Alliteration seems to be in this month; what with March Madness, Peggy Peterson, David Dennison, there’s a lot of it going around. So how about President Patrick? As you know by now, the former Massachusetts Governor told a Missouri radio station that a 2020 run is “on his radar screen”. While I can hear you laughing, I warn you, do not make the same mistake twice. Deval was readily dismissed when he first announced he was running for Governor, and how did that work out for you? He is not to be taken lightly. Here then is the win/loss column for Deval as he “considers” a run.
Win:
- He’s not Trump
- He would be a return to Obama
- He has a high cult of personality quality
Loss:
- His brother-in-law
- His prison basketballs memo
- He’s a Massachusetts liberal
Note that none of these are actual policy issues, and that’s because policy is increasingly irrelevant in presidential elections. Whoever the Dem is will be painted as high tax, sanctuary city, weak on defense, etc. What the Democratic Party knows is that if the Obamas are behind him, he’s formidable, much more than a Joe Biden or John Kerry would be. As an African-American, his contrast from Trump socially would be huge. And he will energize Dems in a way that Hillary never could. And yet he doesn’t have direct connections to things like the Iran deal, which gives him distance from Washington and the Swamp. But, and it is a big BUT, is all of that overridden with the baggage that comes from being painted as a Massachusetts liberal. The reality is, nationwide, there are few things that you don’t want to carry around with you that are worse than “Massachusetts liberal”. We shall see.
More wisdom next week.