kickin' it with boyos and brahmins

(Cambridge, MA). To the benefit of a vitriolic campaign-fatigued electorate and the dismay of Boston's punditocracy, a 50 year old, articulate, son of Chicago, a rags-to-riches African American lawyer named Deval Patrick, has added a significant historical, if not philosophical dynamic to the Massachusettes governor's race. He's jolted the Old Guard and added a "wow" factor to what could have been business as usual by first securing the Democrat Party's convention endorsement, and second garnering a smashing primary campaign victory.

It's Massachusetts...Plymouth Rock is here, and it's home of the Adams family, John, Abigail, and Sam; Massachusetts, its Harvard and M.I.T. and the Head of the Charles Regatta; its home of the Kennedys, Senator Edward M. "Teddy" and his sainted brother, ‘Smilin' Jack THE President; its home of Arrowsmith, it's lobster, it's Martha's Vineyard and Carly Simon five miles off its coast; Massachusetts, home of the Bulger brothers, William and "Whitey", one a classical Greek and Latin scholar who controlled the State Senate with grace and an iron hand and later presided over the Commonwealth's university system... the other now on the F.B.I's most wanted list ‘cause he chose to be a gangstah'; here the "son of Greek immigrants", became the longest sitting governor in the State's history and garnered his political party's nomination for President of the United States; Massachusetts, "home of the Cabots and Lodge, where the Lodges speak only to Cabots, and Cabots speak only to God." Here, where news of a thing called "busing" went global with a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of an angry mob of whites slamming the stars and stripes into the face of a black public official on Boston's City Hall Plaza; here where cultural divide's take generations, if ever, to mend; here, where modernity comes to die, one of the nation's more transformational, and possibly costly, elections is unfolding...more in tango fashion than in a Woodstock love fest. Like Mr. Partick's childhood neighborhood, or an underground cock-fight, it's not a place to fuck around...politically at least.

"It's time for a new way in politics; leadership that is both candid and hopeful, that looks toward the best long-term interests, that takes the best ideas and the best people from all corners - no matter their party, that is less focused on the left and the right and more focused on right and wrong", Candidate Patrick reminds the increasing numbers gathering about him. "It's time for a new way in our Commonwealth...time for universal health care, world class public education, and a new chapter in our innovation economy that leaves no one behind", he shared with over 2,000 supporters at Boston's historic Fanueuil Hall. "We cannot fuel our future on the fumes of the past. But we can learn from the example of those who brought us to this point, and we can choose a different path to move Massachusetts forward."

Truth is often larger than fiction in Massachusetts politics, and may prove to be in this governor's race. But never write off the fictional end of things, e.g. Camelot, etc. It's an open seat, with Kerry Healey, the Republican Lieutenant Governor, standing unopposed in her faction. A Copeila figure with Junior League leanings, Ms.Healey has stood far and deep in the shadow of the incumbent, Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney, completing one term, has opted out of a second opportunity to govern Massachusetts and has chosen instead, to explore other, higher political possibilities. The Commonwealth frequently infects it's politicians with such ambition, often in a painful and Promethean fashion. Ms. Healey, a Harvard graduate with a Doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, "married well", yet was, as they say, "beat like a rented mule" in an earlier attempt at elected office (the State Legislature). She became chair of the State Republican Party, later to be picked up by Mr. Romney, breaking with tradition, to balance his ticket early on. In Massachusetts, the governor and lieutenant governor run separately in the primary contest. Since announcing her intentions to seek the governorship, Ms. Healy, or perhaps her handlers, has presented a more aware, or at least awake and active, posture from her early tenure as Lieutenant Governor when she explored shortening the school week to balance the budget. Some polls have reflected her as "out of touch" with the electorate. Brian Mooney, a Boston Globe reporter and co-author of a political bio of Massachusetts junior U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry, referred to Ms. Healy in an article as "a pretty Harvard woman". A Harvard woman, yes. The latter gives pause and question as to where Mr. Mooney spends his leisure time. Nonetheless there's a difference between political blur and Election Day truths. Illusions about liberalism have been shattered by the State's two time national roll with Ronald Wilson Reagan, and in spite of the "out of touch" chatter, a sour, bitter Democrat primary day can yet hand her the office, and enshrine her the fourth consecutively elected Republican, in spite of lessons one would have thought the Dems would have learned by now to knock down that cockade she wears.

I first caught up with Deval Patrick as he shared the news of his youngest daughter's enrollment in a different secondary school with a couple of well wishing parents. He turned and chuckled, "never a dull moment", and without missing a beat responded to a statement by one of his Democrat primary opponents. "We do need independent judgment in the Governor's Office. I don't think that discontent with Republican's is going to be enough to insure a Democratic victory, nor do I think it should be", continuing to the gathering media scrum. "This ought to be about creative leadership and vision."

With that Mr. Patrick took a seat to await his "turn" to address members of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC), a not-for-profit organization providing support for the Commonwealth's broad biotechnology community. Waiting his "turn", in the political genre is, not something Deval Patrick necessarily views as a requisite...anymore, if ever, in his mind set. He is no docent for the Democrats museum.

At 14, a young Deval left the "hood" for Milton Academy, an upper-middle class prep school in Massachusetts, on a scholarship. This was followed by another scholarship, this time to Harvard College, followed by a stint in the Sudan as a volunteer in a United Nation's sponsored initiative, followed by a return to Cambridge, and law school.

In his recent visit to Boston to endorse Mr. Patrick, his friend Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said, "He is somebody that has excelled both in the public sector and the private sector. He's doing this for the right reasons." But it's Massachusetts, where many political sir names still end in vowels and yellow school buses continue to evoke memories of an ugly autumn years ago, and as hard as some try, change has not come easy. When pressed on the issue of race in Massachusetts, the Senator responded, "I think it's useful to remember that there have only been three African-Americans elected to the United States Senate since reconstruction. The first was Mr. Edward Brooke, right here from this state, decades before Carol Moseley-Braun and myself were elected. I think that's an indication of the fact that the people of Massachusetts judge their candidates based on whether they think that candidate is looking out for their interest. And I'm confident that when they have a sense of Deval's record and what he stands for they will rally behind him."

Mr. Patrick, like Sen. Obama, graduated from Harvard Law School. And like the Senator, has emerged as part of a cadre of young, articulate and well educated African-Americans currently seeking and achieving high political office. In Tennessee, Congressman Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) is seeking a U.S. Senate seat. Maryland's Lieutenant Governor, Michael Steele is a strong contender for the U.S. Senate there. Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State, is now the Republican standard bearer for Governor of that state, as is former NFL star Lynn Swan in neighboring Pennsylvania. The youthful Cory Booker, a Yalie and Rhodes Scholar, was recently elected Mayor of Newark. All have "cross over" appeal, code for white folks can vote for them.

Expressing his support of Mr. Patrick, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), stated, "Race is important also for us as Democrats. African-Americans are an indispensable part of the coalition that Democrats need if we are to be able to win elections and carry out the policies to which we are committed. No Democrat", he continued, "should be happy at the fact that in America today, so far only the Republican Party has nominated African-Americans for statewide office at the highest level - for the Governorship in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and for the Senate in Maryland." Mr. Frank, an influential member of the state's congressional delegation didn't leave out that, "by the nature of his high intelligence, his energy, his ability to articulate, and his experiences he is both the best candidate for the Democrats to nominate and the best qualified to serve as Governor."

Mr. Patrick doesn't hesitate to share his story of living in poverty as a child on Chicago's gritty South-Side, the bedroom he shared with his mother and sister in which they rotated from the top bunk to the bottom bunk to the floor every third night in attempts at fairness, it's single window which faced an air vent, his uncle Sonny, who "would shoot-up heroin in the living-room when he thought nobody was watching", the ever present tension and often violence of the local schools, and the sense of community that prevailed through it all. The air thickens when he recounts this period. However race, in many ways a systemic cause of these phenomena, is not at the center of his campaign. "Race is a fact, a part of America, and I'm proud of my ethnicity", he shared with a small gathering of college Democrats, "but I'm a pretty good lawyer, and I'm proud of that, and I'm a husband of twenty years and I'm proud of that, and I think I'm a pretty good father and I'm proud of that too." Victimology refuses to find a place in his spiel.

The early perceived front runner, Attorney General Tom Reilly's approach to "turn" differs radically from Mr. Patrick's. The "son of Irish immigrants", was born in the central Massachusetts city of Springfield. One pundit, Frederick Clarkson, wrote Mr. Reilly, "epitomizes an imperious and money-driven approach to politics that is riding a long arc into the dustbin of history. The Deval Patrick Campaign", he continued, "is shortening that arc in Massachusetts." Understanding Mr. Reilly, for the most part, is spent capturing the missteps of his effort, an outing of which the term "campaign" has sometimes appeared an oxymoron. His "story" lurches, from his early family tragedies, his initial career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), years as an Assistant District Attorney, a District Attorney (in a County in which he was routed by the Patrick organization in the caucuses), to his current Attorney General position in the Commonwealth. Although well funded by years of fundraising and roaming the periphery of the state's political machinery, Attorney General Reilly, comes across as not ready for prime time and appears caught flat-foot by formidable challenges. His wavering and shifting positions on same-sex marriage (con, now pro), his intervention into the investigation of an alleged alcohol related fatal traffic accident involving two daughters of a high dollar contributor, and his selection of an un-vetted running mate with a history of tax issues and un-paid student loans, have contributed to the lack of inertia in his quest, and has made for a bad session. "Politics isn't my best suit," he's said on a raw occasion, and when asked further about the contest frequently replies, "I'm right where I want to be." It appears fitting, on occasion, that a slogan "dammit, can't you see I'm trying to get elected governor" would best fit his buttons and bumper stickers. With his characteristic, "I know the people of Massachusetts. I know what they are going through. I know what it means to live from paycheck to paycheck and struggle to pay the bills", that may be one way of knowing what it is he's up to. He's not a bad guy, not a rabid opportunist. His public service is noble, if not notable. Yet his judgment appears to have collided with his ambition, spooking early establishment types considering him a certainty, and blowing at least one tire, if not more off his vehicle. Driven to the centrists, or right, of the Party, if such a place or crew exist, will provide him the impetus to lash out, turret-syndrome like, at his own party.

Despite his lack of consistency and bumbling, combined with spiraling poll numbers, the A.G. can't yet be counted out of the race. Massachusetts voters are meta-political, if nothing else. "Reilly's one of us", to many. There is a co-presence shared between the elected and the electorate, an unusual intangible that differs from the otherness or dualism of other places. Campaigns occur yearly in the Commonwealth. One mayor's "fight" rolls into the next year's gubernatorial and congressional engagement. Just ask Christopher Gabrieli, the third in the trio of Democrat candidates. Mr. Gabrieli, a multi-millionaire venture capitalist has invested large amounts of dollars to start-ups and most recently into a foundation, Massachusetts 2020, targeted to expanding "after school programs". He has done...honorable things, both for "the Party" and the burgeoning, chic and needy not-for-profit industry in the State.

Chris Gabrieli is, for the most part, spoken highly of in those circles. He has "ideas", and appears to value public service. Other than that, his experience is narrow, limited to board rooms, trusts, and foundations. He's served on boards, and boards, and boards. And he's tossed millions of his own dollars at issues and at candidates, and when the last Democrat nominee for governor picked "Chris" as a lieutenant governor candidate, he dropped $5 million of his own cash into the loosing ticket. The very next year, Mr. Gabrieli invested $5.5 million of his personal wealth into his own congressional race. In a field of nine, Christopher Gabrieli came in sixth, statistically costing him near $1,000 a vote.

Given his success and personal wealth as a venture capitalist, he appears to require corrective lenses to get a better view his revivalist stage play. Returning impaired to the tumbling waters of the Commonwealth's politics, Mr. Gabrieli's yo-yo hesitated early, unsure as to where and how he'd play in the campaign sandbox. He'd been seriously courted by, and waltzed briefly with, Candidate Reilly for the lieutenant governor slot on his ticket. But he'd arrived at the altar all dressed up minus a groom. The Attorney General had down-shifted at the 11th hour, opting for an embarrassing other, leaving "Chris" publicly, without a show of love, and on a weekend, and dis'n him as though they'd never dated. Shortly after that Mr. Gabrieli announced his candidacy for governor, injecting $2.8 million, of his own money, into that start-up. Regardless of cost, Christopher Gabrieli has set a record, upwards of $15 millions as a spending cap for his participation. It seems he'll be nobody's "bitch"...but he may crawl out of this a three time looser, and it's an awfully costly venture just to learn it's Massachusetts politics, not a brothel he's roaming in and out of.

"Although we're thought of as a ‘blue state'...there are more Independents than Democrats and Republicans combined", Deval Patrick reminded those at a gathering in late Spring. "People aren't buying into either party. Democratic registration is down because the national party is so vague." This may be only partially on target. Some long time activists as well as elected officials have referred to the three Democrats as "fuzzy" on the issues. Massachusetts hosts the most formally educated population in the Union, with 33% of eligible voters holding a Bachelor's degree or above. 36% are registered Democrats, 13% Republican, and 50% Independent, or "un-enrolled" as many Party regulars cynically refer to them. This, statistically at least, leaves the door open for a beaux arts thing, with Grace Ross, the Green-Rainbow Party Candidate, and Christy Mihos, a wealthy Warren Beatty look-a-like Independent and Dadaesque figure to alter the parlor floor of the general election once the Democrats have cut in on one and the other and turned to face Ms. Healey for seven weeks following the mid-September primary.

With the primary election day rapidly approaching, the three Democrat candidates are making attempts at getting down to issues and messages. Therein lay the trip wires, many of their handlers write off as horseshit. The Boston Globe recently ran a story accusing Mr. Gabrieli of "guilding the results" of both his initiatives in job creation and lobbying efforts around embryonic stem cell research legislation. State Representative Dan Bosley, who chairs the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, was quoted as lauding Mr. Gabrieli's support, but added "...at that point, we had the votes anyway." The Globe has gone on to highlight the candidate's support of "one educational innovation", Advantage Schools, of which Mr. Gabrieli was quoted as saying, "I consider Advantage a failure, of course, not a total failure but more a failure than success."

Attorney General Reilly's early bliss-out began early on, and his campaign finds itself on rush-roller, in de-orbit. The Commonwealth's Legislative and Executive Branches frequently talk past each other. Nestled into the toxic canard of the past, with his stumbles on more than one major prosecution, including that of Boston's former Bernard Cardinal Law and others involved in that Diocese's child abuse scandal, Mr. Reilly's effort continues it's awkward grasp for life support.

Mr. Patrick's professional history has not gone unchallenged, taking criticism as to his roll at Coke's legal team which squashed charges of human rights abuses in Columbia and India. Texaco was accused of being at the root of an environmental disaster in Ecuador over 20 years while he served as a corporate exec. After leaving, Texaco successfully halted the attempt to pursue legal action in U.S. courts. His position on the board of Ameriquest, a scandal ridden mortgage company, has also come under fire.

Nonetheless, Mr. Patrick's appeal to the electorate has held and appears seamless. In March of '06, polls had Mr. Patrick at 21%, Mr. Gabrieli at 8%, and Mr. Reilly at 43%. In May '06, Mr. Patrick was at 15%, Mr. Gabrieli at 25%, Mr. Reilly at 37%. By July '06, Mr. Patrick was at 35%, Mr. Gabrieli at 22%, and Mr. Reilly at 19%. After being substantially out-spent by his rivals, Mr. Patrick has managed to connect with voters vertically and horizontally, finding himself a week from the primary election with 45%, Mr. Gabrieli at 29%, and Mr. Reilly at 21%.

His message of "hope", and sense of commitment and passion has served him well. Kitty Dukakis, spouse of the former governor, said of Candidate Patrick, "He has passion (for service) like my husband...and probably more than Michael had in his first time running." When questioned on the impact of race in the campaign, Ms. Dukakis responded, "None. Practically zero. Not in Massachusetts."

Yet the issue of race can't be downplayed in the Commonwealth. The place lacks post-modern advocacy. New England Cable News Network's, Jim Braude said, of the matter, "I am not so convinced (race will not matter) there just is not the history. People will say they are going to judge on the merits, but I am not convinced subliminally that that subliminal bias, whatever it is, is totally gone. It may be tiny on the margins. In a close election, it's not a non-factor."

Mr. Patrick and his cadre may do well keep an eye on that issue...as they approach a close primary and broader reach general election. His journey from Chicago to Harvard Yard may be a cakewalk when compared to his journey to Beacon Hill and the corner office