POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Praise for BAKER’s strong commonwealth — The business of #MeToo — PUERTO RICAN evacuee local housing woes
01/24/2018 07:06 AM EDT By Lauren Dezenski ( ldezenski@politico.com ; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths ( bgriffiths@politico.com ; @BrentGriffiths) GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. SURPRISE! THE STATE OF THE COMMONWEALTH IS STRONG - Those expecting to be surprised by Gov. Charlie Baker 's state of the commonwealth speech last night had to be disappointed. It was classic Baker: straightforward, stressing uncontroversial positives like bipartisanship, a double-down on the fight against the opioid epidemic, statistics coming from rankings that prove his point, no specific mention of President Donald Trump , and a line about the Patriots ' three Super Bowl visits over the last four years (which landed like catnip for the audience in the House chamber). All sought to make the case for a successful first term and likely set the stage for what will be his reelection argument. Outside of the State House, Democrats dismissed it. The ...