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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Did you pick the gubernatorial debate or the Red Sox game last night?
BAKER AND GONZALEZ TURN UP THE HEAT — Gov. Charlie Baker and his Democratic opponent Jay Gonzalez went head-to-head in their first debate last night, giving the governor's underdog opponent a chance to move the dial.
But Baker didn't leave many openings for Gonzalez. The governor is a pro-choice Republican who opposed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and touts his record on gun laws and criminal justice reform. Where Gonzalez tried to distance himself from former Gov. Deval Patrick, Baker praised his predecessor. What is a Democrat supposed to do with that?
Gonzalez took a "too little, too late" approach to Baker's tenure in the state's highest office. Baker's handling of the MBTA? Too little. Baker's management of the Merrimack Valley gas explosions and National Grid lockout? Too late. Baker's funding approach on education? Too little. Baker's handling of problems inside the State Police? Too late.
As governor, Gonzalez said he'd aim higher than Baker's "laundry list" of "small-ball" accomplishments. But he hasn't been able to climb higher than the country's most popular governor in the polls. Baker had a 44 point advantage over Gonzalez among likely voters according to a WBUR poll released last month. And 45 percent of those surveyed hadn't heard of Gonzalez, according to that poll.
Between then and now, Gonzalez has picked up an endorsement from President Barack Obama, and he's got two more debates against Baker this month. Still, he's running out of time to close the polling gap and take out a governor one Democratic lawmaker called either the Bill Belichick or Tom Brady of state government last week.
And it doesn't look like issues with state police, the MBTA or a Geoff Diehl endorsement will dent Baker this election cycle.
As for the governor's "small-ball" record?
"I simply do not buy for a minute that we've been a status quo administration," the typically tight-lipped Baker said on Tuesday night, adding Gonzalez is "overselling what's possible here."
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker delivers welcoming remarks at the HUBweek Forum, and later announces this year's Report on Priorities & Recommendations of the Governor's Black Advisory Commission with state Reps. Russell Holmes and Bud Williams and Black Advisory Commission Chair Deborah Enos, among others. MA3 candidates Lori Trahan and Rick Green take questions on WBZ NewsRadio's "Talk the Vote." Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Republican candidate Rep. Keiko Orrall debate on WGBH's "Greater Boston." The Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus honors Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler at its Abigail Adams event in Boston, and congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley speaks. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh heads to Las Vegas for the United Union of Roofers convention. Rep. Joe Kennedy hosts a panel for World Mental Health Day in Boston. Republican Senate candidate Geoff Diehl holds a press conference in Brockton. Attorney General Maura Healey and New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraftwork with middle and high school students on an anti-violence program in Foxborough.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Baker, Gonzalez tangle in first gubernatorial debate," by Joshua Miller and Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jay Gonzalez tangled in a tense televised debate Tuesday, with each trading attacks on their bureaucratic resumes and framing the other as having the wrong vision for running state government. Throughout the one-hour forum, Gonzalez tried to tie Baker to President Trump, paint him as a GOP stooge, and criticize his tenure as falling woefully short of the challenges of our time, saying if he were to win on Nov. 6, he'd raise taxes on the wealthy and plow the new billions into education and transportation. Baker, who holds a massive lead in public opinion polls, aimed to parry the attacks, sharply criticized Gonzalez's 3½-year tenure as state budget chief, and trumpeted his record over the last four years."
- "Is a governor's race finally about to break out? Time is running short," by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: "Is a governor's race finally about to break out? After months of relative torpor, the race between Governor Charlie Baker and his Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez, may finally start to take shape. The two met in a debate Tuesday night, with two more clashes scheduled between now and Election Day. The quiet — well, deadly — campaign feels so odd for a deeply political state like ours, one with hardly any recent precedent. There have been close races and the occasional not-so-close race, but rarely has there been a governor's race that barely seems to be happening at all."
NATIONAL GRID LOCKED OUT EXPERIENCED WORKERS DUE TO CONTRACT DISPUTES. CHARLIE BAKER HAS MADE NO EFFORT TO GET THOSE EXPERIENCED WORKERS BACK TO WORK. THIS COULD HAVE ENDED IN CATASTROPHE SIMILAR TO COLUMBIA GAS.
ANOTHER CHARLIE BAKER FAIL! CHARLIE BAKER IS INCAPABLE OF LEADERSHIP.
- "TRAIL OF LETTERS REFLECTS HEIGHTENED NATURAL GAS CONCERNS," by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service:"Baker administration officials on Monday deferred questions to National Grid on the natural gas incident in Woburn that spurred regulators to issue a work moratorium, but in her order holding the company to new requirements the Department of Public Utilities chairwoman on Monday called it an 'overpressurization event.' In her order newly limiting National Grid crews to emergency and compliance work, which the News Service obtained on Tuesday, DPU Chairwoman Angela O'Connor reminded National Grid Massachusetts chief Marcy Reed that the DPU had also found in its recent rate case order that National Grid 'had shown a persistent disregard for federal and state pipeline safety regulations.'"
- "UN climate change report puts pressure on governments to act," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Global warming could reach a tipping point in just 12 years if the world doesn't take dramatic steps to reduce the amount of man-made carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, according to a new report that is putting pressure on states to act. The United Nations' panel on climate change issued a gloomy report Monday warning that carbon dioxide emissions need to be cut by nearly half of 2010 levels by 2030 to stave off the worst effects of climate change. The panel said turning the tide will require immediate, draconian cuts in emissions of heat-trapping gases and dramatic changes in the energy field."
- "Cannabis cafes and marijuana yoga in Massachusetts? They're 'years' away, top regulator says," by Gintautas Dumcius, MassLive.com: "The legal sale and consumption of marijuana inside places like cafes, yoga studios and movie theaters is likely 'years' away, a member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission said Tuesday. 'This is not going to happen immediately because there is no workable process under the law by which a city or town can allow this,' said Shaleen Title, one of the five commissioners. Members of the commission earlier this year delayed discussions on how to move ahead with what's known as 'social consumption,' or consuming marijuana inside a place other than a person's primary residence."
- "CANNABIS COMMISSION WEIGHS HQ, SATELLITE OFFICE OPTIONS," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "As it searches for a site for its permanent headquarters, the Cannabis Control Commission is considering 10 locations in Worcester, most of them in the city's newly-revitalized downtown core. The CCC met in executive session on Tuesday morning to discuss the 10 possible sites for an agency headquarters as well as 10 potential sites throughout Boston, Quincy and Malden turned up by a second search, that one focused on identifying a spot for a CCC satellite office in the Boston area."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "John Kerry Sounds Like a 2020 Candidate," by Edward-Isaac Dovere, POLITICO: " Despite the chatter, John Kerry probably isn't running for president again—though he says he wants to be part of the future of the Democratic Party, and the country, no matter what. He's sticking to his insistence that any White House talk distracts from 2018. But there's clearly still an ember of desire to run again. 'I've only done it once, unlike a lot of people who've been out there, and came pretty close,' he told me in an interview for POLITICO's Off Message podcast. It was a conversation he ended with a standard-politician four-point list of priorities, some 40 minutes after delivering a standard-politician evasive answer about a 2020 candidacy: 'I haven't eliminated anything in my life, period, anything— except perhaps running a sub-four [minute] mile.'"
- "Transgender rights effort leads fund-raising battle on Question 3," by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: "The campaign working to preserve the state law that protects transgender people from discrimination continued to dominate fund-raising in the Question 3 ballot campaign, raking in nearly $777,000 in the most recent two-week filing period. Keep MA Safe, the opposing campaign that launched the ballot question to try to repeal the state law on transgender rights, took in $220,949 during that same period. A spokeswoman for the campaign, Yvette Ollada, did not return phone calls. A second opposition campaign, called 'No To 3,' took in $75 in two donations from its treasurer and chairman, filings at the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance show."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "Rep. Katherine Clark: Kavanaugh Confirmation Ushers In 'Dangerous Time' For Supreme Court," by Amanda McGowan, WGBH News: "The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ushers in a "dangerous time" for the nation's highest court, Representative Katherine Clark said Tuesday. Kavanaugh was sworn in Monday after a bitter and protracted confirmation process, which included an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against the nominee and an emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school.
- US Sen. Ed Markey seeks longer comment period, more public hearings on White House's 'Affordable Clean Energy' rule," by Shannon Young, MassLive.com: "With a new report suggesting that the world has until just 2030 to prevent catastrophic climate change effects, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, urged officials Tuesday to hold more public hearings and extend the public comment period on the White House's proposed replacement for the 2015 Clean Power Plan. Markey, who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's 'Affordable Clean Energy' rule, led nearly two dozen other Senate Democrats in penning a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler asking that the agency hold at least four public hearings on the proposal, as opposed to just one."
- "Incriminating notes on 'doxxing' found next to tray of cocaine in former Hassan staffer's apartment," by Todd Feathers, New Hampshire Union Leader: "The former staffer who allegedly broke into Sen. Maggie Hassan's office and published confidential information about another senator left a trail of evidence in his apartment, according to court records. It included written reminders to 'burn aliases,' 'wipe down comp(uters),' 'backup all files,' and 'mail backup.' And it was all sitting next to a tray of cocaine, according to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia's office.
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "State police sought to destroy Logan pay records," by Jack Sullivan, CommonWealth Magazine: "STATE POLICE OFFICIALS tried to destroy 12 boxes of payroll files for detail and roster assignments involving its embattled division at Logan Airport but were blocked because of the ongoing investigation into overtime abuse that has rocked the department and triggered dozens of retirements. Maj. Charles Atchison of Logan's Troop F submitted a form to the state's Records Conservancy Board last month, as required by law, seeking permission to destroy detail and roster assignments from 2009 through 2012 as well as fiscal audit reports from 2001 to 2004."
- "Boston's booming economy brings unequal prosperity, report says," by Katie Johnston, Boston Globe: "In Boston, it's easier to get ahead than in almost any other city in the country, but the degree to which a person thrives varies widely, depending on the color of their skin. Overall, the Boston area has one of the highest rates of economic mobility in the country, according to a report by the Boston Foundation, meaning that children who grew up in low-income families have a better chance of out-earning their parents than in all but a few of the nation's 100 largest cities. But broken down by race, the picture is much more fractured."
- "Massachusetts ready to fight over abortion rights," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "Pro-choice activists in Massachusetts are on 'high alert' to defend Roe v. Wade, mobilizing in expectation of an assault on abortion rights by the Supreme Court's new conservative majority with Justice Brett Kavanaugh's appointment. 'If we believe that a case before the Supreme Court presents a clear and present danger to Roe, women and families of Massachusetts will certainly be marching to make clear that our state supports reproductive freedom,' Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, told the Herald yesterday."
- "Boston Makes Big Strides, But Won't Meet Goal Of Ending Chronic Homelessness In 2018," by Lynn Jolicoeur, WBUR News:"Once a week, about 20 people on the front lines of ending chronic homelessness in Boston meet in an old conference room downtown.They call themselves the Chronic Working Group. They're employees of the city and state, homeless service providers, and the local public health commission and housing authority. They've been working for the last three years toward a goal of eliminating chronic homelessness in the city by the end of 2018."
- "Colin Kaepernick requests his remarks at Harvard ceremony be off-the-record," by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: " Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's appearance at a Harvard ceremony honoring contributions to black culture and history this week comes with a request: he is asking the press not to report on his remarks, according to a spokesman for the university. Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research will honor Kaepernick, along with seven other recipients of the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, on Thursday in Memorial Hall in Cambridge."
- "Is the test for Boston's exam schools receiving a failing grade?" by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "Hundreds of the city's 11- and 12-year-olds flock to a handful of testing sites on a Saturday morning each November in hopes of gaining entry to Boston Latin School or one of Boston's other two public exam schools. A student's score can realize or crush dreams of attending one of the prestigious schools, and it can decide whether a family pays a fortune for private school or moves to the suburbs. Such high stakes have spurred a cottage industry of pricey tutors and programs, giving wealthier students an edge and exacerbating one of the school system's starkest racial inequities."
- "Face-value tickets to 'Hamilton' in Boston? Not buying it," by Don Aucoin, Boston Globe: "If you want the hottest ticket in town — a seat at the Boston Opera House for 'Hamilton' — plenty are still available through Ticketmaster. But there's a catch. You must be prepared to pay hundreds of dollars per ticket, even as high as $1,500 apiece. That's because Ticketmaster participates in the resale market it says it is trying to control, offering seats for far more than their face value. It's delivering a jolt to Boston theatergoers who had been told, when the tickets went on sale, that efforts would be made to keep 'Hamilton'' ticket prices from soaring into the stratosphere, as they have in New York and other cities."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Warren?" by Bob Moser, Rolling Stone: "The only Democrat who appears fully equipped at this point to vanquish Donald Trump in a presidential election made it perfectly clear late last month that she fully intends to do so. (And she got out ahead of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who all-but-announced his own bid in Iowa this past Saturday.) For the last two years, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been steadily building toward this vital rescue mission, readying herself for the one election in all our lifetimes (let us hope) that will actually live up to the quadrennial 'most important election in American history since 1860' hype."
- "Elizabeth Warren cites Kavanaugh battle as she campaigns for Georgia governor nominee Abrams," by Erica Y. King, ABC News:"In wake of the battle over now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday rallied young voters to help change the political climate as she campaigned for Georgia's gubernatorial Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. 'It's time to turn our pain into power,' Warren said, in an example of howDemocrats are hoping to capitalize on the anger over Kavanaugh's confirmation."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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Herald: "MASS. MOBILIZING" — Globe: "Face-value 'Hamilton' tickets? Not buying it," "Haley set to quit as UN voice for Trump."
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| THE LOWELL CONNECTOR |
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- "Columbia Gas plans to inspect, fix at least 350 dwellings per day in Greater Lawrence after gas disaster," by Kristin LaFratta, MassLive.com: "In order for utility company Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to fully assess, fix and restore natural gas across nearly 10,000 dwellings impacted by the gas disaster in Greater Lawrence, crews will have to visit at least 350 units per day, officials said. 'Scaling up a massive task like this requires us to do an in-depth resources assessment,' Chief Recovery Officer Joe Albanese said in a phone conference from Lawrence on Tuesday. The goal is to get gas back in homes by Nov. 19."
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| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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- "Arbitrator: State agency cut corners in rush to qualify for 'middle mile' grant," by Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle:"Though he stopped short of calling it fraud, the arbitrator who decided against the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative last week had harsh words for the quasi-public agency responsible both for the broadband 'middle mile' and its financial shortcomings. Philip D. O'Neill Jr. rapped actions taken by Mass Tech as it sought to 'elude its duty' and 'escape the consequences of its own promises.'"
- "Neal, Sarno Announce PVTA Funding from US Department of Transportation," from Rep. Richard Neal's office: "On Tuesday, U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal gathered with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) Administrator Sandra Sheehan to announce $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. These funds, from the Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program, are made available for entities looking to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment or to construct bus-related facilities."
SPOTTED - David Gura of MSNBC and NBC News this weekend at The Berkshire Eagle's tent at the Berkshire Botanical Garden's Harvest Festival.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Tanveer Kathawalla (hat tip: Renée Rinehart); and Megan McCafferty , a BU law student and Sen. Elizabeth Warren alum.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? - Yes! The Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3.
ANGER MANAGEMENT - October has officially begun and brought us several surprises. Katie Lannan of the State House News Service joins as guest host this week to unpack what we like to call "the Massachusetts connection" to several national events, including Senator Warren's potential Presidential campaign, the Kavanaugh hearings, and Barack Obama's recent endorsements. Big thanks to Steve and Katie for welcoming me as a guest on The Horse Race last week. Be sure to subscribe and listen on iTunes and SoundCloud.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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