Keller @ Large: The Politics Of Baker's Emotional Display
BOSTON (CBS) - Six days before a crucial election that will determine who will wield great power over all of us for the next four years, and all anyone I ran into Wednesday could talk about was Charlie Baker choking up during Tuesday night's debate.
(Insert deep sigh here.)
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I respect the ability of most voters to sort through the fog and make decent choices, most of the time. But some of the remarks I heard Wednesday really ought to prompt soul-searching by the people who said them.
Let's start with the folks, mostly Democratic partisans, who are angrily dismissing as fake Baker's story of a 2009 encounter with a fisherman distraught over his sons' grim future in that struggling industry.
There may be zero evidence that the story is fake, or that Baker is craven enough to fake it. But evidence is beside the point when you're in your election-year partisan frenzy.
Equally embarrassing are the Baker partisans claiming their man's emotional display somehow seals the deal for him.
In my decades of covering politics, I have met very few people who didn't have empathy for others, notably including Martha Coakley. Baker's humanity proves next to nothing about his qualifications to govern.
But the politics of all this aren't really about the partisans on either side.
The question is, will undecided voters see this episode as a determining factor in their decision?
I guess, for the most part, not. The stakes are too high for most of them to be so casually moved.
And for those who are not, who will vote pro- or anti-Baker based on a brief loss of composure?
(Insert another deep sigh here.)
Listen to Jon's commentary:
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
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