Nice article on Deval in the WaPo

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed the article.

My true confession: in the end, although I support and agree with many (not all) of Patrick’s positions and plans…I’m really voting for him because I think his heart is in the right place.

It doesn’t get any better than that.  The campaign must be thrilled. 

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I just posted this comment to the WaPo site at the end of the article:

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There is an error that needs to be addressed in this otherwise enlightening article about Deval Patrick’s road to frontrunner in the Massachusetts governor’s race. It has to do with the disposition of the Benjamin LaGuer case which has been at the heart of ads attacking Patrick. The article states: “In 2002, DNA evidence proved LaGuer was at the crime scene.”

Missing from the debate is that the LaGuer case is currently in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court where the inmate is being represented by James C. Rehnquist (son of the late Chief Justice) on the basis of potentially exculpatory evidence that was suppressed at the original trial.

It is true that a 2002 DNA test showed a trace amount of LaGuer’s genetic material in the evidence. But documents (the local police file) obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that police mixed socks and underwear taken from LaGuer’s apartment (not the crime scene!) with the rest of the evidence. Based on this, four reputable DNA experts including Harvard geneticist Daniel Hartl have concluded that there is a high danger that contamination led to the DNA result.

There is a growing realization in the forensic DNA community that the sheer power of amplification techniques used today makes the analysis of evidence collected in the pre-forensic DNA era fraught with danger.

Prof. Hartl wrote in an August 21, 2006 letter to a Massachusetts State Legislator: “There is, in my opinion, ample reason for a full inquiry into this case, and I hope that the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts will agree.” The full text of his letter and the other three DNA experts who reviewed the case are available at http://www.BenLaGuer.com.

There is a fascinating story about the promises and pitfalls of DNA evidence here that some reporter might want to sink her or his teeth into.

“I think Democrats concentrate too much on how to win,” Patrick says, “and have forgotten to tell people why we ought to win. The Republicans didn’t win pretending to be Democrats. They set a clear vision and didn’t apologize for it.”

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That’s the campaign that Deval has run. Republicans are now the ones who take the scarlet “R” from their web sites so you don’t know what party they are affiliated with.  In Kansas a staunch Republican state has Republicans changing over to Democrats in upcoming elections.

Dr. Benjamin Mays said, “Not failure, but low aim is sin.”

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That really ought to make it into his stump speech if it isn’t there already. (First time I’ve heard it, anyway.)