Excitement is building as the late decisions of voters -- and of newspaper editorial boards -- are clearly swinging towards
Deval Patrick to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Massachussetts.
The latest CBS poll: With one day left in the Democratic race for governor in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick is holding onto a huge lead in an exclusive new CBS4 Fast Track survey. He leads Chris Gabrieli by 17 points heading into Tuesday's primary. Tom Reilly is 24 points behind.
According to a Fast Track survey of 682 likely Massachusetts Democratic Primary voters, conducted exclusively for CBS4, Patrick received 46%, Gabrieli 29% and Reilly 22%. 3% are still undecided. The margin of error is 3.8%
Patrick and Reilly are up one point from an identical survey released six days ago. Gabrieli's results are unchanged.
The Earlier CBS/Boston Globe poll found 45% of likely Democratic primary voters voting for Patrick. Businessman Chris Gabrieli who has spent more than $8 million since June, mostly on TV ads, came in at 29%; and two time Attorney General Tom Reilly had 21%.
An WHDH/Sufflok University Poll, also just out has Patrick leading
...with 37 percent. Chris Gabrieli in second place with 29 percent. Tom Reilly is in third with 21 percent, and 11 percent are still undecided.
"Deval Patrick has the commanding lead," Professor David Paleologos, a Suffolk University Pollster, said. "This is the place you want to be going into Election Day. A dwindling undecided... he has a fairly comfortable lead. Since our last poll August 22, he's had great television, great debate performances and now, this is a test of his Internet platform, and whether he gets his vote out tomorrow."
While Reilly and Gabrielli have received some editorial endoresements as well, Patrick appears to have by far the most, including that of the Boston Globe, the state's largest and leading newspaper.
Here are some quotes from recent endorsement editorials.
The Berkshire Eagle
President George H. W. Bush mocked it as "the vision thing," and it while is easy to deride the concept that an elected official should have a defining vision of what his position entails and what he can bring to the table, that vision is an important element of governing. Government is nuts and bolts, but it also involves providing voters with ideals to inspire them and give them hope that good can be achieved. With the governmental process largely rooted in fear and cynicism, appeals to voters' better nature are rarely seen today.
That kind of idealism -- vision, if you will -- has emerged in the Democratic campaign for governor in the person of Deval Patrick. His rich life history, his grasp of the issues, his eloquence, are all enhanced by a passion and optimism that are rare in politics and mark him as a person with extraordinary potential. The Eagle enthusiastically endorses him for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Somerville Journal Deval Patrick understands that cities facing the challenges presented to Somerville - aging infrastructure, few train stops despite many trains running through the city, children of many languages to educated and a sky-rocketing cost of living - can become opportunities with the right help from the state. Patrick is the only candidate in favor of returning local aid to the cities and not to the pockets of wealthy suburbanites via ill-advised tax cuts.
Patrick has experience hiring the right people as the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the agency responsible for enforcing the nation's civil rights laws. He's witnessed first-hand drug problems that can destroy cities and the fight against addiction Somerville is now waging. But to a man, his supporters say, "Deval's ability to really listen" to all points of view is the quality that will carry him to Beacon Hill. And it is for that quality that we endorse Deval Patrick.
Ipswitch Chronicle
He has the ability to connect with people on all sides of the socio-economic spectrum, from the poor to those at the highest levels of government and business. No other candidate, Democrat or Republican, can boast his range of experience.
It's that impressive resume, coupled with a sincere and engaging personal style, that has enabled him to amass an impressive grassroots support network of 7,000 volunteers and more than $4 million in campaign funds, a million of that from Internet contributions, according to his Web site. To date he has the support of 23 labor and professional organizations, from pipe fitters to professors. He also has the support of Clean Water Action and more than a dozen other advocacy groups, and dozens of local, state and county officials.
While Healey and Democratic contender Chris Gabrieli have been able to bolster their campaigns with millions in their own personal wealth, Patrick is approaching his campaign the old-fashioned way: by earning it, one voter, one buck at a time. We like his style.
Worcester Magazine
His critics have called Patrick a man of contradictions. On the contrary; he is a man of convictions, with a record demonstrating values that have long been clear and consistent. He is also a thinking man, unbound by political definition or restriction. Having followed his grassroots campaign from the very beginning, we strongly believe his intelligence, confidence and humanity defy the political stereotypes with which his opponents have tried to brand him.
Patrick is the most rare of candidates, an enlightened social liberal with a strong business background. He has worked for Texaco, Coca-Cola, and the parent company of Ameriquest -- some of the last institutions to serve as bastions of progressive action; yet rather than be compromised by those environments, he has been an influence for reform, and a strong one. His platform for economic growth is intelligent and detailed. Here is a social progressive who understands that Massachusetts must welcome new business and promote the growth of all business to ensure economic prosperity.
While open to a rollback of the income tax from 5.3% to 5%, he has avoided the facile campaign promise to cut taxes; rather, he would tie such a reduction to the growth of the economy as a whole in order to prevent even more onerous property taxes than exist now. He has been refreshingly frank in his reminder that reducing one form of tax usually means hikes elsewhere. In fact, he believes in a focus on local aid for cities and towns in order to keep property taxes under control.
He is a believer in alternative energy, in increased police presence, and in the rights of same-sex couples. He is also a man of color. Although he has said people "need to get over it" as far as his candidacy is concerned, his record as President Clinton's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and as a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund demonstrate the high sensitivity to the needs of minorities that comes with personal ethics and identity. He is an aggressive proponent of civil rights.
Boston Phoenix
If political campaigns foreshadow how candidates would govern, then Patrick would be ambitious and energetic, principled and focused. He began his race for the Democratic slot on the November ballot as a long-shot outsider, someone who had the guts to challenge the go-along-to-get-along elements of the party who were -- and are -- more interested in patronage and spoils than in ideas and change.
Patrick beat the so-called wise guys, the insiders, at their own game: first by dominating the statewide caucuses and then by winning the state convention. If he is able to win Tuesday's primary, as we hope he will, his victory will go a long way toward demonstrating to the people of Massachusetts that it's time to terminate the 16-year lease the Republicans have held on the governor's office.
The Boston Globe
Patrick says he wants to effect a change in the culture on Beacon Hill; his successes doing that in the corporate sector -- where both Coke and Texaco were facing difficult mandates to diversify from top to bottom -- help us believe it is more than just rhetoric. Judging from the ``brain trust" of policy advisers he already has attracted to the campaign, we are confident he will build an administration full of the talent and energy that have been shut out of government -- both in the executive and the Legislature -- for too long.
He has experience in the plushest office suites and the meanest urban streets. He has the range, the maturity, and the skill to lead Massachusetts through precarious times.
IN CHOOSING A governor to run the state, voters look for executive experience, wise issue positions, and the intangible quality of leadership. It is a rare thing when a candidate has all three. We believe Massachusetts Democrats and independent voters have such a person in Deval Patrick. The Globe strongly endorses his candidacy in the gubernatorial primary Sept. 19.