9/19/2006
DEVAL PATRICK DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VICTORY REMARKS
(As prepared for delivery).
From the very beginning, and on every day of this campaign over the last year and a half, I have asked you to see this not as my campaign, but yours. Not my chance to be governor, so much as your chance to reclaim your own political and civic future. So, tonights victory belongs to you.
I want to say a word about two good men, Tom Reilly and Chris Gabrieli. Each ran a competitive campaign. But even when things got a little heated, I have never doubted the sincere commitment to service that each brought to the race — and neither should any of you. I spoke to each of them earlier this evening, and they were warm and encouraging. I welcome their counsel and support in the weeks and years ahead, and I am proud to be a member of a Party that counts them among its leaders.
Tonights victory belongs to the countless numbers of you who voted for the first time or the first time in a very long time; to the folks from all across the Commonwealth, from all political perspectives, who decided that it was time to see your stake again in your neighbors dreams and struggles as well as your own; to each one of you who took a chance not on me, but on your own aspirations.
Thanks to you, not only did we win at the polls today; we turned a political campaign into a movement for change.
We defied the odds the old fashioned way, by grit and hard work and determination and perseverance. We built neighbor by neighbor, block by block, town by town, listening to you, asking those of you who had checked out to check back in.
You knew an outsider wasnt supposed to win without the blessing of the insiders. You knew a grassroots campaign wasnt supposed to win against connections and money. But you also knew that thats precisely the kind of politics that has been holding Massachusetts back.
You know its time to get serious about expanding our economy, about building successful businesses, large and small, and about making good jobs more plentiful across the state and that it is just as critical to get serious about expanding economic justice.
You know its time to get serious about delivering both quality health care and universal health care and getting control of runaway costs.
You know that education transforms lives and that its time to get serious about the need for consistent excellence in every public school; not just success on a test, but success at teaching the whole child, and about assuring every child a place in a public college and university worthy of the preparation we expect of them.
And you know that to get serious about any of that and more, we have to stop dwelling on the difference between the right and the left, and start focusing on the difference between right and wrong.
This victory belongs to the tens of thousands of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who believe that we can do so much better and we can hope for so much more in Massachusetts, who believe we dont have to agree on everything before we can work together on anything.
That is what the voters said today.
They said no to the Big Dig politics-as-usual, and yes to the politics of hope and possibility.
They said no to the inside deals and mediocre performance of our current administration; and yes to accountability, candor and leadership.
They said no to division and exclusion, no to government by gimmick and slogan and photo op; and yes to lasting and meaningful reform.
I look forward to the coming contest with Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos and Grace Ross over the next seven weeks.
I look forward to comparing our leadership experience, our records and our visions for the future of our state.
I dont have all the answers. No candidate does. But I do bring a broader range of leadership experience in government, in business, in nonprofits, in community groups than any other candidate in this race.
I know it will be a vigorous debate. I hope it will be a valuable one, too: a contest of ideas and not insults; of discussion and not distortion; of meaning and not just money.
Because you deserve, and Massachusetts badly needs, the best that we have.
And lets make it a truthful debate.
We should talk about business growth. And how this administration touts its business friendly credentials while throwing up obstacles to stem cell research and Cape Wind, and standing by while 148,000 jobs and 60,000 people left our state.
We should talk about education.
And how this administration has starved public schools of the funding they need, left teachers to spend thousands of dollars of their own money for required materials in the classroom, left kids without enough books to be able to take them home to study at night, has let our public colleges and universities slip to 47th in the Nation.
We should talk about crime.
And how this administration has done little while gun and gang violence went out of control on urban streets and has closed detox facilities while heroin and oxycotin addiction soared in the suburbs.
We should talk about the Big Dig.
And how it took a human tragedy to get this administration to pay attention to cost overruns and structural defects that go back years.
We should talk about taxes.
And how this administrations fiscal shell game is responsible for an explosion in property taxes and hundreds of new and increased fees for everything from parking in the school lot to playing on a high school team.
Make no mistake.
This election is about whether we want more of all that, or lasting and meaningful change.
About spinning our wheels, or aiming high.
About government by sound bite and slogan and gimmick, or leadership that strives to serve our long-term interest in stronger, healthier, safer and more prosperous communities.
I choose change. I choose hope. I choose to believe in what Massachusetts could be if we bring to state government the talent and idealism and creativity of women and men who are willing to challenge the old ways that have let us down.
And I invite everyone in our state to join us on this journey. We need the best ideas, and the best people, from all comers, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, to help turn our state around.
Kerry Healey was gracious when she called me this evening. But, Kerry, if the best you have is what divides us, let me tell you what I know from the grassroots: we have all had enough of that. But if you want to engage on issues, real solutions and how to advance our common future, then we will give the people a contest they deserve and a clear choice.
I came to Massachusetts when I was 14 from the south side of Chicago, with nearly nothing but a strong family, a faith in the unseen given me by people who had little reason to hope themselves. The people and the institutions of Massachusetts changed my life. Ladies and Gentlemen, every day from now through the November election, I will give you in return the best that I have and the best that I am. If that is what you want, if that is what you hope for, if that is what you are willing to work for, I will win in November. And when I win, so do you.
Weve changed politics in Massachusetts tonight. But this is not the end. At most, this is the end of the beginning. Because the real change does not come tonight. It doesnt come with victory in November or even when God and the voters willing — I take the oath of office in January. It comes when every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth has a reason to hope.
I thank each and every one of you who played a role in this victory.
I want to make special mention of my family, especially my extraordinary wife Diane and our daughters Sarah and Katherine, each of whom not only endured but joined this cause.I thank our campaign leadership and staff, which has become like family:
Norm and Amy Gorin, our campaign chairs and number one volunteers;
John Walsh, our campaign manager and Doug Rubin, our chief strategist, the best team in politics.
Betsy Wall, Suzanne Bump, Nancy Stolberg, Ron Bell and the entire field team, who made the grassroots into the engine of change you saw perform today;
Liz Morningstar and the finance team who raised nearly $5 million in 18 months, from more donors than ever before in Massachusetts history;
Charles SteelFisher and his webmasters, who broke the mold for Internet campaigning in Massachusetts and across the nation;
Richard Chacon, Libby DeVecchi, Larry Carpman and the communications team, for dealing patiently and forthrightly with a deeply skeptical, mischievous and often insightful press.
Every union, social worker, business leader, policy expert, academic, youth worker, police chief, elected official, homemaker, teacher, small business owner and venture capitalist who volunteered your time, your thought, your counsel to make me a better candidate and ultimately a better governor.
Diane and I thank you all. Lets celebrate tonight. Youve earned it.
But bright and early tomorrow, lets get after it again. We have more work to do. Because the bigger victory is yet to come.
Throughout the whole YEAR you guys have been a source where one could always turn to find out the latest and get a sense of what was really going on from the people in the trenches.
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You are an asset to all Dems in this state.
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Keep up the great job.
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to meet so many of you I had not know before at our little BMG after party. Sorry I could not stay later, I had to be at work early this am so needed to get some sleep. Our local Democratic Committee is having its unity party and first visibility in the next two days. We should be hitting the ground running.
It was awesome meeting you cephme and hanging out. It was also cool meeting afertig (you guys rocked Waltham!). I still wanna meet MavDem and SSL. Two elusive BMGers.
Although every time we meet somehow I end up sopping wet running through the pouring rain. Wanna explain that please?? LOL
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Sleep? Wazzat? I went to bed at like 4am (couldn’t sleep, hadta blog) and woke up at 7:15 to drive the hubby to the train station. Kinda zombie-like. No voice to speak of. I did go back to bed for a few hours though.
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I’ve already gotten three requests to volunteer from people in my email/voicemail. HOW COOL IS THAT???
Didn’t know there was a BMG after-party… but I’ve been a bit busy and not-here for the last few weeks. Ah well.
We just always seem to run into each other at these events and end up in a 99 restaurant after or something. 😉
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OK, post-victory night we went a little classier than a 99, though Susan, Andy and I did catch a quick bite in one on our way down to Copley Tuesday night. LOL
It was a blast! Thanks for the opportunity to guest blog. I hope I somehow managed to live up to the standards you guys have set for this place.
Crap, why didn’t anyone tell me that???
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Hrm, maybe I need to read that Rules of the Road page again. ;P
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Again though, nice job sco, particularly the snark. You’ve got a good brand of snark.
Thanks for posting the text of his speech. I had heard so much about how KH was negative and DP was not, I had to see for myself. Glad to know that was just spin.
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KH hasn’t known who her Dem opponent would be. But DP has known who the Rep would be. I will be interested to see if he ever differentiates KH from “the administration”. He’s not running against Romney, and while I think that strategy will work for some voters, it is certainly not the high ground.
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Fact is, just like Gore was saddled with the follies of Clinton, KH has inherited a bit of an albatross. If DP truly cares about Massachusetts, he’ll campaing against the candidate, not her predecessor. I don’t expect this will happen because it’s not as effective a strategy. It is politics as ususal, and I’m okay with that.
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But as for the truth, wow. Just a couple that stood out for me:
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Where is he getting this information from? Our public schools are not starving, although I would argue that any school which requires it’s teachers to pay for materials or doesn’t have enough books is sorely mismanaged. As a former public school music teacher (always first on the budget chopping block), I made it part of my job to examine the bills paid by the distict. As a school committee member, I do the same today. There is waste, and a lot of it. But it’s up to local politicians to have the courage to say no. Unfortunately, there is a big machine teaching them (yes, literally) that it’s not their job to “micromanage”. Afterall, it’s easier to blame the charter school funding mechanism. (Kudos to Gabrielli for calling out the logic of the current practice. Too bad the lesser candidate won.)
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DP is a smart man. He knows that property tax bills have exploded for one reason only — assessments. Assessments are tied to market value, and market values skyrocketed over the last decade because of favorable interest rates. If people are believing DP’s arguments, then we truly have the pied piper. One of my biggest concerns is that if DP wins, he’ll have such a blind following that they will believe anything he says. If his policy ends up being ruinous for the state, will they just blame it on the previous Republicans, the Democratic legislature, or will they see DP in full light?
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His whole message of “it’s you” leads me to believe that his supporters will not condemn. Ever. To do so, would be to admit ones own faults.
It’s an open secret that many of them spend hundreds of their own dollars on school supplies. I’m sure some of the actual real-life teachers that frequent this blog can testify to that.
I was a teacher.
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I’m not disputing the fact that many spend their own money on their classrooms. There are lots of people who spend money on job related expenses and there are IRS deductions for that. But I also know that there are schools that do not provide enough basic supplies. So teachers and parents pay for them. This is illegal and is due to bad management at the district level not a lack of funds.
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This is generally not true. A town can’t raise more income simply because assessments increase. Every town is constrained by the Levy Limit, which is 2.5% more than the previous year’s levy limit, plus certified new growth.
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If a town’s assessments double and there is no new growth, then the tax rate must essentially be cut in half (give or take — I’m ignoring the allowable 2.5% increase). A town doesn’t take in double the revenue if property values double.
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Property values simply determine how the taxes are apportioned. If one neighborhood increases in value faster than another, that neighborhood will see a higher increase in taxes. If one class of properties (two-family) increases in value faster than another (single-family), then that class will see a higher increase in taxes.
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That leads to the one phenomenon that is causing residential taxes to go higher based on assessments — the fact that business property hasn’t been appreciating at the same rate as residential property. So overall, businesses pay less and homeowners pay more. Communities can overcome this by adopting a split rate.
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Towns also don’t have to tax to the limit, but as increases in state aid dried up the amount of money “left on the table” decreased. In other words, towns raised taxes more than they did when state aid was better. Based on that phenomenon, I’d say that less state aid does indeed lead to higher property taxes, and that more state aid will lead to reduced property taxes.
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It will also aid the problems caused by disparities in economics between communities. Cutting aid on an equal percentage affects certain communities very differently than others. If your community gets 10% of its budget from state aid, and mine gets 60%, then a 10% cut in state aid takes 1% from you, 6% from me.
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Since the aid is allocated that way due to the lack of ability for certain communities to raise property taxes, that virtually mandates lower basic services for some communities.
Well, I wasn’t talking about assessments of ones home going up. I was referring to the statewide assessment value which has skyrocketed over the last five years. And yes, you connected the dots, that it is the resultant imbalance in between residential/open space levies and commercial/industrial that has led to the pinch being felt by many, but not all, homeowners. However, I would disagree that a split rate is the cure-all. Some communities (Boston, or other tourist destinations) have an inherit draw for business. For the vast majority that remains, competition for business is tough, and tax incentives do help.
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Regardless of the percentage of receipts that came from state aid vs. property tax levy, the tax bill for individuals has continued to climb at a fairly steady rate for the last 20 years. And that is my point… while you may be able to point to an increase in state aid resulting in lower amount coming from property tax levy, it has not resulted in a lower average tax bill. It’s the bill, not the levy that matters to individuals.