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Clinton headlines gala fundraiser for Patrick, his one-time aide
By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | October 16, 2006
BOSTON --Former President Bill Clinton, the target of some of the most fearsome Republican attacks in modern political history, bolstered Democrat Deval Patrick's gubernatorial candidacy on Monday by saying, "They don't do that unless they think they're getting a big whuppin' laid on."
Clinton labeled his former aide "the magnificent Deval Patrick" and said Patrick brings a cool, common-sense political approach the country is seeking after a turbulent period of GOP rule.
"When I heard that he was going to run for governor, against all the odds, I thought, `You know, if anybody can pull it off, he probably can,'" Clinton said of Patrick, whom he chose to head the Justice Department's civil rights division.
The former president also bucked up his former aide, whom Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, has hammered in recent TV commercials for his record on criminal justice issues.
"When they start trying to throw the kind of stuff at you that they've been throwing at him, they don't do that unless they think they're getting a big whuppin' laid on," Clinton said to the cheers of several hundred gathered at the Westin Copley Place hotel. The speech was taped for us in upcoming Patrick campaign commercials.
Patrick introduced Clinton by saying, "Mr. President, you have come here at a very toxic time in our political life here in Massachusetts."
He also challenged Healey for suggesting his populist speaking style emits "only words," citing rhetorical flourishes from Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy and Clinton himself.
"I am no Bill Clinton. I am no Dr. King or John Kennedy or FDR or Thomas Jefferson," Patrick told the crowd. "But I do know the right words, spoken from the heart with conviction, because of a vision of a place just beyond our reach and a faith in the unseen, are call to action. That's what I'm asking you to do: Take action."
Besides Clinton and Patrick, those speaking were Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is up for re-election this fall; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who was his party's 2004 presidential nominee and is laying the groundwork for another White House campaign; and Worcester Mayor Tim Murray, Patrick's running mate and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, addressed the crowd.
Patrick is expected to get another boost on Friday, when Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., heads another fundraiser on his behalf. Obama was the featured speaker at a Patrick event the night before the Democratic State Convention began in June.
Perhaps Patrick's most prominent credential in his first run for elective office is his work on behalf of the former president. Clinton sought out Patrick to run the Justice Department's civil rights division after his original pick, Lani Guinier, was criticized for her academic writings.
Patrick, in turn, ran the division from 1994 to 1997, presiding over what at the time was the largest-ever federal investigation, a probe into a series of church burnings across the South. It was subsequently surpassed by the government's investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Following his work in federal government, Patrick returned to private law practice before stints in corporate law at Texaco and Coca-Cola.
Now 50, Patrick has been campaigning for governor since April 2005, employing much the same rhetoric about "hope" and "community" that Clinton used during his 1992 campaign for the presidency.
Healey, the state's lieutenant governor and the Republican nominee for governor, tweaked the appearance by releasing an Internet television commercial that offered a mock debate between Clinton and his one-time protege, Patrick.
Clinton opposes driver's license for illegal immigrants, something Patrick favors. The ad also suggested the two have differing positions over taxes and welfare reform.
"Deval Patrick -- way out of step with Bill Clinton, way out of step with us," a narrator concludes in the spot, which airs for free and does not have to comply with federal disclosure requirements necessary for ads broadcast over the commercial airwaves.
The lieutenant governor's argument was endorsed by Jean Pelletier, a Democrat who is president of the Salem City Council. He told reporters gathered at Healey's campaign headquarters that he voted for Clinton in 1992 and 1996 "because he took commonsense positions on issues I care about."
Pelletier added: "I'm a Clinton Democrat and I can tell you, Deval Patrick is not a Clinton Democrat. ... Deval Patrick is just too liberal."
The event took an almost comedic twist as Pelletier continued to answer questions while Healey's aides attempted to pull him off stage.
Asked if Healey could be considered a "Clinton Republican," Pelletier replied, "A Clinton Republican? Basically."
The remark prompted eye-rolling by Healey aides, while one of them tried to prompt Pelletier's exit by pulling back a curtain next to the podium where he spoke.
"You're through," the aide said in an audible whisper from behind the curtain.
By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | October 16, 2006
BOSTON --Former President Bill Clinton, the target of some of the most fearsome Republican attacks in modern political history, bolstered Democrat Deval Patrick's gubernatorial candidacy on Monday by saying, "They don't do that unless they think they're getting a big whuppin' laid on."
Clinton labeled his former aide "the magnificent Deval Patrick" and said Patrick brings a cool, common-sense political approach the country is seeking after a turbulent period of GOP rule.
"When I heard that he was going to run for governor, against all the odds, I thought, `You know, if anybody can pull it off, he probably can,'" Clinton said of Patrick, whom he chose to head the Justice Department's civil rights division.
The former president also bucked up his former aide, whom Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, has hammered in recent TV commercials for his record on criminal justice issues.
"When they start trying to throw the kind of stuff at you that they've been throwing at him, they don't do that unless they think they're getting a big whuppin' laid on," Clinton said to the cheers of several hundred gathered at the Westin Copley Place hotel. The speech was taped for us in upcoming Patrick campaign commercials.
Patrick introduced Clinton by saying, "Mr. President, you have come here at a very toxic time in our political life here in Massachusetts."
He also challenged Healey for suggesting his populist speaking style emits "only words," citing rhetorical flourishes from Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy and Clinton himself.
"I am no Bill Clinton. I am no Dr. King or John Kennedy or FDR or Thomas Jefferson," Patrick told the crowd. "But I do know the right words, spoken from the heart with conviction, because of a vision of a place just beyond our reach and a faith in the unseen, are call to action. That's what I'm asking you to do: Take action."
Besides Clinton and Patrick, those speaking were Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is up for re-election this fall; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who was his party's 2004 presidential nominee and is laying the groundwork for another White House campaign; and Worcester Mayor Tim Murray, Patrick's running mate and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, addressed the crowd.
Patrick is expected to get another boost on Friday, when Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., heads another fundraiser on his behalf. Obama was the featured speaker at a Patrick event the night before the Democratic State Convention began in June.
Perhaps Patrick's most prominent credential in his first run for elective office is his work on behalf of the former president. Clinton sought out Patrick to run the Justice Department's civil rights division after his original pick, Lani Guinier, was criticized for her academic writings.
Patrick, in turn, ran the division from 1994 to 1997, presiding over what at the time was the largest-ever federal investigation, a probe into a series of church burnings across the South. It was subsequently surpassed by the government's investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Following his work in federal government, Patrick returned to private law practice before stints in corporate law at Texaco and Coca-Cola.
Now 50, Patrick has been campaigning for governor since April 2005, employing much the same rhetoric about "hope" and "community" that Clinton used during his 1992 campaign for the presidency.
Healey, the state's lieutenant governor and the Republican nominee for governor, tweaked the appearance by releasing an Internet television commercial that offered a mock debate between Clinton and his one-time protege, Patrick.
Clinton opposes driver's license for illegal immigrants, something Patrick favors. The ad also suggested the two have differing positions over taxes and welfare reform.
"Deval Patrick -- way out of step with Bill Clinton, way out of step with us," a narrator concludes in the spot, which airs for free and does not have to comply with federal disclosure requirements necessary for ads broadcast over the commercial airwaves.
The lieutenant governor's argument was endorsed by Jean Pelletier, a Democrat who is president of the Salem City Council. He told reporters gathered at Healey's campaign headquarters that he voted for Clinton in 1992 and 1996 "because he took commonsense positions on issues I care about."
Pelletier added: "I'm a Clinton Democrat and I can tell you, Deval Patrick is not a Clinton Democrat. ... Deval Patrick is just too liberal."
The event took an almost comedic twist as Pelletier continued to answer questions while Healey's aides attempted to pull him off stage.
Asked if Healey could be considered a "Clinton Republican," Pelletier replied, "A Clinton Republican? Basically."
The remark prompted eye-rolling by Healey aides, while one of them tried to prompt Pelletier's exit by pulling back a curtain next to the podium where he spoke.
"You're through," the aide said in an audible whisper from behind the curtain.