An Endorsement:

For Governor in Tuesday's general election, the Chimes at Midnight proudly endorses Governor Deval Patrick for re-election.
There has been a lot of talk these past twenty years about "reform" most of it from Republicans desperate to be elected or re-elected and to the point where the word lost all meaning.
But reform clearly means something to Deval Patrick, because despite his early mis-steps he has pushed thru real change in the Commonwealth in the teeth of serious opposition on and off Beacon Hill. I like the police well enough, but when their unions go banging the pots for Tim Cahill or Charlie Baker because they are all for extortionate overtime pay, well that tells me all I need to know about where Deval Patrick's gut is.
When bullying came to the forefront, the Governor spoke up clearly and decisively, that tells me all I need to know about his moral compass and where it points.
When the gays of this state asked for nothing more than the legal status of matrimony, Deval Patrick came thru with alacrity, that tells me all I need to know about his heart.
I don't agree with him about casinos but he never been a sneak or a jerk about it, this compares admirably with the routine pussyfooting that characterizes his four predecessors.
We are faced with a worldwide economic recession, Deval Patrick isn't up there pounding the podium and promising phat times thru the simple expedient of running the poor out of the state at the point of a bayonet.
No he has remained true to himself and has refused to indulge the usual bluster, it has been so long since a Governor treated us like adults that we hardly know how to act...None of his biggest critics in the local punditariat get this at all.
For all these reasons, I am happily voting for Deval Patrick, I urge my readers (all seven of you) to do likewise.