Left In Lowell

I’ve just finished my conversation with Deval Patrick, and will be posting a more detailed report soon, as well as a transcript.

I hardly knew what to expect, having never had the chance to hear to him speak before. My initial reaction is that Deval Patrick is a very likeable person who is easy to talk to, and engaged and interested in what I had to say. I believe that whatever else, he would be a thoughtful, deliberate governor who would operate by gathering the best information on whatever issues were in front of him before making a decision.

We talked about issues of affordable housing for both the middle class and the poor, an issue that you might have seen me cover quite a lot here. We also talked a lot about education, the MCAS, and health care of course.

I’ll share with you now a part of Deval Patrick’s eloquent conclusion about his personal approach to the campaign and leadership:

…The way in which we have to rebuild our sense of community, in neighborhoods in cities and towns across the state…has got to be top of the mind for anybody who’s serious about leading this state, because much of the leadership we have had has helped this notion penetrate that we, each of us, is in this on his or her own. And that’s wrong. You know, personal responsibility includes shared responsibility, and we haven’t had leadership in my view for too long now that is willing to call up the question of what shared responsibility entails, and I think it’s time for that. And that is not a platitude, that has something to do with how we practically live our lives, and how we practically make public policy decisions…So I’m trying to bring that theme forward not just not for purposes of the campaign, but to help alert people to the way I want to govern. And why it’s so important that we govern differently.

Indeed.