BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — With primary election wins behind them, Republican Charlie Baker and Democrat Martha Coakley wasted no time yesterday setting the stage for what could be a bruising campaign for governor that apparently will not include restrictions on advertising by outside political groups.
Baker, who easily defeated Mark Fisher on Tuesday for the GOP nomination, began his day by greeting commuters at Boston’s South Station. He promised to deliver a “positive message” leading up to the Nov. 4 election that would stress differences between him and Coakley and a desire to bring balance to a state government dominated by Democratic officeholders.
Coakley and other Democrats gathered at a Boston hotel for a unity “breakfast” that did not include food but did serve up plenty of criticism of Baker, who was also his party’s standard bearer in 2010.
“He has stood for cutting taxes, cutting health care, cutting benefits,” said Coakley, suggesting Baker was not the moderate he portrays himself as, but a conservative out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people.
“We are going to speak for people who he maybe doesn’t even know are here in Massachusetts,” the two-term attorney general said.
Coakley defeated state Treasurer Steven Grossman and former U.S. Medicare chief Don Berwick in a Democratic race that was closer than some pre-primary polls had projected. Grossman and Berwick both appeared at the unity event to pledge support for the nominee.
An independent expenditure political action committee, or super PAC, that is funded by several labor unions launched a TV ad against Baker yesterday that paints the former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO as more interested in company profits and his own salary than in holding down insurance costs.
The ad came even as Coakley pressed Baker to accept a so-called “people’s pledge” designed to rein in negative ads by outside groups.
Baker’s campaign ruled out such an agreement and accused Coakley of hypocrisy.
“I find it hilarious that the attorney general is calling on me to sign a people’s pledge when the first negative ad that was run in this race several weeks ago was run by a super PAC that was affiliated with her campaign,” said Baker.
“They are going to run a very negative campaign against me because they don’t have a message for the people of Massachusetts,” he added.
Baker’s campaign launched its first TV ad of the general election yesterday, a 30-second spot that shows the candidate answering questions from his daughter, Caroline. He talks about pulling Harvard Pilgrim Health Care back from the brink of bankruptcy and creating jobs while serving in former Gov. William Weld’s administration.
“Even with an agenda that has been shown to fail, the Republican nominee is formidable,” said Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, who defeated Baker four years ago but warned against overconfidence at yesterday’s party gathering.
“I want you to be worried. I want you to be nervous. I want you to be agitated and unsure what the outcome should be, because the outcome has to be earned,” said Patrick, who did not seek re-election.
Several speakers referenced the success of female candidates in the Democratic primary. Along with Coakley, Deb Goldberg won the nomination for state treasurer and Maura Healey for attorney general, creating the possibility that women could hold a majority of the state’s constitutional offices after the fall election.
“The winners were three women and a gay guy,” joked Stephen Kerrigan, who is openly gay and won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
A new 30-second television spot by a super PAC opposed to Baker paints him as a former health care CEO more interested in his own salary than keeping down premium costs.
The Democratic Governors Association and several unions — including the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union — are among the PAC’s top donors.
