A biography for Charlie Bakerhasn’t been written yet.
“When public leaders turn public debates into words of war - 'enemies' 'go to hell' 'attack' - they are enabling the edgiest of their followers to take things into their hands, and unfortunately, some of them do.”
“I believe I'm a real champion for women.”
“We must have courage to set partisanship aside and embrace the best ideas and solutions no matter which side of the aisle they come from.”
“Look, there's no place and no point in public life, in any life, for a lot of the things Scott Lively says and believes.”
“I've said many times that people are policy. And to be truly successful in any big organization you need to put people into jobs where they have relevant experience, relevant subject-matter expertise and the capacity to actually perform.”
“I've said a thousand times I want every community to be a place where people believe tomorrow is going to be better than today. I say that not just because I believe it, but because I believe in it.”
“One of the advantages of getting elected governor when you're 58 instead of 38 is you have some mileage on you and part of that means some history and some relationships with people who have spent a fair amount of their career in the public and in the private sector.”
“Learning how to communicate to big audiences, and how to frame a message in a way that works in a sound-bite world, that for me is very challenging.”
“I've said for a long time that the governor and the mayors should be far more engaged in this conversation at the federal level. I mean, the consequences and the impact of the federal government's broken immigration policy do not land on the backs of the people in Washington. They just don't.”
“Our obligation to the people we serve is too important to place politics and partisanship before progress and results.”
“Our Founders worried a lot about the tyranny of the majority. They designed our form of government to provide a loud voice for minority points of view. They hated the idea of unilateral power. And wanted to force advocates and policy makers, through structure and process, to compromise.”
“Competition in politics is just as important as competition in everything else.”
“The most heart-wrenching responsibility I have as Governor is to meet a family at the airport as they stand silently waiting for the military casket of their loved one to come home.”
“Balance is a good thing - checks and balances are a good thing.”
“A strong Commonwealth is built on a foundation of strong communities. Friendly, welcoming, bustling neighborhoods and downtowns. Great schools. Safe, accessible, attractive places to play. Growing local economies. And a belief that anything is possible.”
“I would argue that the charter schools are really good at building programming and curriculum around the issues and the interests of the kids that they serve.”
“We need to root out the waste and abuse that is rampant in our state agencies. When we do that and grow the economy, we will be able to fund the vital programs and services we need.”
“The thing I would say is governments have the tendency to over-promise and under-perform. So the over-promise part ends up sounding very aspirational. But it's the performance part that ultimately people feel every day and read about. And my goal is to make sure, whatever it is we aspire to, that we deliver on.”
“You just can't get surprised when you get surprised, because weird stuff just comes over the transom all the time, and it's not necessarily anything that you've planned for or anticipated.”
“The biggest difference between the private sector and public sector is in the private sector, there's a sense of urgency because you have customers and you have competitors. Whereas in government, one of your major objectives is to not make any really big mistakes.”