Deval Says He Considered Not Seeking Reelection on WTKK

I think I speak for most of the people of the Commonwealth that we would have been a lot better off had he not run in the first place back in 2006.

Gov. Deval Patrick says he considered not seeking re-election next year because of the “wear and tear” he experienced the past three years.

He told listeners during his monthly appearance on WTKK-FM that he did not expect as much “hand-to-hand combat with my friends,” including fellow Democrats, labor leaders and other supporters of his 2006 election campaign. But he said he decided to run again because he feels he has more work to accomplish.

The governor said many people who supported his so-called change agenda have bristled when he has asked changes of them.

Aww… Poor baby. Imagine that… it is actually had to run a state than to campaign on empty promises. Who’d have thunk it?  Ironically, we are seeing the same thing happen with Barack Obama, whose presidential campaign was modeled after Deval’s. Obama is seeing himself fight people in his own party in order to push through an agenda the American people don’t support.

Patrick did not name names, but he also says he expects “fear” to be used against him as he seeks re-election.

He’s being challenged by Republicans Charles Baker and Christy Mihos, and state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, an independent.

Fear? That’s cute. Let’s me honest here. Deval Patrick knows that his chances of getting reelected are small. The cycle has already begun where Democrats across the country are announcing their retirement, or just deciding not to run for reelection. Sometimes, politicians find it better for their legacy to leave office on their own terms rather than lose an election. I am sure Deval has considered not running many times… and those times probably coincided with the release of a new poll showing his approval ratings getting worse, or election match-ups showing his defeat.

One thing we can take from this nugget of news is that Deval Patrick clearly wasn’t ready to be governor. The people of Massachusetts have slowly learned this, too. Deval Patrick campaigned as an outsider, but the problem is that he was an outsider without enough experience to help him handle the job.

Having an outsider as governor isn’t a bad thing. It worked for us when Mitt Romney was governor. Things were certainly better when he was in office. But an outsider should have adequate private sector experience that gives him the knowledge it takes to run a state. Deval Patrick didn’t have that. Your average small business owner has more applicable knowledge than someone with Deval’s experience.

The DiMasi Indictment And Deval Patrick

The corruption indictment of Sal DiMasi, according to the Boston Globe, “contains what critics are calling an unflattering behind-the-scenes look at Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, depicting its officials as bowing to political pressure to award a $13 million computer software contract that was allegedly rigged.”

But hey, that was the hope and change Deval Patrick promise wasn’t it? The sad fact is that this is par for the course in Massachusetts. Every election cycle the Democrats gain more seats, and in 2006 they decided to completely remove checks and balances from state government. The people of Massachusetts are to blame. Michael Graham nails it here:

Bay Staters are among the nation’s most affluent and well-educated. About 75 percent of our high school grads go to college. Almost 40 percent of adults have degrees. Our median income is 25 percent higher than the national average.

Yet these “brilliant and amazing” citizens repeatedly vote themselves one of America’s most corrupt and incompetent governments.

Three indicted speakers – and counting. Empty legislative offices with fulltime paid staffs. Pension perks for incumbents so lousy that they’re finally forced out.

What sort of voters put up with this?

Meanwhile, our pols don’t hide from corruption, they celebrate it. When they re-elected Sal DiMasi speaker, everyone knew he was under investigation. But only seven Democrats withheld their votes. The rest were with Rep. Jim Fagan, who bragged, “We are direct descendants of patriots and heroes!” – a comment that must have had Sam Adams drinking in his grave.

It up to the voters to change the state’s government. Deval Patrick came is an outsider, and became part of the corrupt machine.  Empty campaign rhetoric about hope and change doesn’t make you a leader, it doesn’t mean you’ll do all the glorious things you said you would do. Deval’s dismal approval ratings prove that a good campaign speech doesn’t make a good governor. True accountability can’t come until checks and balances are restored. One party rule is crippling the state, and the worst part is that it happened with the consent of the governed.

Beacon Hill Shake Up?

Speculation has always been focused on whether or not Governor Deval Patrick will leave the Corner Office in a hypothetical Barack Obama administration. Despite Patrick’s repeatedly denials, and his constant reassurance that he will be around for a while, most agree, if Obama is elected, Deval is going to DC.

But could there be another departure from the State House that would certainly shake things up a bit on Beacon Hill? There are unconfirmed rumors afloat that Governor Patrick’s chief of staff Doug Rubin may leave his job to work on the Obama campaign.

Yes, this is just a rumor, but think of how this would affect the Patrick Administration. Could this be the foundation for Patrick’s departure, or could Rubin joining Camp Obama ensure Patrick staying put?

Rubin is currently the second chief of staff for Patrick, hired to be a “politically and media savvy” replacement of the “outsider” Joan Wallace-Benjamin. While Rubin’s tenure has been less tumultuous than Wallace-Benjamin’s, Patrick is still fledgling with disapproval ratings at over 50%. If Obama wants a guy like Rubin, or Patrick for that matter, perhaps Obama is not as politically savvy as people think.

Change Massachusetts Doesn’t Believe In

While Democrats across the country are being taken in by Barack Obama’s message of “hope,” Massachusetts voters have learned relatively quickly that hope is currency not nearly worth its weight in words. Recent polls are showing Deval Patrick with a disapproval rating of 56% — undoubtedly reflecting fallout from his casino plan blunder.

Gov. Deval Patrick rode into office 16 months ago on a wave of hope and optimism, but the public’s patience for change in the politics of Beacon Hill appears to be waning.

A new poll released yesterday shows that Patrick’s approval rating is at an all-time low, with just 41 percent of adults over 18 saying they approve of the job Patrick is doing as governor.

Another 56 percent of responders said they disapprove, just a month after those numbers were reversed with 53 percent approving of Patrick’s work from the corner office.

The poll, sponsored by WBZ-TV and conducted by Survey USA, surveyed 600 adults earlier this month and has a margin of error of 4.1 percent.

While Democrats still have faith in the governor, the poll shows that 60 percent of Independent voters are unhappy with the results they are seeing from the Patrick administration, and even self-identified liberals are evenly split on the governor’s job performance.

Jon Keller notes the downward trend of Deval’s poll numbers, and concludes that he’s unlikely to turn them around.

The second week of April was, by the roller-coaster standards of the Patrick era, a pretty good one for the governor. He won legislative approval for some of his long-sought corporate tax hikes, touted progress on several job-development initiatives, and won plaudits for a widely-covered speech on the economy. But when Survey USA went into the field the weekend of April 11 for its regular tracking of the governor’s job approval rating, the results marked an all-time low.

Here are the numbers, just reported to us by Survey USA today. They show Patrick winning approval from an anemic 41% of registered voters, while an astonishing 56% give thumbs down.

A special survey we commissioned with a smaller sample on April 9th had the spread at 41-49%. But it’s probably better for direct comparison purposes to match these results up with the last 600-adult tracking poll taken in mid-February (before Bookgate).

Back then, Patrick’s approval/disapproval was 47-45%, not great, but not that bad. But now, his disapproval is off the charts, especially among men: 61% of them now disapprove of his work, up from 47% in mid-winter. All age groups are markedly less satisfied with Patrick’s performance now than they were two months ago, none more so than the 35-54 demographic, where his approval has collapsed from 44% to 30% and his disapproval has jumped an eye-popping 18 points to 68%, George W. Bush-like numbers. Democrats are losing patience, too; his 61-31% spread of February has dwindled to 53-44%. In the ideological categories, moderates continue to desert Patrick. And get this: even liberals, who approved of his work by a whopping 70-25% spread back then, are now evenly divided on the topic. And one final note: with the warning that they’re only about 20% of the sample in each survey, a relatively small slice that could skew the numbers somewhat, voters in southeastern Massachusetts (including the Cape) seem to be especially alienated. His rating there was 47-44% in February; now, it’s 31-66%.

I don’t know if he has a chance of seeing his numbers improve in the near future. Deval Patrick seems determined to push forward with his casino plan despite fierce opposition… even from within his own party. Given Deval’s campaign rhetoric about leadership and unity, it is ironic to see that when it comes to working with the legislature, his predecessor Mitt Romney was far more successful at not only reaching out across the aisle, but to actually getting things done.

Ogonowski Vying For Kerry’s Senate Seat

Jim Ogonowski has set his eyes on the Senate seat held by Senator John Kerry.

Republican Jim Ogonowski, a Dracut farmer and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, said he will go head-to-head with Kerry in November. Kerry, a Democrat, has been in office since 1985.

Ogonowski’s announcement comes just months after he lost a close battle for the 5th Congressional District seat to Democrat Niki Tsongas in October.

“With the lowest approval ratings in history, it is clear that Washington is broken and the people of Massachusetts are demanding a new voice that will fight for their interests. No one represents the status quo, business as usual mentality in Washington, more than John Kerry,” said Ogonowski, 50, in a statement.

“Last summer, we started a movement right here in Massachusetts Рa call for change that has resonated across the state and the nation,” he said.

“It’s a call to change the way Washington does business. It’s public service for the right reasons. That means serving the people and not the lobbyists and Washington insiders.”

Ogonowski came pretty close in his fight for the Congressional seat, but can he do better state-wide versus Senator Kerry?