Bill Weld’s longshot candidacy begins
By 
The public marveled when Bill Weld dove into the Charles River in the summer of 1996. Now the two-time Massachusetts governor and former US attorney is plunging into an even more toxic stew.
About three months after re-registering with his old party, Weld on Patriot’s Day announced his Republican candidacy for president. His campaign launch video leans heavily on his record in Massachusetts and on President Donald Trump’s comments that have made the nation’s top office-holder a pariah among many fellow Republicans and virtually all Democrats.
So far at least, Trump’s campaign is giving short shrift to Big Red. Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told CBS News they are not taking Weld’s campaign “seriously at all.”
Questions remain over how seriously Weld will take his endeavor. Weld in 2016 ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee, and his presidential exploratory bid earlier this year was a bare bones operation in many ways. Weld won two gubernatorial elections, but only completed one full term.
“We’re focused on the Democrats,” McEnany said.
One success for Weld, we can assume, would be distracting Trump enough and peeling off a sizable chunk of disaffected Republican voters so as to give whomever the Democrats choose as their nominee a better shot at winning in November 2020. While his party has changed, his opposition to Trump has been a constant.
Weld’s goal is to win the New Hampshire primary, and on Tuesday he visited three Granite State diners where he compared his campaign favorably to a “ferocious” fisher cat.
Taking on Trump from within the Republican party will be no walk in the park.
The Republican National Committee backs Trump, and there has been some question about whether Republicans will even hold primaries next year in some states to nominate their 2020 candidate. Trump is enormously popular within his party, and Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Jim Lyons skewered Weld as a traitor earlier this year when he announced his exploratory campaign.
“Even Benedict Arnold switched allegiances less often!” Lyons howled.
Howie Carr, one of Trump’s chief boosters in New England media, focused on Weld in today’s Boston Herald column, asking repeatedly whether Weld is an alcoholic. Trump had implied the same during his 2016 campaign.
While Baker has clearly connected with Massachusetts voters – Republicans and Democrats – he has been aloof at times from his party nationally. He endorsed Chris Christie in 2016, and then appeared caught off guard when Christie dropped out and endorsed Trump before the Massachusetts primary.
Will either of them — or any other major figures in Republican politics — rally to Weld’s side? Today, Weld is alone.
-ANDY METZGER
BEACON HILL
After an uproar, Gov. Charlie Baker approves the release of more (but not all) nof the money appropriated for low-income heating assistance to offset cuts by the federal government. (Berkshire Eagle)
Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield says the Berkshires are facing a domestic violence crisis. (Berkshire Eagle)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has brought four people aboard its management team, two of whom are filling new positions recommended by a consultant that conducted a top-to-bottom review of the ferry line’s operations. (Cape Cod TImes)
The Methuen City Council has forestalled layoffs in the police department by moving around nearly $600,000 in the city’s budget for police equipment and free cash. (Eagle-Tribune)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Close to $1 billion has pledged already to restoration efforts following Monday’s devastating fire at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. (New York Times)
ELECTIONS
Elizabeth Warren seems to be able to juice her low-dollar fundraising efforts with new policy pronouncements, reinforcing her image as the most issue-focused candidate in the Democratic presidential field, but one experienced campaign operative says the problem is “she’s going to run out of things to announce.” (Boston Globe)
On your mark, get Seth, go? US Rep. Seth Moulton was seen with a video crew on the Marblehead waterfront, further presumed evidence of an imminent presidential campaign announcement, says Axios.
Jeff Jacoby says inmates should not be allowed to vote, as Bernie Sanders has proposed. (Boston Globe)
Act Blue, the online fundraising machine for Democrats that has hauled in $3.3 billion, is housed in a nondescript office building in Somerville’s Davis Square. (WBUR)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Carter Wilkie reviews two new books that suggest one of the primary causes of income inequality is industry consolidation. For many politicians, the solution is to rein in the monopolists. (CommonWealth)
The strike against Stop & Shop by 31,000 workers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island is quickly taking a toll on business, with many stores nearly empty as shoppers take their grocery lists elsewhere. (Boston Globe) Joe Biden is joining the growing list of Democratic pols (Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey) coming out in support of the striking workers. He plans to speak at the South Bay Stop & Shop store on Thursday along with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. (MassLive) Stop & Shop made plans to roll out a driverless grocery store this spring called Robomart, one of many ways that food purveyors are adapting to new technology and shopping habits. (WGBH)
Fall River is seeing strong early revenue from marijuana businesses, according to Financial Services director Mary Sahady. That includes its first recreational host fee from Northeast Alternatives, the first medical and recreational dispensary in Fall River. (Herald News)
EDUCATION
Boston has narrowed its search for a new school superintendent to three candidates, who will undergo public interviews on successive nights next week. (Boston Globe)
Nonprofit Triangle, Inc. is using April vacation to teach youth with disabilities in Randolph a few secrets of the job market they won’t learn in class. (Brockton Enterprise)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
A new federal grant to the Framingham Heart Study will allow the landmark research project to probe the biology of aging. (Boston Globe)
State Rep. Claire Cronin has proposed a law establishing an “emergency task force” to review the financial stability of nursing homes in Massachusetts. (Brockton Enterprise)
TRANSPORTATION
Beleaguered taxi drivers say a Massport plan to have ride-hailing passengers at Logan Airport go to a central pickup spot for rides offers a small ray of hope for a boost for cabbies, who will still be able to get passengers directly at terminal curbsides. (Boston Globe)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The Department of Public Utilities approves a $168 million offshore wind bonus for the state’s three utilities. Attorney General Maura Healey, who says it’s money for nothing, describes the ruling as a “dangerous precedent.” (CommonWealth)
In the face of climate change, Peter Papesche and Franziska Amacher say it’s time for people to start retreating. (CommonWealth)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
A California couple indicted in the college admissions scandal is seeking to have their case dismissed because they say prosecutors have made a charging error by joining them as defendants in a conspiracy with other parents whom they don’t know. (Boston Globe)
Media critic Dan Kennedy wonders why Rupert Murdoch is letting the Wall Street Journal take punches at Trump. (WGBH)