire to run for governor in 2022, the Republican Party of Massachusetts put out a press release with this quote from party chairman Jim Lyons:
"Our party remains committed to the America-First of agenda advocated by President Donald J. Trump, and it's clear to me that Charlie Baker was shaken by President Trump's endorsement of another Republican candidate (for governor in 2022) in Geoff Diehl.
"Our party remains committed to the strong conservative values of freedom, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. We look forward to working with President Trump as we continue to rebuild the Massachusetts Republican Party." (For those who are counting, that's three references to Trump as president in the present tense in a span of 69 words -- quite a feat, even by sycophant standards.)
Memo to Lyons: Trump lost to Biden last year in Massachusetts by 33 percentage points.
Here's how Baker and Polito, in an open letter, explained their decision to swear off 2022 gubernatorial campaigns:
"We have all been going through an extraordinarily difficult pandemic, and the next year will be just as important, if not more important, than the past year. We have a great deal of work to do to put the pandemic behind us, keep our kids in school, and keep our communities and economy moving forward. That work cannot and should not be about politics and the next election. If we were to run, it would be a distraction that would potentially get in the way of many of the things we should be working on for everyone in Massachusetts. We want to focus on recovery, not on the grudge matches political campaigns can devolve into."
Politico reported in October that a Public Policy Polling survey of likely voters in next year's Massachusetts Republican Party primary revealed that Diehl was favored over Baker by a 21 percent margin (50 to 29%).
In November, a poll by Northwind Strategies suggested Baker's best chance of getting re-elected would entail quitting the Republican Party and running as an Independent.
At about the same time, The Boston Globe reported on a UMass poll showing Baker enjoyed an approval rating among Republican voters of only 41 percent.
I doubt Baker was "shaken" by the former president's endorsement of Diehl, but I can see him being angry. Frustrated too.
Maybe the endorsement was the straw that broke the camel's back, bringing forth a long dormant urge to go and make some real money in the private sector again. Maybe Baker wanted to give his beloved party a wake-up call: "You like Diehl so much? Fine. Good luck next year with your Geoffie boy."
Independents are the largest voting bloc in Massachusetts, making up 55.9 percent of registered voters, followed by Democrats (32.5 percent) and Republicans (10.1 percent).
Baker, I believe, could indeed have run next year as an Independent and won. Then, if he wished, he could have re-enrolled as a Republican after taking the oath of office for a third time.
I can see the MassGOP, if it continues indefinitely in its Trump-induced delirium, shrinking to a state of total irrelevance and inspiring the creation of a Massachusetts Centrist Party.
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