http://www.bluemassgroup.com/diary/17415/president-obamas-comments-at-governor-patricks-receptionREMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT GOVERNOR PATRICK FUNDRAISING RECEPTION
Westin Copley
Boston, Massachusetts
1:58 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody!
AUDIENCE: Hello!
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you hear a lot of politicians saying they're
going to be quick -- (laughter) -- and then they go on and on. They
say, "One last thing," "In conclusion." Deval is a man of his word.
(Laughter.) He says he's going to be quick and he's quick.
(Laughter.)
I am so thrilled to be here today with the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor. And at the outset I just want to say -- tell people a
little story -- I may have mentioned this to some other people before.
I had just been elected to the United States Senate -- and when I
first started running for the U.S. Senate not a lot of people knew me
and, let's face it, none of you could pronounce my name. (Laughter.)
When I came to Boston to speak at the convention everybody said "Huh?"
You know, "Why him?" and all those questions.
But I will tell you, Deval Patrick knew my name; in fact, he had
supported me, one of my earliest supporters outside of Illinois during
that race. We had become friends because of some associations that he
had with the Justice Department and we had had a chance to meet. And
I immediately thought, this is just a class act -- and the fact that
he had some Chicago roots and had worked himself up from -- you know,
from tough circumstances to achieve the extraordinary things that he
achieved I think made him that much more appealing to me.
Anyway, I win the race and I'm in Washington, I've just gotten my
office set up. And suddenly Deval says, listen, I want to come down
and just talk to you about some things. He comes down and he says,
I've decided to run for governor. And I'm thinking to myself, now, he
took a chance on me when I didn't have a chance and, frankly, I don't
think he has a chance. (Laughter.) But what could I do? I mean, he
had already, you know, put himself out there in one hopeless cause,
the least I could do was reciprocate. (Laughter.)
The truth is, though, actually, the minute he started getting
organized I said to myself, he is going to win. And the reason was is
that there's a core integrity about Deval, a sense that he wants to do
the right thing and he is going to be tenacious in pursuit of the
right thing; that he's going to speak truth to power -- (applause) --
that he's not going to back down; that besides being extraordinarily
gracious and just a good man, he's somebody who has a vision for the
future that can excite people.
And so I slowly watched here in Massachusetts as this incredible
grassroots movement began to build and people from all walks of life
and all corners of the commonwealth started to converge and say, you
know, we thought he was Irish -- "Patrick" -- (laughter) -- he's not,
but we like him anyway. (Laughter.)
And now what you've seen in addition to a extraordinary campaigner and
an extraordinary campaign culminating in victory, are the fruits of
that labor. The fact of the matter is, is that since Deval took
office he has performed extraordinary things under extraordinarily
difficult circumstances. There's not a tougher time to be governor
than right now. And yet without losing his cool, without losing that
steady inner calm that he has, Deval has gone about the business
pushing through historic ethics reforms here in Massachusetts, working
with his terrific lieutenant governor he's made sure that education
isn't shortchanged, that this commonwealth ends up being a leader in
clean energy and biotech and all the innovative areas that are
ultimately going to determine how well we're able to compete around
the world.
And as a consequence there really should be no doubt that this guy
gets a second term. (Applause.) There really should be no doubt that
this guy gets a second term. (Applause.)
But having said that, let's be honest -- this is going to be a tough
race. Reelection is not a foregone conclusion, because times are
tough and Deval is the first one to acknowledge that there are a lot
of people hurting out there. And although he and I are partners in
making sure that we are continuing to fund basic research and we're
continuing to fund education and we are implementing health care
reform in a way that works for ordinary families, the fact of the
matter is, is that when people look at a high unemployment rate and
they look at tough budget decisions that have to be made the argument
that, "Well, things would be a lot worse if it weren't for Deval" and
"things are going to be a lot better as a consequence of Deval" --
that argument is a tough one to make.
It's a lot easier to be irresponsible. It's a lot easier to push off
tough decisions. It's a lot easier to just say, let's just manage the
status quo as best we can and spend a lot of time pointing fingers and
blaming others for why we're not getting things done.
And so the question I guess that I'm going to have for all of you --
and I'm going to have a chance to speak to the larger group so I'm not
going to make this a long speech -- but to these folks here who are
some of the core supporters, early investors in Deval's vision, the
question I have for you is, were you in this just for the glamour and
the excitement? (Laughter.) Were you along for the ride just when it
was easy? Or did you really believe in what Deval was talking about?
Did you really believe that, you know, there was a gap between what
could be accomplished in this state and the status quo and an
understanding that it was going to take an enormous amount of effort
and there were going to be a lot of ups and downs in order to close
that gap.
If you really believed, if you understood fully the scope of Deval's
vision, what he was talking about in terms of moving Massachusetts
forward, then this should be an energizing moment. This should be a
time where you are really feeling good. Because you are ready then to
enter into battle on behalf of that vision. It's going to take a lot
of work. We're going to have to make sure that the same kind of
excitement, the same kind of energy that was displayed the first time
around is replicated on behalf of governance. And campaigning before
you're governor is always easy because everybody projects onto you
whatever it is that they think should happen. Governance, that
involves detail, that involves making tough choices, that means
inheriting problems and having to grapple with them.
It means -- governing means that you are having to prioritize. And
you also begin to recognize that transformation doesn't occur
overnight. I was having a conversation I think with some world
leaders at the G20 summit, and the discussion was around climate
change and the fact that we're now moving, the United States, to the
forefront, to leadership, as opposed to being in the caboose when it
came to trying to deal with climate change. And some countries were
feeling a little bit impatient, "Can't you get this done now?" "Why
haven't we already affirmed the science that exists out there?"
I said, look, the United States is like an ocean liner. It's not a
speed boat. If we make a shift of five degrees or 10 degrees, 10
years down the road, 15 years down the road you're going to look back
and we're going to be in a very different place than we otherwise
would have been. And we have to have that long-term vision about
where we're going.
Well, states are just like the country as a whole. And I am
absolutely confident that as a consequence of the tough decisions that
this governor is making right now, Massachusetts five years, 10 years,
15, 20 years down the road is going to be a much better place. And
that's what we're fighting for. (Applause.) We're fighting for --
what Deval is fighting for here is the same thing we're fighting for
all across the country. Some pretty simple things -- complicated to
execute, but pretty simple concepts.
We want every child in America to have a world-class education so they
can compete for any job in the world. That's goal number one.
(Applause.) We want a health care system that is efficient and
effective so that people are actually getting their money's worth,
that families are not bankrupt because they get sick and governments
are not bankrupt because all the money is going to insurance companies
and drug companies. (Applause.) We want to make sure -- we want to
make sure that we are at the forefront of clean energy and producing
millions of jobs in solar and wind and biodiesel. (Applause.) We
want to make sure that we are creating jobs for the future -- not
low-wage jobs, not just jobs at the bottom rungs of the service
sector, although we want to make sure that those jobs are paying a
living wage and have decent benefits. But we also want to make sure
that we're creating the jobs, building a new smart grid and laying
broadband line all across this country.
That's the vision that we're looking for. We want to make sure that
everybody can retire with some dignity and some respect. And all
those things are achievable, but it's going to take some work. So I
just want all of you to understand that the road between now and next
November is going to be long, there are going to be lots of ups and
downs. Because Deval is continuing to govern he's not just going to
shift into political mode, even though some of his political advisors
may tell him to -- this is actually one of the few flaws of this man,
is he doesn't always take direction -- (laughter) -- as well as he
should.
So he's going to still be governing, he's still going to be making
some choices. Some of them may not be popular. But if all of you
recognize that his core vision is right, that his integrity remains
intact, that he is not tired, he's energized, he's ready to go, he's
still fired up -- if all of you have that same spirit then I'm
absolutely confident that this team right here is going to win.
(Applause.)
And I just want you to understand -- and the last thing I'm going to
tell you, I want everybody to understand this, that what happens in
Massachusetts is going to have implications all across the country. I
cannot succeed as President unless I've got good partners at the state
level. And frankly, people on Capitol Hill, they watch the tea
leaves, and they say, well, gosh, if the kind of governor who's
implementing universal health care in Massachusetts, and if the kind
of governor who's making sure that education funding is flowing
steadily, if the kind of governor who is prioritizing clean energy and
basic research and technology -- if that kind of governor isn't
rewarded then maybe I shouldn't, as a member of Congress or as a
senator, take some chances and take some tough stance in pursuit of
that same vision.
And when the people of states reward courageous, hardworking governors
like that, that has implications for our national politics as a whole.
So I just hope everybody here understands what a precious thing you
have in Governor Deval Patrick, and that you are going to be working
as hard as you can and as sustained a way as you can in the months to
come in order to make sure that he has another four years to do
extraordinary service for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Thank you, everybody. (Applause.)
