Sal DiMasi Calls Out Deval Patrick
Just when you thought your daily allowance of catty remarks had been met by the Harvard Lampoon and Hasty Pudding, our local politicians get in on the action. Instead of bickering over the merits of Paris Hilton, House Speaker Sal DiMasi has picked a fight with Gov. Deval Patrick over the epic struggle to find a Democratic presidential nominee.
DiMasi followed the lead set by the candidates in Monday night’s debate by personally attacking Patrick and Barack Obama simultaneously.
As we read the article in today’s Globe, we felt our eyebrows creeping up like they do when we read about the latest Hollywood feud. DiMasi supports Hillary Clinton, while the governor has cast his lot with Obama.
“I think Massachusetts will look at it to find out what they can see in Obama with respect to what they did with their vote for Governor Patrick,” DiMasi said in response to a question. “To be perfectly honest, I really don’t want my president to be in there in a learning process for the first six months to a year. It’s too important.”
Ouch.
Asked yesterday how he would judge Patrick’s first year in office, DiMasi offered a laugh, and said, “I say that the Legislature did a great job.”
. . . And then DiMasi called the governor fat. (No, not really.)
The Speaker’s remarks aren’t only valuable as entertainment. As Super Tuesday creeps closer, the media is looking carefully at the parallels between Patrick and Obama. Some say that Obama should kindly ask Patrick to stop stumping for him since the governor’s less than stellar first year could reflect badly on the relatively inexperienced Obama. Others maintain that Patrick’s brilliance on the stump could outweigh any liability.
It remains to be seen what Obama will do now that a member of Patrick’s own state party is publicly highlighting his flaws. With the race Democratic race growing more acrimonious by the day, Obama may need to disassociate himself from anyone that can cast doubt in a voter’s mind. Even if that someone is a brilliant campaigner. Like Patrick.
