With Trump gone, AG Maura Healey has a new political target: Charlie Baker

Now that she can’t file lawsuits against Donald Trump any more, Attorney General Maura Healey seems to have found her next big target: Charlie Baker.

Healey in the last few weeks has ramped up pressure on the Republican governor on the vaccine rollout, exploiting a key weakness that could be a centerpiece of a Democratic campaign against Baker.

Healey’s newfound interest in Governor Baker and state issues comes as she is widely expected to explore her own run for governor in 2022.

The hard-charging, liberal AG is the big fish in the Democratic gubernatorial waters and would be Baker’s biggest obstacle to a third term — if he decides to run again.

Healey seems to be getting into state campaign mode now that 2021 is in full swing and her favorite nemesis, Trump, is gone.

And honing in on the disastrous early distribution of the coronavirus vaccine and the problems with the state vaccine website is now prime territory for Baker critics. Healey on Monday was in Chelsea, a community hit especially hard by COVID-19 and which is home to many minorities and front-line workers.

“I think equity should have been, and should continue to be, the forefront in the planning,” Healey said. “Not only is it a matter of fairness and justice … but it’s also key, I think, to public health outcomes. We have a heck of a lot of ground to make up as a state on that. We’re playing catch up here.”

Healey’s criticism of Baker rings a little hollow because the state has actually made Chelsea a priority in providing thousands of doses a week to local clinics.

But she is exploiting what has rapidly become Baker’s Achilles Heel — the painfully slow and trouble-plagued vaccine distribution plan.

Baker’s popularity is plummeting as more and more frustrated residents complain about his performance during the pandemic, which lately includes over-the-top banging of his fists and admitting that his “hair’s on fire” to express his anger.

Those theatrics might play a little better if Massachusetts had a better early rate of dispensing the vaccine — it initially ranked among the worst in all the nation.

It’s not only residents feeling the burn of the poor vaccine rollout — local health boards and town officials also have complained about being shut out of the distribution plans as Baker has funneled thousands of residents to mass vaccination sites like Fenway Park.

“I think it’s really important for the administration to sit with municipal leaders and figure this out,” Healey said.

So what does the vaccine distribution plan have to do with Healey’s job as attorney general?

Very little, actually. All the more reason why it’s notable that Healey is using the issue as a weapon against Baker.

“We don’t really let a particular job description define us,” Healey said when asked why as AG she was focused on the vaccine. “It’s fundamentally about taking care of people.”

If Healey does run against Baker, here’s a suggestion for a slogan: “Maybe it’s time we need a governor whose hair’s NOT on fire.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/37Fe4IP