Deval Patrick - The Real Deal

[beaconess]

Lost in all of campaign homestretch hoopla and Obama furor is one of the most exciting prospects we've had in years - Deval Patrick, who is leading in the polls in the Massachusetts governor race.

This guy has it all - sharp mind, solid credentials, an inclusive message and he don't take no mess from anybody, especially his opponent. All of this is framed by a compelling personal history - born into poverty on the south side of Chicago, awarded a scholarship to an elite prep school where he excelled, first Black winner of the Harvard Law School Moot Court competition, a civil rights lawyer and head of the Clinton Justice Department's civil rights division. He's attracting support in every community and across party lines.

Although he stands poised to become only the second Black governor since Reconstruction, Patrick's gotten little national attention - which is probably good - he'll get plenty of attention if and after he wins.

There'd be another wonderful by-product of a Patrick win in Massachusetts - it would take some of the heat and pressure off of Barack Obama to be everyone's "Great Black Hope." And this would set the stage for 2008, when there will be even more exciting, dynamic and highly qualified Black candidates running in Senate, House, gubernatorial - and maybe even presidential - races across the country.

GO, Deval!!!

[mduffy31]

1. I hope that the "Willie Horton" esq ads don't do anything

But I truat that the voters in Mass are too smart to fall for it.

[Mass]

2. 3 polls today - Deval ahead by 24 to 27 points.

Actually, one poll showed that these ads hurt... Muffy (Healey).

[beaconess]

11. How does that compare to before - is he moving up?

[shawmut]

12. It's up from a 13 point lead earlier this month n/t

[wicket]

22. No, in fact they have helped him increase his lead

Talk about backfiring, BIG TIME!

[globalvillage]

3. Arf!

[beaconess]

5. I LOVE it!!!

Is that your dog? What a cutiepie!!!

[globalvillage]

7. No, but I took the pic at the Deval rally

a week ago Sunday. Isn't he a cutie?

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Certainly smarter that the average Mass. conservative voter

[beaconess]

10. Maybe not - Patrick is getting crossover support from conservatives

Working people of both parties are really connecting to him. He really is a uniter.

It's being said that if Harold Ford wins Tennessee, that's a sign that Obama or another Black candidate may be able to do well across the country. But I think that a win in Massachusetts would be just as indicative - Massachusetts has proven over the years to be one of the most racist places in the country. The fact that just 30 years after the vicious anti-busing riots tore apart Boston a Black man is about to be elected governor speaks volumes.

[beaconess]

9. He's reason enough to vote for Deval all by himself!

You should send the picture to the campaign.

[mom cat]

27. Looks like Patrick has a lot of white support too!

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Kerry Healey is self destructing, not that she had much to destruct.

It's fun watching her fall on her face.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Yes, I saw a segment about him in the news tonight

He is a fine candidate and I hope he wins!

[Bonobo]

13. Sssshh! We don't want him Obamatized by the press.

IMO, what the media is doing to Obama is the exact opposite of what the Whining Psychotic did. His strategy is to ALWAYS lower expectations made placed upon him. On the other hand, the expectations placed on Obama are being intentionally raised which could work against him.

[beaconess]

14. So which is it - should the press cover Dems or not

When they don't cover us, we complain that they're ignoring us. When they do cover us, it must be a plot to ultimately destroy us.

Or would you feel better if they covered Obama but trashed him so expectations about him won't get too high?

I never begrudge positive coverage for anyone. Positive coverage of Obama or Patrick or Edwards or just about anyone else with a "D-" after their name reflects well on Democrats as a whole. The press all too often does a hatchet job on our people, so when they give favorable coverage, I'm not mad at them.

[DeepModem Mom]

15. K&R

[bdamomma]

16. I hope he wins

he has alot to offer Massachusetts.

[Totally Committed]

17. Neighborhood sign count:

On my morning walk, I did a sign count: In my neighborhood, alone, (approx. 50 houses) the current count of signs is 16 for Patrick, and 2 for Healey.

That's amazing.

TC

Edited for typo

[beaconess]

18. Excellent Washington Post piece on Deval Patrick

A Long Way From Home
Deval Patrick Ran From the Gangs in Chicago. In Boston, He's Running Again -- For Governor.

By Wil Haygood
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; C01


BOSTON It wasn't Mississippi and it wasn't Alabama. But in the 1970s, many blacks were frightened just to climb the steps of Charlestown High. Police officers had to escort students to their classrooms while this tightknit white neighborhood howled and demonstrated against integration.

And now, here is Deval Patrick, 50, a black man and the Democratic candidate for governor, gliding through his main campaign headquarters. In Charlestown.
. . .

Patrick went to Beacon Hill, the seat of the state government, to get the blessings of Democratic powerbrokers. In the era of Jesse "the Body" Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, no one argues that there is a required path to a governorship. But the party elders were focused on state Attorney General Tom Reilly. Also in the running was former lieutenant governor nominee Chris Gabrieli. "They told me it wasn't my turn," Patrick says. He smiled, shook hands and ignored them.

On the issues, Patrick wants more money for middle-class and low-income housing. He wants to lighten skyrocketing property taxes across the state. He stresses the need for alternative energy strategies. He has assailed overcrowded classrooms and called for better employment and education programs for drug offenders when they are released from prison. But his appeal to voters rests just as much on a message of optimism, his personal charisma and his uplifting personal story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401447_pf.html

[zippy890]

19. am more impressed with Deval Patrick

than Obama.

I have heard Deval Patrick speak twice, and he is very inspirational, a wonderful speaker with awesome ideas. I have seen people moved to tears after hearing him, one saying "I haven't felt like this listening to a politician since Bobby Kennedy"

Obama put me to sleep sometimes, I have to admit, when I've heard him on talkshows going on and on, though maybe he's better in person.

anyways i'm very proud of my state of Mass. and Deval Patrick will be a great governor!

[TayTay]

20. I love Deval.

I have heard him speak to large crowds at Faneuil Hall and the DCU and to small back-yard cookouts and he was just outstanding at all these events. (And is a world-class hugger.) I saw Deval speak last year at the Boston-To-Selma tribute march and he was passionate and eloquent. "We saw those people abandoned on the rooftops in New Orleans. But we know those people were abandoned long before Katrina hit. The storm ripped the illusion away that someone actually cared about them."(paraphrased from memory) That was when Deval became, 'my guy.'

If anything, I love his wife, Dianne, even more than him. They are a wonderful team and Deval is going to be a great Governor.




I took this pic last year at the March. We were at the First Church in Roxbury. Cong. John Lewis is at the podium, behind him is Tom Menino, Mayor of Boston, next to John Lewis is Sen. Kerry, and next to KErry is Deval Patrick. That was a great, great day.

[zippy890]

24. went to a rally for him in Boston a few weeks ago

and what I noticed & loved about it (besides Deval) was the wonderful
diversity of people in the crowd. Multi-racial, multi- ethnic, seniors, lots of young people- a cross section of all people, all believing that we can work together to make a better community for everyone.

Deval does this to people, he makes you want to turn to the person next to you and shake their hand and say 'We are a community'

I haven't seen to much about Deval's wife Diane - and am interested in why you like her so much.

:hi:

am going to Worcester rally - Bill Clinton & Deval today~ looks to be an exciting event.

[TayTay]

25. She is a warm, smart, funny and wonderful woman

She is just great to talk to. As Deval said to us at a cookout this summer, "If I can't persuade you to vote for me, just spend 5 minutes with my wife. She'll get you."

Besides, there is this:

Diane Patrick lends her voice, personal touch

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | June 25, 2006

One in a series of profiles on the spouses of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates.

Twenty-five years ago, Diane Patrick was at the end of a failed marriage. Her then-husband was "not a nice man," she said. He did not want to let go.

"I was very afraid," she said. "He said, 'If you can't be with me, you're not going to be with anybody else,' and that was very frightening."

Then one day a close friend reported that she'd met a "spectacular" young man. Diane resisted at first, but finally agreed to meet Deval L. Patrick , then fresh out of Harvard Law School. She was taken by this "friendly, funny, well-spoken" fellow who "seemed a gentleman." But as they began to fall in love, she worried that her first husband would come after them.

"There were times I said to Deval, I don't know if you want to be with me, because I don't know what my husband would be inclined to do to us," Diane Patrick recalled in an interview. ``He said, `I'm not afraid, and you shouldn't be either.'

"I was five years older than he was," she said, her steady voice quavering almost imperceptibly. "I was going through a difficult divorce. I wasn't this Ivy League-educated person. He had the world available to him, and he stuck with me through probably the most difficult time in my life, and I didn't have much to offer him. Deval didn't give me a voice, but he reminded me that I had one, because I had forgotten I did."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/06/25/diane_patrick_lends_her_voice_personal_touch/

[intheflow]

21. I agree.

One of the long-term volunteers I worked with down here (in Biloxi, MS) was engaged to someone in the Patrick campaign. She had a dvd from a campaign event which she showed to everyone. Patrick was engaging, amusing, thoughtful, insightful, and all-around genuine article. He makes me wish I still lived in Massachusetts so I could vote for him.

[blm]

23. Deval has a get going attitude that I appreciate - a WORKHORSE attitude

with a bit of showhorse dazzle.

My favorite lawmakers are ALL workhorses with only the slightest dash of show.

[ArmchairMeme]

26. Patrick is good for Massachusetts

I see and hear the work that he did a grassroots level all these months now coming together to work for him. He speaks of hope and possibility, that "things" can be better. I am so glad to see a person with a positive attitude becoming the winner in our state.

The negative advertisements from the Healey campaign are offputting and are bringing her down. I think people are very very very tired of hearing terra terra terra.

I am so glad to have the opportunity to vote for Patrick as he has been a winner his entire life and it is through his own efforts that made him so. He is an inspiration.

[beaconess]

28. I think the posts in this thread show why Deval is a winner

Even DUers from across the spectrum seem to agree that Deval Patrick is fantastic.

If he can bring US together, just think what he can do for Massachusetts! :-)