Kiss of Death: Deval Patrick Gets Convention Endorsement
by Aaron Margolis, June 3rd, 2006 at 11:25pm
Convention delegates gave Deval Patrick “thumbs up” at today’s Democratic Convention, but Democrats will still find all three candidates on the primary ballot.
Deval Patrick, a political novice whose campaign for governor has stirred the grass roots of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, won a strong endorsement at the state convention yesterday, outpacing two well-established and well-funded political figures.
After a day of nail-biting, venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli barely just squeaked past the 15 percent threshold of delegate support required to also win a place on the ballot for the Sept. 19 primary. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, who received 27 percent, will join them.
The results set the stage for what is expected to be a very competitive, expensive, and difficult-to-predict contest for the Democratic nomination.
Patrick, denouncing what he said is the party’s “politics as usual” culture and “backroom” dealings, received the backing of 58 percent of the 4,400 delegates.
“I came from nearly nothing to a decisive victory in the convention, so I’m thrilled,” he said after accepting the endorsement. “There’s something fundamentally threatening about being an outsider candidate . . . but that’s not going to deter me, because that’s what I believe we need right now in Massachusetts.”
The victory makes Patrick the first African-American to be endorsed by a major political party for governor in Massachusetts history. His 10-minute speech to the delegates, touching on his path as a frightened 14-year-old boy from Chicago’s South Side to elite education and success in Massachusets, made some in the crowd weep.
“I’ve been around elected officials for a very long time,” said Bruce Bolling, a former Boston City Council president. “There are very few people I find as impressive as he is. He is so much an American story. His ability to communicate and touch the heartstrings of people is absolutely phenomenal.”
Patrick’s nomination, while expected, capped a one-year campaign during which he has emerged as a serious force on state’s political landscape. The one-time civil rights enforcer has built a political field organization and raised significant donations from within the state and from around the country.
Just a year ago, he had no political roots nor a campaign infrastructure when he launched his candidacy.
Patrick may have won over the delegates today, but as history has shown, winning at the convention is not always the key to victory. As Howie Carr pointed out yesterday in the Boston Herald, “winning the convention is quite a predictor - of who’s going to get croaked in the primary. Winners who went on to lose the primary include, among many others, Gerry D’Amico, Frank Bellotti, Lois Pines and Augie Grace…” Let’s not forget as well that Jim Rappaport won the GOP endorsement for Lt. Governor over Kerry Healey in 2002.
It may have seemed like a squeaker today in Worcester, but the results are a big ‘yawn’ in my book. The question remains, will get the convention endorsement be the kiss of death for Deval Patrick’s candidacy, or will it continue to rally Team Patrick?
Entry Filed under: Election 2006
4 Comments
1. tuc | June 4th, 2006 at 9:03 am
I am getting so sick and tired of the moonbat libs going on and on about Deval Patrick being an articulate and captivating speaker. So what? When’s the last time someone’s won an election in Massachusetts by being an eloquent speaker? Between 1993 and 2005, Boston voters, for example, cast their lot with a man who CANNOT speak, so it obviously can’t mean that much. If the Patrick promoters think he’ll win simply because he can deliver a speech, they’re deluding themselves. Non-RINO Republicans and non-liberal independents aren’t going to go for socialism, no matter how slickly it’s sold.
2. ACORN1 | June 4th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Deval spent $2 million+ to get 58% of the lunatic fringe and secure a place on the ballot. Gabrielli spent $2 million to secure a place on the ballot. Reilly spent next to nothing and he is on the ballot. More proof that the Deval cult should not be trusted with the state’s finances.
3. Phil | June 5th, 2006 at 8:27 am
It really boils down to anybody but Reilly. Patrick is a viable candidate who can actually instill confidence and enthusiasm in his supporters. Given the choice betwen an incompetent and somebody who can generate hope and high expectations I prefer the optimist.
4. romablog | June 8th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Phil, what makes you think Reilly is ‘incompetent’? Does anyone remember when Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (the largest HMO here in MA) went under? Reilly saved all the people that were under HPHC _and_ helped it get back on its feet. Reilly started what would become, under him, the largest minority dominated firm in New England. Incompetent?