The Words And The Music

Earlier today, Tom nailed it when he talked about getting the music right, and not just the words. I really like that as a way to articulate a difference that's hard to put your finger on. Here's that theme, explored in an interesting way:

Deval Patrick won the '06 Massachusetts governor's race after coming from third place in a three-way primary, against a party-machine candidate and a wealthy moderate. The way he won was significant -- speaking plainly about subjects others would triangulate, framing progressive ideas as common-sense, mainstream pragmatism, punching back at dirty politics without taking the low road, and encouraging a sense of shared duty and sacrifice, as JFK once did. His success -- across all demographic and party lines -- made me hope that someone would take notice and try it out at the national level.

When Gov. Patrick endorsed Barack Obama early in the process (before there was a bandwagon, and probably against the wishes of the state Democratic establishment), I hoped it was because he recognized something in Obama that would allow him to capture something at the national level that Patrick had tapped into in MA.

Or maybe because they both know it's important to get the music right.