(Massachusetts) Deval Patrick for Governor

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For the past few weeks I have been working for the Deval Patrick campaign to take the corner office back from the rethugs (Mitt Romney or Andy Card are the likely opponents). The last time I met Deval (about 1 week ago) he was 88% sure he would be running. With a press relase (below) and the opening of a website, it's official!

Please visit the website - http://www.devalpatrick.com -
and sign on to lend your support. Help kick Mitt.

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BEATING THE ODDS:
An inspirational life story, a journey of hope.
From the South Side of Chicago to the highest levels of government to the boardrooms of two Fortune 500 companies, Deval Patrick has lived the American dream. Through almost four decades of that journey, the values, institutions, and people of the Bay State have been fundamental to his success.

Born in 1956, Deval grew up in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, living on welfare and sharing a single bedroom with his mother and sister. Public leadership and the power of possibility captured Deval’s imagination early on when his mother brought him to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in a South Side Chicago park. “I remember feeling connected to all these people who were like me – of limited means, but limitless hope. People build whole lives on hope.”

First in his class in middle school, Deval’s potential was recognized by a teacher who recommended him to A Better Chance, a Boston-based organization that awarded him a scholarship to Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. “Coming here was like coming to a different planet,” Deval explained years later. “Other kids were complaining about how small and spare their dorm rooms were…And here I had my own bed and desk. I thought, ‘this is pretty nice.’” Deval thrived in his new surroundings. He excelled in the classroom, served as editor of the school paper, and delivered newspapers on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods, including the one his family now calls home. While he was at Milton, Deval returned to Chicago on school breaks and worked in a small factory, as a janitor with his grandfather, and bussing tables in a downtown restaurant.

After graduating from Milton in 1974, Deval attended Harvard College, the first in his family to be formally educated beyond high school. When he called home to tell his family he had been admitted, his grandmother paused in her excitement and asked, “Where is that anyway?” Of that comment, Deval says, “it was the opportunity, not the prestige that mattered.”

Graduating from Harvard with honors in 1978, Deval then lived and worked in Africa for a year, most of that time on a United Nations youth training project in the Darfur region of Sudan. While abroad, he applied and was admitted to law school and returned to Cambridge to attend Harvard. There, he was elected president of the Legal Aid Bureau and gained his first trial experience defending poor families in the Middlesex County Courts. He also won the prestigious Ames Moot Court Competition and was named best oral advocate in his class.

SERVING THE PUBLIC INTEREST:
A distinguished record of service and advocacy.
After serving as a law clerk for a year to a federal appellate judge, Deval joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) in 1983 where he devoted most of his time to death penalty and voting rights cases. It was at LDF that Deval first met then-Governor Bill Clinton whom he sued in a voting rights case in Arkansas. Clinton worked with Deval to settle the case and the two began a relationship of strong mutual respect and admiration that continues today.

more............

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1. wow, sign me up!

After looking over his site, I definitely want to get involved with his campaign. It's time for Mitt to go, and Deval looks like a great contender!

[paineinthearse]

2. PRESS RELEASE

http://www.devalpatrick.com/releases

Citing The Need For Bold Leadership, Deval Patrick Announces He Will Run For Governor Of Massachusetts

Patrick says next step is organizing supporters and fundraising before an official campaign kick-off in the fall

BOSTON, MA, April 14, 2005 – Declaring the need to ignite “a politics of hope” and a government dedicated to solving problems, Deval Patrick said today that he is running for Governor of Massachusetts.

“We don’t suffer from a lack of ideas, but from a failure of leadership. Not only are we losing jobs and population, but we are losing faith in ourselves,” Patrick said.

Patrick, 48, was born on the South Side of Chicago and raised with his sister in poverty by their mother and grandparents. He attended public schools there until, at age 14, he was given a scholarship in 1970 to attend Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. Making the most of that opportunity, he went on to Harvard College, the first in his family to attend college, and later Harvard Law School. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Patrick to the position of Assistant Attorney General of the United States for Civil Rights, the nation’s top civil rights law enforcement post.

“I have lived the American Dream,” said Patrick. “But I was taught that getting for myself was not good enough; the higher measure of success is what you can pass on. That outlook is what I want to bring to leadership in the Commonwealth.”

As a lawyer, Patrick has represented poor families and large corporations. He has served as General Counsel for both Texaco and Coca-Cola, working on corporate diversity, employment and a wide variety of other business issues. Patrick guided Texaco through one of the largest mergers in American history. He also led Coke through a major restructuring of the company’s global legal function and helped resolve a series of difficult challenges all over the world.

Patrick will spend the next several months meeting with the hundreds of supporters who have already pledged to work on his campaign, and raising the necessary funds to support his effort. He plans an official campaign kick-off in the fall.

“All over the state, people tell me the same things. Our economy is weak at best and has no credible champion for business development. Our public schools – from kindergarten through community colleges and public universities – fail too many of our young people. And nearly 500,000 fellow citizens have no health care, while the rest us are too often frustrated with the coverage we have. We need a change.”

Patrick has lived in Massachusetts for the better part of 35 years. He lives in Milton with his wife Diane, a prominent Boston attorney. They have two daughters, Sarah and Katherine.

For press inquiries please call:

Kahlil Byrd
617.210.7998
[email protected]
or see:
www.devalpatrick.com

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3. Boston.com link (with picture):

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/14/deval_patrick_announces_campaign_for_governor/

Deval Patrick, the top civil rights enforcer in the Clinton administration, announced Thursday he will seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006.

"We need a change because the challenges that are facing us here in Massachusetts are crying out for bold and creative leadership," he said. "I've been a leader in government, a leader in business, a leader in nonprofits and in community work. I know how these worlds can come together to solve problems,"

Patrick, 48, who lives in Milton, is a lawyer born on Chicago's south side but has lived in Massachusetts for nearly 35 years. He said he plans a campaign kickoff in the fall.

"I've been out around the state for the last three months listening to people and talking with them," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "They tell me that they are concerned about getting and keeping good jobs, about quality public schools and universities, and about access to health care. I think there's a breakdown in trust between the people and state government that is its own serious problem."