Charlie Baker wants to sit this election out. 

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Our goal with the Wednesday Wire is to give you the tools to boost Democrats and take on Trump and his Republican allies here in Massachusetts. Use these talking points on social media, as the basis for a letter to the editor of your local paper, in emails to your personal network, or in conversations with your friends and neighbors.
February 19, 2020 though March 3, 2020

Charlie Baker: “I Don’t Want to Get Into Presidential Politics”
Karyn Polito’s Patronage Pipeline
2020 MassDems Convention Caucus Season Begins


Charlie Baker: “I Don’t Want to Get Into in Presidential Politics”
Trump has spent the past three years putting children in cages, attacking civil rights, siding with the NRA, and denying climate change--but that doesn’t matter to Charlie Baker, who says he doesn’t “want to get into presidential politics.” While Baker is content to sit out the most important election of our lives, other governors from his own Republican party are saying enough is enough--Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott endorsed Baker’s mentor, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld in the Republican primary. ([link removed])

Charlie Baker has a complicated, inconsistent history with Presidential elections:
* In 2016, Baker endorsed Governor Chris Christie for President, saying at the time, “I don’t ever want to be in a position where people say you didn’t have a position on something of significance and importance.”
* Then, months later, Baker made public that he didn’t even vote in the Presidential election.
* Fast forward four years and Baker’s “mentor” and former boss Bill Weld is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. But where is Baker? He is refusing to help Weld, unlike others in his Party, including Vermont Governor Phil Scott.
* We don’t expect Charlie Baker to see the light and support the Democratic nominee, but supporting Bill Weld would seem to be an easy decision for him.
* Massachusetts voters deserve to know where their Governor stands. We deserve to know whether Baker plans to fall in line with Trump and the radical right-wing of his party.
* Either Baker plans to cast his vote for Donald Trump, or he’s too scared of his cronies to speak out against him--regardless, Baker’s silence makes him complicit in Trump’s agenda.
* His silence breaks his own rule: “I don’t ever want to be in a position where people say you didn’t have a position on something of significance and importance."

Call on @CharlieBakerMA to tell us where he stands by sharing this story ([link removed]) on Twitter and Facebook with #StandUpCharlie and #mapoli.

The Polito Patronage Pipeline
This Valentine’s Day, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito knew exactly how to show her campaign donors how much she loves them--by handing another one of her donors a lifetime, high paying court appointment. ([link removed]) The Polito patronage pipeline isn’t new. Since 2010, a string of Polito’s family, friends, and campaign donors have ended up with jobs in state offices or the court system, and Governor Charlie Baker is helping to make it happen.
* The patronage pipeline started back in 2010 when Karyn earned the nickname “Plates Polito.” ([link removed]) When Polito was a state representative, 68 of 100 low-number vanity Red Sox license plates went to Polito, her friends, family and campaign donors.
* In 2017, the son of two Polito donors ([link removed]) , who left his job as a court officer after being arrested for an OUI and leaving the scene of an accident, ended up in the office of the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
* The pattern continued into last year: Polito’s son’s football coach and her old college roommate ended up with two top clerk jobs in the court system. ([link removed])
* She just did it again ([link removed]) --one of Polito’s campaign donors was handed a clerk magistrate position--while other qualified candidates couldn’t even get interviews.
* Opportunity in our state shouldn’t be defined by how much you give to Karyn Polito’s reelection campaign.

Share our Polito Patronage Valentine’s Day cards on Twitter ([link removed]) and Facebook ([link removed]) .
2020 MassDems Convention Caucus Season Begins

The 2020 MassDems Convention is where delegates from across the Commonwealth will come together to unify, organize, and get ready to elect Democrats up and down the ballot this November. This past Saturday kicked-off our caucus season, and over the next few weeks Massachusetts Democrats will hold caucuses in their towns and wards to talk about the issues and candidates that matter most to them.
* Last Saturday, long-time party activists and first-time caucus-goers came together in over thirty towns, wards, and cities to elect delegates to the 2020 MassDems Convention.
* We’re thrilled to see that caucus attendance was up across the Commonwealth! We’ve worked hard to ensure that this is our most inclusive caucus process yet, and we were excited to finally implement changes that better reflect our values.
* At the 2020 MassDems Convention we’ll unify around our Democratic values and prepare for work that lies ahead--electing Democrats from the State House to the White House this November.

Post about your local caucus online using #MassDemsCaucus and #mapoli.
We encourage you to share these stories with your networks online and offline. Questions about the information outlined above and about the Wednesday Wire program may be directed at our Communications Manager, Allison Mitchell. (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Wednesday%20Wire)

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