October 24, 2007
Patrick Steals The Show At Obama Rally
BOSTON, MA -- Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency on a warm, gusty autumn night in Boston Tuesday.
Several thousand people had gathered on Boston Common to hear Obama speak but it was Patrick who stole the show. He zealously delivered Obama’s message of national reconciliation, while slamming Senator Hillary Clinton without once mentioning her by name.
“A lot of the Democrats are feeling heady these days – we’re sensing victory. We feel like we can reach out and grab at the White House again,” Patrick told the crowd, before warning, “but I’m asking you to beware my friends. Beware because this discontent with Republicans is not enough to ensure a Democratic victory, nor should it be. I believe the challenges before us transcend party partisan politics. We don’t just need a Democrat – we need a leader.”
Patrick took Obama’s message of the need for political change in this election and turned it into a referendum on character and values.
“For once I want a campaign that’s not about the candidate, but about us. Not about a resume, but about character. Not about connections and convenience, but about conviction. Not about smearing the competition, but about lifting us all up,” Patrick said.
“I don’t care whether the next president is the first black president or the first woman president or the first whatever. To tell you the total truth, what I care about is whether the next president has moral courage and a political backbone and the humility to admit what he doesn’t know and the wisdom to learn from others,” he added.
Despite the veiled criticisms towards Senator Clinton, Patrick’s tone was positive but had the edge needed to draw clear distinctions between Obama and her. In repeating Obama’s call to bring the country together, he articulated an expediency of the present moment, saying that the country faced its greatest challenge in a generation, and it was only through the willingness of the assembled crowd that the vision for the liberal utopia he laid out could take shape.
“Now you know, this will not be easy. You know that the status quo is a powerful, powerful force. A lot of people like things just the way they are, thank you very much. And would rather not have anybody rock the boat. It’s hard to make change – it’s hard for some to accept that change comes only through struggle.”
Patrick called on the crowd to step up and volunteer, knock on doors and make phone calls to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. His push for volunteers underscored the potential impact that Massachusetts residents could have in making a grassroots push in neighboring New Hampshire.
In making his argument for the need for the assembled crowd to become greater civic participants in this election, Patrick evoked the history of the greatest generation, saying that America had once been on its “social and economic knees before,” but the power of strong leadership and a willing people had created a legacy that Americans still benefit from today. [ASWINI ANBURAJAN]
Posted at 07:38 AM
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