This is the first in a series on the essential traits Deval Patrick brings to the governor’s race. And frankly, being 39 points up in the polls means we don’t need to constantly play defense. Our guy is good, and we’re going to talk about that. A lot.
Back in October 2005, after Deval Patrick endorsed Cape Wind, a local blogger — can’t remember who — said that that moment would eventually be seen as a critical moment in the primary race. It sounds simplistic, but with one stroke, Patrick separated himself from both his one primary rival at the time — Tom Reilly — and indeed from much of the MA political establishment, from Mitt Romney to Ted Kennedy. Patrick could have pandered to the often very wealthy anti-wind-farm interests on the Cape and Islands, and fallen in line with the state’s most powerful politicians — Democratic and Republican. But this showed elements of Patrick’s method of leadership: Patience — an unwillingness to be boxed in; consideration of diverse points of view; and a decision based on the merits, regardless of the immediate political calculation.
Let’s go back even further: I’m a longtime Cape Wind supporter — my first post on this blog was in favor of Cape Wind. I heard Patrick talk at a Democratic Town Committee meeting in Cambridge back in April of ’05. Patrick was asked about his stance on Cape Wind, and said although “Conceptually, it sounds so right”, there were many sides to the issue. He was right — there are. But when the ratio of things-gained to things-given-up is so vast, his answer left some of us unsatisfied at the time.
We needn’t have worried. Patrick and his campaign spent the summer of 2005 putting together their issue portfolio, and in October, Patrick became the first candidate to declare support for Cape Wind. This pissed off Ted Kennedy mightily, and MassDems chair Phil Johnston had Teddy’s back:
“I’m troubled by people who aren’t there for the senator in this battle,” Johnston said, in a break in his normal protocol of not getting involved in the race for governor. “It means a lot to him. I think we owe Ted Kennedy a lot for what he has done for this state, and he deserves our respect and support.”
Even now, you have to wonder how much warmth exists between Patrick and TK. No matter. Cape Wind enjoys overwhelming support in the polls, even a majority among residents of the Cape and Islands. And Patrick won those primary voters by an even larger margin than the rest of the state.
And it’s not just about Cape Wind: Patrick correctly forsees that the wind farm is a golden opportunity — almost literally — for Massachusetts to show leadership in alternative energy, which redounds to our benefit both environmentally and economically. The whole world is looking to Massachusetts for leadership: Ask the folks in Wisconsin who are waiting for this project to get approved, or the folks in Texas who look at Cape Wind’s opposition, “scratch our heads, and say, ‘How can that be?'” How, indeed. And yet our state’s political leadership has up to now conspired to try to crush the project.
All this is to say that beyond this particular wind farm itself, the stakes for bold leadership on this issue are quite enormous. Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos are against Cape Wind. Patrick supports it, but looks several steps beyond, towards cementing Massachusetts as the global leader in both a fast-growing industry and the humane endeavor of stopping global warming. That’s leadership, and that’s vision.
Exactly. Cape Wind has become shorthand for leadership v. pandering. This is where the rubber meets the road. If we really mean what we say, that we want clean energy, to confront global warming, to make Massachusetts a leader in new technologies support of this project is a no-brainer.
I especially enjoyed Patrick’s mention Tuesday night of how Romney has done everything he could to scare away potential new businesses in the state, such as stem cell researchers and Cape Wind, whereas instead he would work to stop the flow of people, businesses and jobs out of the state.
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I may have been that blogger you can’t recall. I definitely said that a few times, just not sure if you were in earshot. This is a great editorial, Charley. Thanks.
Actually, I seem to think it was Fred Clarkson … but rather than waste a lot of time trying to find the quote, I decided to write the !@%@%$ post. đŸ™‚
By the way — voting for Deval is your chance to give Ted Kennedy a poke in the eye. Don’t miss your chance!
I am a long time supporter of Cape Wind. I am one of the early and stalwart supporters of the project, and I live on Cape Cod. But it is irrelevant what a gubanatorial candidate thinks about it.
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Since Kennedy’s sneak amendment failed, it is once again a solidly Federal project. Ironically, the opinion of the Cape Cod Commission, who can regulate the transmission lines once they come ashore, may have more bearing than the support or opposition of a Governor.
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Deval Patrick seems to have problems with what level of government is is campaigning for. He wants to lower property tax, which is the baliwick of each town. He supports Cape Wind, which is Federal. Does he understand what government does at the STATE level?
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How much OJT will he need – and who will provide it, the North End Boys?
after 4 years of…what, exactly???
… that the Governor’s role is indirect. It hardly means that it’s irrelevant. I will tell you that Cape Wind itself and other observers feel that Patrick’s candidacy and endorsement are signficant. This is from Cape Wind’s press release:
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You got a link?
http://www.capecodto…
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I cannot find the report of the Commission’s own web site any more. They are too busy telling the Mass. Energy Facilities Siting Board that they don’t LIKE where they told KeySpan to extend the gas lines, and are insisting on it going another route which the Board does not approve, so mid-Cape customers could max out the gas pipeline capacity this winter.
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Busy, busy, busy!
Hello all,
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Good analyisis Charly. As you stated, Cape Wind is one of those issues that clearly demonstrates Deval’s willingness to be politically courageous rather than politically expedient (like the income tax issue), which so often characterizes our elected officials.
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As a former 3-term Barnstable town councilor/Nantucket Sound ferry boat captain, and president of Clean Power Now I had an opportunity to talk with Deval for an hour and a half in June ’05 about the project. His thoughfulness and ability to ask the right questions was impressive.
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An interesting and defining moment in my understanding of what kind of person and candidate Deval would be took place during our discussion. Towards the end of our substantive back and forth on the merits(and potential detriments)of the project, I, in my typically partisan fashion, pointed out how he might loose a few votes down on the Cape but would likely pick up more in the rest of the state. He cut me short and made clear that for him the process of coming to a decision about Cape Wind had nothing to do with the politics of it, but that the only thing that mattered was whether it was good for the state and could be supported by a fact-based analysis. At first I thought he was being just a little bit coy with me. But after talking with him on other occasions, about other issues and watching him in debates and many other forums, I’m convinced that truly, for him, the politics of any particular issue really is secondary to whether it’s good for Massachusetts. How refreshing!
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On another highly ironic note, Sen. Kennedy, at his Hyannisport compound, will be hosting a funraising event to benefit the “Demoratic Nominee for Governor…and the Massachusetts Victory ’06 Coordinated Campaign” on Sat., Oct 7, from 12-2:30. Tickets are $150 per person, $500 per family.
It should be interesting. I’ll be curious to see how and to what degree the Cape Wind issue gets raised-if at all.