Swampscott crowd hails favorite son, GOP’s Baker

SWAMPSCOTT – With Aerosmith booming and a chorus of campaign faithful chanting “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,” gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker made his way to a makeshift stage at the Forest Avenue Fields in his hometown of Swampscott Monday night for his last official campaign event.A crowd of about 250 people, many of whom were neighbors and friends of the candidate, turned out for the rally to give the Republican challenger to incumbent Gov. Deval Patrick one final show of support.”Let’s take this one home for Swampscott, for Massachusetts and for all the people who play by the rules and pay the bills,” said Baker, who continued to press his core themes of fiscal responsibility and economic opportunity right up to the end.Baker’s running mate, state Sen. Richard Tisei of Wakefield, warmed up a crowd that seemed indifferent to the chilly November night by hitting Patrick hard on unemployment and taxes.”We have it in our power tomorrow to put the state in a different direction,” said Tisei. “Charlie Baker is the right person at the right place at the right time.”Baker also pounded Patrick and the state Legislature on unemployment, mentioning several times that Massachusetts lost 21,000 jobs in September. He then touted his own success at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a company he said was dysfunctional and bankrupt when he took over as CEO in 1999, but is now the top-ranked health plan in the country.”I know something about turnarounds, and the state of Massachusetts needs a turn around,” shouted Baker.But neither Tisei or Baker had to work too hard to pump up Swampscott residents who arrived at the field with plenty of signs, energy and optimism.”I guess it’s time for a nice change,” said Rob Nugent, a neighbor of the Bakers. “Gov. Patrick has had four years to reduce taxes and fix the health care system and it hasn’t happened.”Nugent said Baker will take care of both of those problems and predicted a GOP win even in Swampscott which is home to a mere 1,180 registered Republicans versus 3,419 registered Democrats.But like other small North Shore communities, in Swampscott it’s the independent voters who wield the election day clout. Swampscott has 5,653 voters registered as unenrolled, and Baker supporters hope they turn out in full force to put Swampscott in the Republican column tonight.Like Nugent, Andrea Diamond knows Baker, first and foremost, as a local.”I see him all the time in town walking his dog,” she said. Diamond figures a Baker victory will put Swampscott on the map, but that’s not why she’s voting for him.”Massachusetts needs somebody like Charlie. The state is on the wrong track fiscally, and he will be much more responsible,” she said.Baker told the crowd he decided 15 months ago to jump into the governor’s race because that’s the kind of thing you do when you come from Swampscott.”You dream big,” he yelled to the crowd, many of whom were wearing Swampscott Big Blue jackets and sweatshirts. “This race is about dreaming big and being willing to say put up or shut up on Beacon Hill.”Baker said his campaign was about ensuring a future for the next generation in Swampscott and throughout the state.”We want to make sure that we’ve passed down the opportunity to make a living and make a life in Massachusetts,” he said.