POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: BAKER’s convention rebuke — KOH airs first TV ad — WARREN’s al fresco town hall

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: BAKER’s convention rebuke — KOH airs first TV ad — WARREN’s al fresco town hall

REPUBLICANS ENDORSE TRUMPIAN DICTATORSHIP....WHAT A SAD COMMENTARY! 

BAKER'S CONVENTION REBUKE AND A HINT AT WHAT'S TO COME - Charlie Baker may be the most popular governor in America, but some Republicans gathered in Worcester on Saturday at the GOP State Convention sent him a message: not everyone's on-board.

The election of controversial anti-LGBT pastor Scott Lively - who delivered a speech rebuking Baker and in full-throated support of Donald Trump - appeared to play out as a proxy for many of the delegates still frustrated with Baker's lack of interest in the Trump train. The Lively-Trump connection was anything but subtle. Throughout the concourse and hall of the DCU Center on Saturday, many wearing red Make America Great Again hats also had "Governor Lively" stickers stuck to the side.

Despite 27 percent of delegates' support at the convention, don't expect Lively (and his anti-LGBT track record) to have any significant traction with Republican primary voters come September. But in the meantime, Lively's going to do his best to act as the bee in Baker's bonnet this summer on the primary campaign trail.

Trump's shadow also played out in the Senate race. Eager to show his conservative bonafides, John Kingston (who left the Republican party over Trump in 2016) at one point in his speech referred to "we deplorables." But the name synonymous with Trump in Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl, made no mention of Trump in his speech. That didn't stop delegates from endorsing Diehl on the second ballot with 55 percent of the vote.

We also got our first glimpse at the Baker reelection talking points. In his speech to delegates, Baker struck a direct comparison to "our opponents" with some red meat for the Republicans in the hall: "Our opponents want to make Massachusetts a sanctuary state. We don't. We support the death penalty for cop-killers. Our opponents don't." Baker went on to note he and Lt. Gov. Polito support reducing the sales tax and making the tax holiday permanent, that "state prison officials should be able to work with federal immigration officials to remove dangerous criminals who are here illegally," that drug traffickers "who kill our kids" should be tried for manslaughter, support for mandatory minimums for fentanyl sale and distribution, no drivers' licenses for non-legal Massachusetts residents, and that public health insurance should not cover marijuana.

And for those following the convention swag - yes, there were really were Elizabeth Warren barf bags.

- "Dems rap Baker's handling of scandal," by Christian M. Wade, Newburyport News: "Democrats are hammering away at Gov. Charlie Baker over a payroll scandal in the Massachusetts State Police as the Swampscott Republican's re-election bid gears up, but political observers say the criticism doesn't appear to be hurting Baker's chances of winning another four-year term. The state police have been embroiled in a series of scandals stemming from an audit that revealed overtime abuse by troopers assigned to the Massachusetts Turnpike."


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