I was living in Mass when he was governor. He was pretty popular for a GOP gov in liberal Mass, much closer to the middle than the right.
He also is (or at least was) a dead head. During the dead's run at the old Boston Garden in '91 I saw him between sets as he came walking through a sea of tie-dyed heads, wearing a suit and surrounded by his state trooper detail who were also were wearing suits...Weld is a tall (6'4" or so) redhead (more likely gray by now, but whatever) so between that and the cops and the suits he stuck out like sore thumb. But was clearly in his happy place as strolled along with a huge smile on his face and waved to the all heads every time one yelled "hey gov nice to see ya!" I met him a few years later and told him that story and we had a good laugh about it.
[Edited on 5/20/2016 by gondicar]
