NASHUA, New Hampshire — Deval Patrick pointed to the failure of Democratic presidential candidates currently leading in the polls to shore up early voting states as justification for his candidacy.
At a campaign stop at a Unitarian Universalist church, a voter sitting in a semicircle in a group of about 20 asked the former Massachusetts governor, 63, a pointed question: “How are you going to sell yourself to the rest of the country?” she said, when other people say, “Who’s Deval Patrick? He’s too late.”
“Have you made up your mind?” Patrick said.
“No,” she said.
“Then I’m not too late for you,” he said.
Patrick announced his candidacy in November, long after others had been campaigning in early states and some had dropped out. He delayed the announcement in part due to his wife being diagnosed with cancer but also entered the crowded field at a time when Democratic insiders doubted former Vice President Joe Biden’s strength as a candidate.
He has failed to break 1% in recent polls. But Patrick is adamant that there is still an opening for him.
“I am skeptical of polls, anyway. If the polls have been true, I would never been governor,” he said.
“We’re not asking the question, ‘How come these other really capable candidates who’ve spent months and millions have not locked it down?’ So, if you’re not asking that question of them, don’t ask it of me,” he said, jovially, to laughs in the room.
Polls show a tight race in Iowa and New Hampshire among Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Patrick’s “exceptional” message on policy and faith resonated with retired Merrimack resident Paula Super, 76. “He deals with problems as a governor of Massachusetts; his experience right there he was fabulous,” she said.
But poll after poll shows that likely Democratic primary voters would rather have a candidate who can beat President Trump in a general election than someone they agree with ideologically. Unless Patrick gains traction in the race, his warm reception may be moot.
“I’m not gonna throw away a vote on somebody just because I like him,” Super said, adding that she is also interested in Warren. “I’m going to vote for the person that we think can beat Donald Trump. If he’s near there, I will do it.”
