2020 Democrat Field Gets Yet Another Candidate: Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Just when it seemed the field of Democratic presidential candidates could not get any bigger, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick joined the race Thursday.
Patrick made the announcement in a video posted to YouTube.
“I admire and respect the candidates in the Democratic field,” he said.
“They bring a richness of ideas and experience and a depth of character that makes me proud to be a Democrat,” Patrick added. “But if the character of the candidates is an issue in every election, this time is about the character of the country. This time is about whether the day after the election, America will keep her promises. This time is about more than removing an unpopular and divisive leader, as important as that is, but about delivering instead for you.”
“We will build as we climb, to welcome other teachers and learners, other seekers of a better way and builders of a better future,” he said. “This won’t be easy, and it shouldn’t be.”
Patrick told The Boston Globe he was aware of the challenge he faces.
“I recognize running for president is a Hail Mary under any circumstances. This is a Hail Mary from two stadiums over,” Patrick said.
Patrick indicated that he is entering the race because of its unsettled status.
“If I felt like the voters had settled or folks had made up their minds or that there wasn’t a way to put together the resources in terms of talent and money at this stage, I wouldn’t do it,” Patrick said.
“It’s been daunting all along about how you break through in a field this big and this talented without being a celebrity or being sensational. I’m neither of those things, but I feel I have something to offer.”
As rumors of Patrick’s candidacy flew early in this week, Edward-Isaac Dovere wrote in The Atlantic that the former governor is seeking to inherit the mantle of former President Barack Obama.
“That Patrick seems poised to jump into the race at the last minute is the clearest sign yet of how much anxiety there is among Obama’s inner circle about Biden’s campaign,” Dovere wrote Wednesday. “[M]ultiple people who know both men told me that they can’t imagine Patrick moving forward with a presidential campaign without him talking it through with Obama to get a frank assessment of his chances.”
Patrick’s late entry comes as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also indicated he may run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In its reporting on Patrick’s candidacy, The New York Times speculated that Patrick, 63, who served eight years as governor of Massachusetts, will initially focus his attention on neighboring New Hampshire and on South Carolina, where support among black Democratic voters is considered vital to a candidate’s success.
“He’s got to move fast,” said former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, who added that Patrick’s fate may well be determined by that of former Vice President Joe Biden.
“If Biden doesn’t do well in the first two states, that would clearly create an opportunity for Patrick in South Carolina,” Hodges told The Times, referring to voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Patrick’s entry comes very late into the race, meaning he has already missed filing deadlines in some states.
But one supporter said it is unwise to count Patrick out.
“If anybody is capable of catching lightning in a bottle, it’s him,” Tim Murray, who served as lieutenant governor under Patrick, told The Times.
Patrick had announced in December that he had considered running for the White House, but that he and his wife, Diane, decided against it. His wife had recently been diagnosed with Stage 1 uterine cancer, which since then has been successfully treated.
“As Diane and I reflected on it, there’s no way around the fact that the process is cruel,” he told WBUR. “And though she and I were prepared for that, I think we realized that it was going to draw in and affect people we loved who were not necessarily prepared for that or signed up for that.”
At the time, he outlined his vision for what Democrats would offer in 2020.
“Our party has to offer a positive alternative — in other words, more than just a perfected critique of the current administration,” he said. “As angry as we have a right to be, as concerned, frankly, as we all ought to be of the state of democracy, I think what makes a difference is that we have a positive alternative agenda and a positive alternative vision to offer the American people.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
