It’s Trump’s fault. 

Not the insurrection at the US Capitol or the discrediting of fairly conducted elections or the general degradation of democratic principles — though there may be those things, too. In this case, the damage done by the former president is to Charlie Baker’s approval ratings. 

The governor, whose political standing with voters seemed to defy the laws of gravity, has seen his poll numbers come down closer to earth, and Politico’s Stephanie Murray says Trump is to blame. Not because of anything he did, but rather because he’s now gone.

“Wildly unpopular in Massachusetts, Trump served as a foil for Baker, who was able to establish his own political independence — and win over Democratic constituents — by frequently criticizing his fellow Republican,” she writes.

With no Trump to kick around anymore, Baker is finding himself on the receiving end of the blue-state brickbats. And he’s not alone, says Murray, who points to falling approval ratings for two other Republican governors in heavily Democratic states, Maryland’s Larry Hogan and Phil Scott in Vermont. 

Baker’s approval rating has fallen from close to 80 percent last August to 52 percent last month, she writes. He’s seen a similar falloff in polls asking specifically about his handling of the COVID pandemic. 

And there’s the rub. Trump’s exit has coincided with the state’s problem-plagued vaccine rollout and a growing overall weariness with the pandemic as it enters its second year. That makes it hard to tease out any independent effect of Trump’s disappearance from the public stage. 

Still, it’s not just public poll numbers that have shifted for Baker. The Democrats who dominate the Legislature have shown a new willingness to spar more directly with him, including in two recent oversight hearings where the lawmakers Baker loves to refer to as “our colleagues” have been decidedly less collegial. 

“We just seem to have thrown the playbook out and decided on something completely different,” Sen. Cindy Friedman told Baker bluntly in yesterday’s hearing, criticizing the administration’s turn away from long-established plans to rely on local public health departments in a crisis. She called the testimony to that effect yesterday from municipal health officials “damning.” 

Despite the dip in poll numbers, Baker’s coronavirus approval rating was still 59 percent last month. Hogan’s approval rating on his handling of the pandemic went from 78 percent to 64 percent, while Scott’s had ticked down just 8 points, from 78 percent to 70 percent. 

If that’s the sort of punishment in store for Republican governors, Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom may be looking to sign up. 

MICHAEL JONAS

FROM COMMONWEALTH

No one thinks Kim Janey is mapping out a caretaker’s plan for the period from now until the  November election, during which she’ll serve as Boston’s acting mayor. These look instead very much like the opening moves of a run for a full four-year term as mayor this fall, a campaign in which Janey would enjoy tremendous advantages against an impressive field of fellow mayoral hopefuls. Read more.

Virus notes: Sen. Barry Finegold urges the Baker administration to begin work on a vaccine pass that could be used to gain access to restaurants, music venues, and Fenway Park. Check out other reports on the hiring of vaccine appointment website vendors, the balancing act involved in reopening the state’s economy, another missed target for Johnson & Johnson, and the state’s application for a FEMA mass vaccination site. Read more.

State lawmakers press Baker on why he scrapped a vaccine playbook relying on local boards of health that the state spent millions of dollars and 20 years developing. Read more.

The Baker administration’s calculation of how many people are eligible for vaccinations in each phase of the rollout is off by about 1 million people because of double counting. Read more.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

You had to know this was coming: Howie Carr has a field day contemplating the “casual elegance” of Lt. Gov. Karyn Politio’s new $1.8 million summer home in Dartmouth. CommonWealth was first to report on the palatial Polito purchase. 

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Worcester considers providing a permanent option to allow remote participation at public meetings. (Telegram & Gazette)

A Northampton commission recommends shifting the response to many 911 calls away from the police to a clinician or volunteer-led team that can handle things like mental health crises. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Epidemiologists, with a handful of caveats, are saying the worst of the coronavirus pandemic appears to be over. (NPR)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Marty Walsh was sworn in by Vice President Harris and is now the country’s secretary of labor. (Boston Globe)

The White House is considering extending federal eviction ban. (Washington Post) 

ELECTIONS

In an uncontested Andover town election, the only action at the polls came from teachers protesting for better wages and a finalized contract. (Eagle-Tribune)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Indoor event and entertainment businesses are finally gearing up to reopen. (The Herald News) A Berkshire Eagle editorial endorses vaccine passports.

EDUCATION

State education commissioner Jeff Riley approves waivers for 58 districts to push back their return to full in-person classes for elementary school students beyond the April 5 deadline he had set. (Boston Globe) Boston’s application for a waiver is still being considered. (Boston Herald)

The state board of higher education wants community colleges to significantly increase the number of classes delivered in person this fall. (Boston Globe)

Football players at Duxbury High School used anti-Semitic terms to call football plays, including using the word Auschwitz, the name of the infamous Nazi death camp. (Patriot Ledger) Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy says it’s not a close call: the Duxbury football coach must go. 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

An independent review of an arrest made at a Swampscott protest, after an anti-Trump protester assaulted a pro-Trump protester, found no evidence that the police acted in a racist manner, but found that the arresting officer did escalate the situation and the initial investigation was done in a cursory manner. (Salem News)

The State Police Trooper union sues the State Police, alleging that the police intentionally calculated pay in a way that unfairly lowered the amount of overtime paid. (Associated Press)

Cedric Cromwell, the former tribal council chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, is charged with filing federal tax returns on top of earlier charges of bribery and extortion. (Cape Cod Times)

The Worcester Patrolmen’s Union says it will never again endorse DA Joseph Early, after Early drops charges against more than a dozen people arrested at Black Lives Matter protests. (MassLive)

MEDIA

Dan Kennedy has more on the post-Trump media slump. (Media Nation)