When it comes to the effort to re-elect President Barack Obama, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick had a simple message to Florida Democrats at their annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner Saturday night: Get involved.
Im in for 2012, Patrick told the crowd.
Some are also wondering if Patrick, who has traveled to three swing states in recent months, might be in the race for 2016 in a different role. And his appearance in perhaps the largest swing state in presidential politics served as something of a rehearsal if he were to make that transition.
Patricks speech hewed to many of the same themes he sounded in similar remarks in Wisconsin and Colorado: The Democratic Party has lost its way and needs a injection of intestinal fortitude, confronting the hard-driving conservative agenda of the tea-party movement with a more progressive answer.
And despite being in the state where unpopular Gov. Rick Scott practically embodies the kind of conservative politics and policies Patrick scorned, the Massachusetts governor stayed away from outright criticism of his Florida counterpart.
The only Florida-specific remark in Patricks speech highlighted the late hour at which he took the stage -- about a half-hour after the event was officially scheduled to end.
Im so sorry, he told the audience, because I believe events of this kind should end the same day they begin.
Instead, Patrick stayed with an aggressive message on everything from health-care and education to gay rights. And while his travels have raised questions of whether Patrick has national designs, the speech also left some wondering if the message could work in Florida -- a swing state where Democrats have a healthy registration advantage but the GOP dominates statewide offices and both branches of the Legislature.
For partisans, though, it was a breath of fresh air in a state where the last Democratic nominee for governor endorsed extending all of the Bush tax cuts in 2010. Many of Patricks remarks were greeted warmly, and one drew a largely standing ovation from a crowd slightly thinned by the length of the proceedings.
He is one of the rare few who will stand up and say that our party needs to grow some backbone, said Evan Ross, fundraising director for the Miami-Dade Young Democrats, who was one a few dozen activists who approached Patrick after the speech.
Ross acknowledged the issues the stridently progressive tone of a Patrick-style message could generate in Florida -- but also said that parts of the speechs focus on the economy and education could resonate with some of the states voters.
Could that message, to that extent, would it work with Floridians statewide? Ross said. Probably not. .... Can the majority of that message work? I believe it can, if we can turn out Democrats.
Alvin Brown, a conservative black Democrat who recently won a mayors race in Jacksonville -- one of the states most right-leaning major cities -- was more circumspect.
The part that I thought was important was the focus on making sure that we create opportunities for all, Brown said.
But Brown emphasized the bipartisan tone of his election campaign and dismissed talk of a more liberal tone on social issues.
I havent even focused on that, he said. I dont even deal with those issues.
