Cross-posted at dailykos

Yesterday I had the immense pleasure of attending the Deval Patrick rally for change on Boston Common. About 5500 people from all over the Bay State came to show their support for our Democratic Nominee for Governor of Massachusetts. I even got a little bit of tape on the Duke and his lovely bride as they made their way out after the remarks.

Patrick didn't show up to give his normal speech. He didn't show up to attack and refute charges. He didn't show up to merely rally the troops. He came to show all of us what leadership looks like. What leadership sounds like. Real leadership.  

Follow me below the fold for the video of Deval Patrick in Boston Common.

From the earliest days of Political Cortex, I have been writing about the inspiring campaign of Deval Patrick for governor of Massachussetts.  Today, he held a rally on Boston Common that had been billed as a "defining moment." Patrick did not disappoint, and demonstrated to the crowd of more than 5,000 and to anyone who is paying attention, not only why Patrick should be and will be the next governor of Massachussetts -- but why politics will change in the state, in the Democratic Party, and perhaps in the nation, due to the power of his leadership and his example.

I am sure there will be lots of media coverage of this event, and that there will be video of the speech on the campaign web site, and his prepared speech is copied in its entirety on the flip. If you want to get a glimpse into the best of the future of politics in  America, check it out.

Democratic candidate for governor of Massachussetts, Deval Patrick has announced a Rally for Change for this Sunday.  Patrick from the earliest days of his campaign has been about changing politics in both form and substance. This Sunday promises to be a classic example.

Let's take a victory lap or two around the Conventional Wisdom which lost so dramatically and decisively on Tuesday in Massachusetts. Let's be kind and refrain from thumbing our noses -- but I think we are entitled to celebrate the New Blue that has taken hold in the Democratic Party in MA.  

Deval Patrick who started out 18 months ago with zero name recognition won the Democratic primary -- against two of the best known politititians in the state -- with more than 50% of the vote. His nearest competitor spent $12 million since June to get only 28% of the vote. Patrick had spent not all of the $5 million he raised over the course of 18 months to get the nomination. Patrick won every county; Patrick won every state senate district; Patrick won 321 of the 359 towns and cities in the Commonwealth -- and by large margins in the three largest cities.

Let's recall that not only did the CW say it could not be done in the primary -- but that the the first WCBS poll of the general election shows Patrick up by 39 points.

Deval Patrick won a victory in the primary to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Massachussetts that was so large and so sweeping -- that it signals a major shift in the state politics that everyone is still slowly taking it in. It is a victory that further confirms the meaning of Ned Lamont's upset over Sen. Joe Lieberman in the recent Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.  Democrats want real Democrats and they want party and governmental policy reform.

The Patrick campaign issued a press release today with some amazing statistics: Patrick won 321 of the 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth, and every state senate district in the Democratic primary. Details & some analysis on the flip:

Excitement is building as the late decisions of voters -- and of newspaper editorial boards -- are clearly swinging towards Deval Patrick to be the  Democratic nominee for governor of Massachussetts.  The latest CBS poll:

With one day left in the Democratic race for governor in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick is holding onto a huge lead in an exclusive new CBS4 Fast Track survey. He leads Chris Gabrieli by 17 points heading into Tuesday’s primary. Tom Reilly is 24 points behind. According to a Fast Track survey of 682 likely Massachusetts Democratic Primary voters, conducted exclusively for CBS4, Patrick received 46%, Gabrieli 29% and Reilly 22%. 3% are still undecided. The margin of error is 3.8% Patrick and Reilly are up one point from an identical survey released six days ago. Gabrieli's results are unchanged.

The Earlier CBS/Boston Globe poll found 45% of likely Democratic primary voters voting for Patrick. Businessman Chris Gabrieli who has spent more than $8 million since June, mostly on TV ads, came in at 29%; and two time Attorney General Tom Reilly had 21%.

An WHDH/Sufflok University Poll, also just out has Patrick leading

...with 37 percent. Chris Gabrieli in second place with 29 percent. Tom Reilly is in third with 21 percent, and 11 percent are still undecided. "Deval Patrick has the commanding lead," Professor David Paleologos, a Suffolk University Pollster, said. "This is the place you want to be going into Election Day. A dwindling undecided... he has a fairly comfortable lead. Since our last poll August 22, he's had great television, great debate performances and now, this is a test of his Internet platform, and whether he gets his vote out tomorrow."

While Reilly and Gabrielli have received some editorial endoresements as well, Patrick appears to have by far the most, including that of the Boston Globe, the state's largest and leading newspaper.

Here are some quotes from endorsement editorials on the flip.

I have been writing about Deval Patrick's campaign for governor of Massachusetts from early on. When he started out, he had zero name recognition. With the Democratic Primary finally upon us, Patrick leads his nearest rival by 21 points in the latest CBS/Boston Globe poll.  If these numbers hold on election day it will be a resounding message for change in the Democratic Party in MA and nationally; in the way that government and politics are done.  

The undecideds have been breaking decisively for Patrick, as have many last minute endorsements, including more than a dozen newspaper editorials.

His opponents, each avatars of The Conventional Wisdom and the preferred candidate of Beacon Hill insiders and the Consultantocracy, have spent millions of dollars each and many times more than Patrick. But Patrick has run his campaing his own way. He does not, as so many others seem to do, confuse democracy with merely raising a lot of money from fat cats to buy TV asvertising.

Venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli who has spent $8 million of his own money since June attempting to win the Democratic nomination for governor of MA -- is going on the attack.  While netroots-backed candidate Deval Patrick is surging going into the last week of the primary campaign on the strength of a powerful grassroots campaign, a fine debate performance and the endorsement by The Boston Globe on Sunday, Gabrielli is attacking rank and file Democrats in the sneering manner that helped lose long time Senator Joe Lieberman the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Connecticut.

WHDH-TV in Boston reports:  

Chris Gabrieli accused Deval Patrick on Tuesday of being out of the Massachusetts political "mainstream," backed by "a small group of rabid supporters" who have led him to take positions that will cost the Democratic Party the gubernatorial election.

The Boston venture capitalist criticized Patrick's caution on creating new charter schools, his support for a plan to allow the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition rates, as well as his opposition to immediately rolling back the state income tax rate from 5.3 percent to 5 percent.

"I understand that there are parts of our party that are energized by his position," Gabrieli said. "I believe the majority of the people in Massachusetts -- the mainstream values of our state -- align with me."

Patrick is leading in the polls 45-29 in the WCBS poll out today and 36 -29 in a Statehouse News Service Poll also out today. He is supported by five members of the MA Congressional delegation, dozens of state legislators, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich -- Sen Barack Obama has campaigned for him -- and Patrick is out of the mainstream?

In the wake of last week's first televised debate with his rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor, Deval Patrick has taken a "commanding" lead in a poll taken by WCBS television in Boston.

The poll found:  

45% of likely Democratic primary voters throwing their support behind Deval Patrick, up 11% since our August 22 survey. Chris Gabrieli remains about even from our last survey, at 29%, with Tom Reilly dropping 9 points to 21%.

Patrick continues to be strongest among the most liberal, educated, and affluent voters.

"Obviously this is terrible news for Tom Reilly," said CBS4 Political Analyst Jon Keller. "It appears that after last week's debate performance his support has collapsed across the board."

"What is somewhat surprising is that Deval Patrick seems to be the sole beneficiary," said Keller. "But that could change. The race remains very fluid and tomorrow night's debate is going to be crucial."

The three candidates will face off for the final time before the primary election on Wednesday night, LIVE on CBS4 and cbs4boston.com....

The contrast in movement between Patrick and Reilly since our last Fast Track survey is striking: Among men, Patrick is up 10, Reilly is down 11. Among women, Patrick is up 13, Reilly is down 8. Among voters earning less than $40,000 per year, Reilly is down 13, Patrick is up 13. Among those earning more than $80,000 per year, Patrick is up 14, Reilly is down 14. In almost all of these cases, Gabrieli is unchanged, or has moved only slightly.

The leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts has a plan that could become a model for Democrats nationwide.  Deval Patrick proposes to make alternative and renewable sources of energy the center of his economic program for the state. He envisions Massachusetts as a global leader in the field.  

Patrick is the kind of man who, if elected, will instantly become the standard by which prominent democrats will have to measure themselves as to how serious they are about everything from global warming to reducing dependence on foriegn oil. No matter what angle from which you look at it, this is a bold propositition -- but Patrick is just the guy to do it.

Patrick, like few leaders for any office in my experience, is willing to embrace bold ideas and necessary new directions and go about it in eminently practical ways. And in this instance, he has particularly unusual credentials: He is a former oil company executive who is a clear-eyed advocate for the development of the alternative energy business, and making state government a dynamic engine for driving the marketplace for alternative and renewable energy.

Amazing.

A year ago April, when I first met Deval Patrick, few had ever heard of him. Patrick had come out to Northampton, Massachussetts  on a get to know ya tour. We were looking for a candidate, and he wanted to know if it was at all plausible for him to run against the man the Conventional Wisdom thought to be unbeatable:  Attorney General Tom Reilly; twice elected statewide; $3 million raised; nominee apparent.

Much has happened since then.  It took awhile, but the netroots took to Deval and Deval took to the netroots. As time went on, many others saw in Patrick an alternative to business as usual who could move the state and the party dynamically forward. The organization I helped to found, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, endorsed him early and ethusiastically, and has become a key component in the Patrick's not so secret weapon -- his excellent field organization.

I could go on, and I have, having been one of the first bloggers to write about Patrick here, and in other venues. But today, Patrick, who leads in most polls has earned the endorsement of the state's leading newspaper. Let's hear some of what the Globe has to say in its long and glowing editorial:

IN CHOOSING A governor to run the state, voters look for executive experience, wise issue positions, and the intangible quality of leadership. It is a rare thing when a candidate has all three. We believe Massachusetts Democrats and independent voters have such a person in Deval Patrick. The Globe strongly endorses his candidacy in the gubernatorial primary Sept. 19.

More on the flip.

When Deval Patrick began his campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts last year, he had zero name recognition. Attorney General Tom Reilly seemed like the all-but-inevitable Democratic nominee. He had been a fixture of state politics for 25 years. He had raised $3 million.  All of the leading potential Democratic challengers opted to stay out of the race.

But Deval Patrick decided to take him on. "Deval who?", people asked.

Patrick had been best-known for heading the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in the Clinton administration. He later served as general counsel and as a senior executive at Coca-Cola and Texaco, companies that had brought him in as an agent of corporate reform. But long before all that -- he litigated voting rights cases and represented death row inmates as a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He had a rich and varied career before deciding to return to public service via the tough road of statewide electoral politics. His family had lived in the state for many years and he had been active in politics, but he had never before run for office and was not known to electorate. So, he has taken the time to go out and talk to people and let them get to know him.  He has run an authentic grassroots -- and a netroots -- campaign.  He was the first statewide candidate for any statewide office to give interviews to bloggers.  I was an early supporter, and many MA political bloggers have since joined me in endorsing Patrick, notably Blue Mass Group.

Unlike most squeamish inside the beltway types, he is forthrightly prochoice and unequivocally pro-marriage equality.  He is calm, knowledgeable and principled in his discussion of these matters -- like he is on everything else. If he wins the primary, he has a good shot at being the first African-American governor of Massachusetts. And if he wins the general election, he will not only have a Democratic legislature to work with, but one that has been considerably improved in recent years. If the country wants to see what a Democratic agenda can look like, we are poised to do it right here.

But I am getting way ahead of my story.

When Deval Patrick began his campaign for governor of Massachusetts last year, he had zero name recognition. Attorney General Tom Reilly seemed like the all-but-inevitable Democratic nominee. A fixture of state politics for 25 years, Reilly had twice won statewide office. He had wide name recognition. He had raised $3 million.  

All of the top prospective Democratic candidates opted not to run. But Patrick decided to take him on; running a grassroots and a netroots campaign -- and actually going out and talking to people.

Patiently playing his own game, he defied the odds; the early polls; and the tsk tsking of the establishment press and party insiders. The July poll conducted by State House News Service, showed that his strategy has payed off, as Patrick has surged into the lead in the Democratic primary, as well as leading the field in the general election.  

Deval Patrick, a progressive, reform candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Massachusetts received a big boost today. In a conference call with Massachusetts political bloggers, Jim Dean, Chairman of Democracy for America (DFA), announced its support for Patrick. DFA, which describes itself as "a political action committee dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government-from school board to the presidency," was founded following the following the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean.

Dean described Deval Patrick as "a truth teller" who is "not afraid to make tough choices." He also said that Patrick epitomizes the kind of candidate who is not so much about left vs.right, but the "the culture of activism vs. the culture of incumbency." Indeed, Patrick spoke passionately of how he seeks for his campaign to be one of inclusion, and that like the Dean campaign, he wants to inspire those who have checked out of civil and electoral life, to "check back in." Patrick believes that national politics has been "hijacked by deeply cynical people" and that for him, the DFA endorsement is one further way of reaching out to and empowering an active citizenry in Massachusetts.

"Deval is inspiring people to get involved the process," Dean said, "and empowering people to be involved, and to have a real stake in this thing."

The race for the open seat for governor of Massachusetts has taken a wild new turn. And the campaigns of the leading Republican and Democratic candidates for governor have been deeply undercut by the latest development.

Maverick businessman Christy Mihos, has bolted the Republican Party to run as an independent in the 2006 race for governor. Mihos had, as a member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority run afoul of the GOP establishment several years ago. Then-Republican Gov. Jane Swift tried to fire him, but ultimately, the courts determined that she did not have the authority. He never got over it.