Patrick can speak firsthand about the similarities of “Romneycare’’ and “Obamacare’’ because he was left to implement the state law.
Governors also have special clout on the trail because they are executives, charged with making decisions and being directly accountable for the results.
In the State of the State speech, Patrick took a shot at Obama’s frequent target, congressional Republicans.
He declared to the overwhelmingly Democratic Massachusetts House and Senate that “while others elsewhere in positions like yours and mine succumb to division and stalemate, we here pulled together and, for the good of the Commonwealth, made hard choices.’’
Patrick talked about high test scores and a 98 percent health insurance rate, a consequence of Romney’s law.
He talked about moving from 47th in job creation to fifth in the nation during the past two years, not just a matter of coincidence but an expressed contrast with his predecessor’s record.
Patrick also seemed to be thinking of Romney, who has been labeled a flip-flopper, when he said this:
“When we stay true to our values, we make decisions for the good of our future, choices that transcend momentary political convenience.’’
Brown’s deal on ads shows strategic skills
Scott Brown is an officer in the Massachusetts National Guard, and he has obviously learned the lesson that when you’re confronted with a superior military, you have to adopt guerrilla tactics.
The Republican incumbent demonstrated his knowledge of asymmetric warfare when he succeeded last week in maneuvering his likely opponent in this year’s US Senate race, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, into accepting an unprecedented ban on third-party ads in their campaign.
