Patrick and Obama--politically separated at birth?
Here's an interesting article from the New York Times about Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is a loyal Obama supporter and friend. (Remember the 'Just words, just speeches' story?) In the article, the NYT discusses Patrick's latest legislative flop, intimating that inexperience may have something to do with Patrick's lackluster record.
The similarities between Patrick and Obama are stark-- soaring rhetoric about hope and change, they both hired politcal consultant and dynamic wordsmith, David Axelrod, and they both are successful African-Americans educated at Harvard Law School. Indeed, if you read the words of Patrick, you may even think they are Obama's. (Ex: at the 2006 Democratic Convention, Patrick said: “I came here to change politics as usual. Because what’s missing from politics as usual is hope. We have been governed for too long by fear and low aim and salesmanship.”)
Massachusetts Speaker of the House, Salvatore DiMasi, does the work of firmly linking Obama and Patrick. NYT:
"Mr. DiMasi, who supports Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for president, has openly tried to link Mr. Obama to Mr. Patrick’s difficulties, suggesting, along with other critics, that the two are alike in their lack of executive experience. Before the Massachusetts primary in February, Mr. DiMasi said that he did not want a president “in there on a learning process” during his first year in office. (Despite endorsements from Mr. Patrick and Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts, Mr. Obama lost to Mrs. Clinton here by a wide margin.)"
For some time, many papers, such as the Boston Herald, have compared Obama to Patrick, and have even reported that some Massachusetts voters were worried before the state's primary that Obama would turn out to be another Patrick.
All of this begs the question whether Obama will prove to be more than just a politician calling for change vs. one who can affect change. How much is experience a factor? Is it useful to compare Patrick and Obama?
Obama, patrick, axelrod
