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Keller @ Large: Baker, Fisher Show Sharp Differences In WBZ-TV Roundtable

BOSTON (CBS) - The two Republican candidates for governor of Massachusetts met in their first televised encounter Friday at WBZ-TV, just 24 days before the primary election.

There were some sharp differences of opinion in the roundtable discussion, especially when Tea Party candidate Mark Fisher claimed Charlie Baker, the party's convention nominee, would be just a continuation of the Deval Patrick era.

"Charlie and Deval agree on a host of things," Fisher said. "Health care being a right, climate change, gun control, minimum wage, immigration. We don't need Deval's identical twin, we need his identical opposite, and that's me."

"I wanted to see Governor Patrick succeed when he got elected because, fundamentally, it's about governing," Baker said.

"With respect to him being my identical twin, I think anyone who watched the race four years ago knows I have plenty of concerns about the way he's managed the Commonwealth."

The two candidates also discussed immigration, police relations with communities of color, and the role of the Tea Party in the GOP.

You can watch the entire discussion this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV or anytime thereafter on CBS Boston.com.

The three Democratic candidates will attend a similar roundtable discussion on Friday August 29.  That will air Sunday August 31 at 8:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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