Thursday, May 12, 2005

Deval Patrick in Menotomy

The Gubernatorial candidate came through my chesty little suburb last week and tested out his stump speech on the local democrats and spartans.
Generally it went over well, he is a able charismatic man in many ways, with that weird "Clinton style" sincerity goin' on.
Whether or not the "Politics of Hope" (a referent from the Imperial high Noon of Bill Clinton with roots going back to Hubert Humphrey) has any chance here in the Commonwealth is another thing entirely.
Still and all that Patrick is talking about tangible stuff, jobs-with a good dose of Massachusetts nationalism thrown in, public education, health care, civic engagement etc etc etc.
And wonder of wonder he brought up the Governor's mania for increasing fees, geez you'd think Patrick reall wanted to win or something!
He does a very good compare and contrast act....reminds me a lot of one of the better talk show hosts.
Patrick clearly thinks a lot and can present his ideas in a concise compelling fashion, but like Romney Patrick is a bit of blanks slate with few local props. These days however that can be an advantage.
The book at this point makes Patrick - an earnest death penalty opponent and something of a liberal, the easier opponent for Mitt, that is assuming Decaf is even in the race. I dunno, I have a feeling Patrick's sincerity might come across strong on TV...and Mitt is a crashing bore once he starts talking...that could be a pretty tight contest.
The crowd clearly liked what it was hearing, but then there is as yet a bit of a void in the democratic ranks so at the moment everyone is getting a fair hearing.
Heard some grumblings on the way out about Patrick's stint as a corporation lawyer, but thats to be expected with this crowd.

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