GOP candidate Charlie Baker to skip St. Patrick's Day roast [MA]

Boston.com ^ | March 12, 2010 | Michael Levenson

[cmj328]

Brown, Patrick, Cahill, and virtually every other major political figure in the state will be at the roast on Sunday – with one notable exception. Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker said today that he will attend a GOP breakfast in Scituate instead. Baker said he had committed to attending the event a long time ago, and didn’t want to back out.

His decision to dodge the brickbats at the roast in South Boston was already raising eyebrows today among the political class, for whom the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast has become a mandatory, if dreaded, rite of passage.

“It reminds me of a sort of Martha Coakley campaign,” Cahill said in an interview in Dedham.

[cmj328]

Charlie chickens out?

[wastedyears]

How is he dodging anything if he made a commitment a long time ago?

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

How is he dodging anything if he made a commitment a long time ago?

This annual political roast has been going on for decades. When did he make this commitment, the 1800's? If you play in politics in Massachusetts, there is no excuse for not showing other than fear of ridicule.

[LostInBayport]

His decision to dodge the brickbats at the roast in South Boston was already raising eyebrows today among the political class, for whom the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast has become a mandatory, if dreaded, rite of passage.

'Raising eyebrows' in the vein of fear. Massachusetts elected a Republican to the Senate, Camelot is dead, a sales tax reduction ballot question is polling in favor of passing and the only hope mini-Obama Deval Patrick has at getting reelected is to garner 34% of the vote in a three-way race. Perhaps the folks behind this anachronistic ring-kissing ceremony are afraid of becoming another casualty in a changing political landscape where they don't matter anymore?

[cmj328]

Maybe. But Brown will be there at the South Boston breakfast, so Baker looks like a complete tool.

[LostInBayport]

But Brown will be there at the South Boston breakfast, so Baker looks like a complete tool.

Perhaps Baker will lose points, but mostly among the political class. I'd rather see Baker or Cahill attend some tea parties instead of the breakfast (or even the lunch Baker's attending in its place). It would demonstrate they recognize the gravity of the fiscal armageddon we are facing, much more so than slapping backs with the same people that played a large part in driving us in that direction.

[GOPsterinMA]

ping?

[fieldmarshaldj]

Go Cahill !

[GOPsterinMA]

i hope so !

[nhwingut]

This race is a no win sitch.

You got the far left loon in Patrick. A lifelong Dem hack in Cahill... and Baker the RINO.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Cahill is the most Conservative.

[cmj328]

With company like that, Mihos almost looks respectable.