Starry-eyed dreamer
By ADAM REILLY | September 20, 2006
Deval Patrick after last night's Primary results |
When Deval Patrick’s landslide win in Tuesday’s Democratic gubernatorial primary gets parsed in the coming days, much attention will be paid to the formidable organization Patrick built in cities and towns across Massachusetts. But while his grassroots triumph is surely noteworthy, it’s just part of the story. Patrick organized so effectively — and won the primary by such a big margin — because of something far less tangible: his ability to cast his candidacy as a collective existential project that transcends mere politics.Think that sounds hokey? Not when Patrick’s talking, it doesn’t — and not coincidentally, this particular message was front and center in his post-primary speech at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel Tuesday night. When Patrick finally took the stage, a little after 11 pm, this was the first thing he said: “From the very beginning . . . I’ve asked you to see this not as my campaign, but as yours. Not as my chance to be governor, but as your chance to reclaim our civic and political future. And that’s why tonight’s victory is yours.” Then, a few minutes later: “Not only did we win at the polls, we turned a political campaign into a movement for change.” Later still, as his speech was drawing to a close: “We’ve already changed politics in Massachusetts, but this is not the end. This is not the end. At most, this is the end of the beginning . . . The real change comes when every man, woman and child in this commonwealth has a reason to hope.”
The knock on Patrick’s message is obvious: it sounds nice, but it doesn’t actually mean anything. Patrick’s Democratic opponents said as much during the primary, and Howie Carr & Co. will hammer away at the same point on WRKO-AM from now until Election Day. But this critique is too facile. At this particular point in time — after the Clinton years, and the Bush years, and Mitt Romney’s opportunistic stint as Massachusetts governor — the notion that politics could actually be ennobling is as exhilarating as it is counterintuitive. Tom Reilly would have trouble making this argument convincingly; so would Chris Gabrieli. But Patrick is another story.
Yeah, his opposition to the voter-approved income-tax rollback is a serious liability, and Republican nominee Kerry Healey is sure to make the most of it between now and November. On the other hand, opportunities to vote your aspirations only come along once or twice in a lifetime. Patrick gives voters just such a chance — and if Tuesday was any indication, they’re inclined to take him up on it. Healey may be getting more than she bargained for.
On the Web
Adam Reilly's Talking Politics: http://www.thephoenix.com/talkingpolitics
Deval Patrick: http://www.devalpatrick.com/
Related:
Smearing Deval Patrick, The Italian job, Primary choler, More 
- Smearing Deval Patrick
Deval Patrick has been the subject of a string of daily newspaper stories that, if taken together, suggest Patrick was a tool of giant corporate interests and a hypocrite for running his once insurgent campaign under a progressive banner.
- The Italian job
One basic premise unites the men and women who run for office and the men and women who cover their campaigns: when candidates talk, people care what they have to say.
- Primary choler
David Eichenbaum has no regrets about the ad campaign his Washington, DC, political media firm Struble Eichenbaum created for local entrepreneur Chris Gabrieli.
- Can Beacon Hill do better?
With DiMasi gone, the idea of casino gambling is again alive.
- The incompetence candidate
When Martin Lomasney ruled Boston’s West End a century ago, dirty tricks were key to his political success — but so was discretion.
- Corporate accountability
Maybe, In the wake of his landslide win at this month’s democratic caucuses, Deval Patrick Is the new front-runner.
- Debating pointers
Well, folks, Fox 25 certainly set the bar with its debate broadcast Monday night, don’t you think? So with that in mind, here are some helpful hints for the bake-offs to come. Blue Mass Group's anti-Healey ad (YouTube) Christy Mihos's Big Dig TV ad
- Deval’s dance with labor
One of the most revealing currents political observers will soon be watching is how Governor Deval Patrick deals with organized labor.
- No side bets
Opponents of legalized gaming in Massachusetts are celebrating the death this past week of Governor Deval Patrick’s bill to license casinos, which was crushed by a seemingly decisive margin of more than two-to-one.
- Survivor: Worcester
It’s the question of the moment in state politics: when the Massachusetts Democratic Party wraps up its 2006 convention on June 3, will all three Democratic candidates for governor still be standing?
- Shape up, governor
If the Phoenix were grading the recent performance of Governor Deval Patrick, we'd give him somewhere between a B and a B- for pure policy, but between a C- and D+ for political skill.
- Less
Topics:
This Just In
, Deval Patrick, Mitt Romney, U.S. Government, More
, Deval Patrick, Mitt Romney, U.S. Government, U.S. State Government, Elections and Voting, Politics, U.S. Politics, Political Parties, U.S. Republican Party Politics, Kerry Healey, Less
