Top 50 Charlie Baker Quotes

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’m a big-tent Republican.

I’m obviously a huge Bill Weld fan.

Our communities are strong because local leaders and active citizens listen and learn from the people they serve.

Our obligation to the people we serve is too important to place politics and partisanship before progress and results.

I’m a pro-choice candidate and I support marriage equality – my brother is actually gay and married. But I’m a pretty hard-headed guy when it comes to the budget and whether you‘re getting a bang for your buck.

I don’t think any Patriots fan would want anything other than for Tom Brady to stay.

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.

I think it’s important for people to believe their elections are on the up and up and they aren’t being tampered with by anyone, and in this particular instance there’s a large body of evidence that at a minimum Russia tried to tamper with our election.

I do see great opportunity to make reforms to our tax code, making it simpler, fairer and removing corporate loopholes.

I think our Republican brand is an effective one and I think it fits and works here in Massachusetts.

I think people are kind of tired of the really amped-up rhetoric that passes for a lot of political dialogue, and they appreciate the fact that that’s not the way we are participating in this process.

Tom Brady has given a tremendous amount of happiness joy and amazement to people all over New England and to fans outside New England as well.

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 oppose indexing gas tax hikes to inflation.

Expanding Massachusetts’ developing gaming industry to include wagering on professional sports is an opportunity for Massachusetts to invest in local aid while remaining competitive with many other states pursuing similar regulations.

This is Massachusetts, we’re supposed to be one of the tech centers of the world. We have MIT within walking distance of the state house.

When leaders choose to burn bridges instead of build them, they sacrifice their ability to do their jobs.

I think our agenda is very aspirational.

I think I’ve got a track record and an experience brief that I’ll put up against anybody‘s.

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.

When I left Harvard Pilgrim, it had been ranked first in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for customer satisfaction for six years in a row.

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.

I’m a proud product of the Massachusetts public schools.

There’s value in checks and balances. And there’s value in having independence in the governor’s office with respect to the legislature.

Former Gov. Weld is that kind of guy who you can’t predict what his next move will be.

I don’t think it’s appropriate for people who are citizens of Massachusetts to be waiting in line when folks who aren’t citizens access benefits.

Look I can’t get into the minds of people who made decisions to support us or support anybody else. But I can tell you that Scott Lively, a lot of what he says and a lot of what he believes doesn’t belong in public discourse.

How well we spend education dollars is just as important as how much we spend.

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.

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.

Competition in politics is just as important as competition in everything else.

When my brothers and I were young, my mom, a Democrat, and my dad, a Republican, used to lead freewheeling discussions at our dinner table. The only rule was paying attention when others were talking, and no interrupting.

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.

I saw ‘The Sting‘ about 35 times and ‘Jeremiah Johnson‘ and ‘Billy Jack‘ about 50 times.

I don’t like it necessarily when other people speak for me.

There are creative ways to create pathways to sufficiency for families in need. To do so, we need to work together to implement good ideas.

Balance is a good thing – checks and balances are a good thing.

Politics and public life are not for the faint of heart. It has been and always will be a noisy and cantankerous place.

I’ve supported a lot of folks with a lot of points of view. But I have concerns about Mr. Trump‘s temperament. Some of the things he’s said about women, Muslims and religious freedom, I just can’t support.

Whether it’s the grind of the day to day, or a crisis, we all need to work together because that’s what great public service is all about.

I’m a very big believer that the primary focus for any organization at any point in time should always be smarter, better, faster.

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.

There are very few people who work for me who are afraid to tell me what I don’t want to hear.

My mission will be to improve life across Massachusetts, including communities and geographies that are seeing a slower economic recovery. Lower and fairer taxes are an important part of creating jobs and accomplishing that goal.

Massachusetts is a global community.

Anybody is beatable.

If you want to be great, you should be great everywhere, not just here and there.

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.

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.