Here’s a shocker, at least as far as I’m concerned. During an appearance on Urban Update this morning, Governor Patrick was apparently asked who he planned on supporting in the 2008 primaries, and according to the Globe his response was “I will tell you that if my home senator runs, I’ve got to be with him. I love the other candidates, but we will see. I don’t know that he has made a decision yet.’
It was obvious this was going to be a tough call for Deval. He owes a lot to the Clintons, he’s clearly good friends with Obama, and then there is the ‘favorite son’ issue with Kerry. Add in the fact that he and John Edwards appear to have very similar attitudes toward the importance of civic engagement, and I really thought Deval would try to stay neutral, at least in the early going. If the quote is accurate, I guess he feels ‘favorite son’ trumps the other concerns.
I’m curious to know how much Deval’s potential endorsement will influence the rest of the Massachusetts grass roots. I know I saw a lot of Patrick bumper stickers up in New Hampshire when John Edwards held his town meeting in Portsmouth. I did a fair amount of work for Kerry in 2004, but I’m not at all sure he would have been my first choice this time around.
and Kerry has no chance whatsoever, then supporting Kerry is as good as remaining neutral. I just hope Kerry doesn’t take this “endorsement” as encouragement to run, because I share the belief that he has no chance in the primary. I also doubt that Patrick could deliver any sizable number of his supporters to Kerry’s primary campaign. Not that I’m an insider or anything…
Couched as a “favorite son” obligation, this endorsement is pretty soft. Nothing to see here.
I would take this as a sign of Patrick’s Massachusetts boosterism — in sharp contrast to Romney’s Massachusetts booterism.
will probably come in the spring of 2008, after the Massachusetts primary…
…that our March primary was 12th in the nation fifteen years ago, and is now 34th?
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After the primary may be a little too late!
to wait until a clear winner emerged before endorsing.
I caught the interview and found the whole thing great to see. He was very clear on staying neutral on the race, and mentioning the obligation he may have along with the congressional delegation in at least nominally support John Kerry if he runs, but for some one who was recruited to run for governor with prodding by John Kerry, it was very tepid given their relationship.
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Personally, I think Obama and Edwards on the issues of civic engagement and the positive role for government are most similar to the what we saw in the Patrick campaign, but an Edwards endorsement would be very unlikely given his relationships with Clinton, Obama, and Kerry. We’ll see. Maybe he’ll endorse Romney đŸ™‚
I was a little peeved that the Globe just pulled the one quote out without putting it in context. What you describe is much more what I would expect him to be saying at this point, something like “I think they’d all make great candidates” or “I’m too busy getting up to speed here in Mass to put much thought into 2008 at this time”.