Charlie Baker Gaining Democratic Support Heading Toward Election Day

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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

In an effort to gain an edge on undecided voters and to try to cut into the votes of a very Democratic Massachusetts, Charlie Baker has been making an attempt to align his campaign with influential Democrats.

Because there is no higher tickets race – like the President – all eyes are on the battle between Baker and Martha Coakley, something that many political pundits feel may give Baker yet another advantage.

“Right now the polls are suggesting a toss up,” said Erin O’Brien, Associate Professor of Political Science at UMass Boston. “But I think that Baker has the advantage of there not being a higher profile race on the ballot. There are also a lot of people who think that what happened to Coakley in losing to Scott Brown in 2010 may happen again against Baker.”

Three recent polls – conducted by Emerson College/WGBH, the Boston Globe, and WBUR - have Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley anywhere from two to six points apart, with two polls having Coakley on top and one poll favoring Baker.

Overwhelmed By Democratic Support

Baker has a long list of Democratic supporters for his campaign that include but are not limited to: John Barret, Former Mayor of North Adams, Guy Glodis, Former Sheriff of Worcester, Mike O'Brien, Former City Manager of Worcester, Corey Bellanger, City Councilor of Lowell, Ken Casey, singer for the Dropkick Murphys, and lifelong Democrat Jack Connors.

The wealth of Democratic support has really helped Baker’s image of running as a candidate that supports bipartisanship and as a Republican that Democrats can get behind.

“Democrats and independents are supporting Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito because of their positive vision to create good jobs across the Commonwealth and restore much needed balance and accountability to Beacon Hill,” said Jim Conroy, Baker’s campaign manager of the bipartisan support the Baker campaign has seen.

A Great Strategy

O’Brien believes that using bipartisanship as a platform and touting his Democratic support is ultimately a good move for Baker, saying that he won’t be able to use the same strategy that Martha Coakley is using in bringing in the big guns to support her campaign.

If Baker were to bring in Republican big guns – especially ones that are heavily aligned with right wing beliefs – because it would further separate him from the voters of Massachusetts. For Baker to win over the voters in the Commonwealth, he needs to pull himself as close to the center or the left in terms of political beliefs as possible.

“Baker really can’t bring is a comparable all-star team to the one that Coakley has been touting around,” said O’Brien. “Bringing in more Republicans to a Democratic leaning state would actually cause more harm than good for Baker. He is smart to go after Democrats, especially if he can convey a message that the Democratic party is divided about Coakley.”

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