I don't know how many of you have been following the governor's race in Massachusetts, but there's been an interesting development: a true progressive has a chance to win. His name is Deval Patrick and I've drunk the kool-aid. He's the only candidate who truly supports renewable energy in Massachusetts, all the other candidates have kneeled down before special interests on an opportunity to create wind mills that would safely, quietly and discreetly power 2/3rds of Cape Cod's electricity.
Pictures and my general take on the event below the fold. If there's interest in Deval Patrick or this article, I'll give a detailed analysis of the entire speech... including more pictures and direct quotes.
Here are some pictures:
Deval Patrick speaking to the crowd.
A true grassroots candidate, going town to town meeting all the people. About a hundred people crammed into the small Library Browsing Area.
Deval and I after the speech.
Some things I learned from this speech:
1. I really need a better digital camera. I took two pictures with Deval and neither of them came out well. I took about 18 pictures at the event... and the first one I posted here was just about the only one to come out clear. Yikes.
2. Large rallies are a lot of fun and Deval Patrick gave an excellent one earlier in the year at Faneuil Hall in Boston which was great. There a real kinetic energy that only comes from the excitement of a crowd of thousands of people and a rousing speech that doesn't disappoint. However, nothing compares to an intimate setting where anyone has a chance to ask a question and anyone can sit up close while a candidate speaks (I was two or three rows away from Deval Patrick). Deval really knew how to speak to a smaller audience. He was funny when he should have been funny, specific when he needed to be and had a way of reaching everyone who was there (and, while it was a small venue, there was still probably about a hundred people there).
3. He's candid. Especially during Q&A, if someone asked him a question in which he wasn't an expert, he didn't pretend to be. He offered goals, not promises. If there was a question he wasn't an expert on, he openly admitted it instead of trying to hackishly answer the question anyway. Isn't it nice these kinds of politicians still exist?
4. The Boston Globe is a weapon of mass destruction when it comes to his campaign. Sadly, it seems like an establishment paper that wants the same old politicians in the same old offices. Take any story they write about Deval Patrick with a grain of salt. I feel naive, but there was a time and age when I thought the Boston Globe was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sometimes I have too much pride in all things Boston.
5. I'm extremely confident that Deval Patrick will whip some serious butt in the debates and as he continues to travel around the state, speaking to the people on a personal basis, being a true grassroots candidate. My bet is that a significant amount of people who vote for him during the primaries will have had at least one opportunity to shake his hand if they really wanted to - and a significant portion will probably have gotten that handshake... like me.
I took detailed notes during the entire speech, but suffice it to say he got a huge positive reaction for his stances on things like renewable energy, the shameful state of public higher education in Massachusetts and what he means by being "no ordinary leader." I was continually surprised at the detail of his knowledge and his command on issues that weren't even major issues throughout the state, such as extending the transit system to South Eastern Massachusetts. Do other Bay State politicians familiarize themselves with all things Massachusetts like Deval Patrick seemingly has?
If people seem interested in this topic, I'll follow up on it with direct quotes from and more pictures of the event. There was a lot he talked about - things that are both important here and elsewhere. Candidates like Deval Patrick are exactly the type of candidates we need running all across the United States: progressive, candid, thoughtful, charasmatic, caring, and with a real chance to win through people-powered, grassroot efforts.