Then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks to Democrats. (Image courtesy of Flickr.com)
Nobody familiar with the train wreck that was the Deval Patrick administration in Massachusetts can be shocked to hear that Patrick failed to make the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan.
If Patrick had simply informed the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party by November 12 that he planned to run, he could have gotten his name on the ballot without any trouble. Instead, he announced on November 14, was forced to collect signatures of registered voters, and failed to come up with enough.
The consequences are not severe, since Patrick isn’t even a third-tier candidate for the nomination.
In other words, the situation isn’t nearly as serious as thousands of commuters being unable to get to work for days because the public transportation system failed to clear snow from its tracks, or as a foster child ending up dead in the woods months after the state’s social-services agency lost track of him – things that happened on Patrick’s watch when he was governor here.
These are not ideological matters, but just examples of his incompetence.
When it comes to governing philosophy, as governor Patrick showed contempt for the First Amendment (targeting sidewalk counselors outside abortion clinics) and the Second Amendment (trying to limit gun sales).
But consider this:
The most left wing governor in the history of Massachusetts is offering himself as a moderating influence among yet-further-left frontrunners.
He’s for a so-called “public option” for Obamacare – which would erode private options over time – but says he isn’t for so-called Medicare for all (meaning immediate government-run health care for everyone).
He’s for what he calls “a carbon-free future,” but wants to center some of the government projects designed to make that happen in coal country to lessen the “threatened” feeling of people living there.
Does this sound moderate to you?
It doesn’t to Patrick.
“I’m not talking about a moderate agenda,” Patrick said during an appearance at Saint Anselm College on November 25. “That’s the last thing we need in times like these. I’m talking about being woke … while leaving room for the still waking.”
And yet …
In today’s Democratic Party, that’s what Deval Patrick is: A moderate.
Then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks to Democrats. (Image courtesy of Flickr.com) 
