Deval Patrick and Barack Obama: Two Empty Suits

By Jim on February 12th, 2008

Great article in today’s globe about what an empty suit Deval Patrick ended up being and how the voters of MA went for Hillary instead of Obama.

In 2006, Deval Patrick ran for governor of Massachusetts on what his consultant, David Axelrod, called “the politics of aspiration.” Patrick talked about hope – a lot. And when people said they were just words, he quoted the Declaration of Independence to upbraid those who think words don’t matter. He told voters “Yes, we can,” and later, more broadly, “Together, we can.”

These words had a lot of power, as it turned out, propelling Patrick to a landslide. They echoed words that had been used by Barack Obama – also advised by Axelrod – in his record-setting Senate race in Illinois in 2004.

Last week, many voters in Massachusetts heard some of those words again at a massive rally for Obama’s presidential campaign, joined by Patrick and the state’s two senators, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. But the next day, the people of Massachusetts went out and voted for the candidate of experience.

While voters in much of the country were becoming enthralled by Obama, who continues to gain momentum, Massachusetts voters struck a discordant note. Hillary Clinton beat Obama by 15 points in the Bay State, almost as big a margin as in New York, which she has represented in the Senate for seven years.

The reason may well be in those 2006 ballots, and the sense of disappointment that some people feel about Patrick’s administration. And the Massachusetts result may carry words of warning for candidate Obama or, perhaps, President Obama, about the limits of the politics of hope.

I’ve been thinking for a while that Obama is nothing more than the national version of Deval Patrick…lots of glittering and “hopeful” rhetoric with absolutely no substance behind it whatsoever.

I’ve also felt that the people who seem to have been sucked in by all the “hope” rhetoric really have something wrong with them. Are their own lives so empty or so unhappy that they must cling to a politician to make them feel good?

I really cannot believe that Hillary Clinton may go down in flames at the hands of the empty suit Obama. I despise her politics but at least the woman has a tad bit more experience than Obama, it’s amazing to me that he has gotten has far as he has and that so much of the democratic base is stupid and ignorant enough to fall for his “hope” bullshit.

The voters in MA finally seemed to have awakened from their “together we can” stupor but I wonder if there will be enough like them at the national level to put Obama into office? I sure hope not…