Deval Patrick is Interviewed about his Campaign
CAMEROTA: There are now 18 candidates running for the Democratic nomination. And that includes two recent additions, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. So what is the strategy for getting traction at this relatively late date? Let's ask former governor and 2020 Democratic Candidate Deval Patrick. Good morning, governor.</s>DEVAL PATRICK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.</s>CAMEROTA: Ah,</s>OK -- PATRICK: Good morning, Alisyn. Thank you so much for having me this morning.</s>CAMEROTA: Thank you for being here. So we've been looking forward to talking to you. Before we get to the timing of why you got in now and what the challenges are, just tell us about your motivations. What is it that the other 17 candidates in this race don't have that you think you bring to the table?</s>PATRICK: Well, you know, Alisyn, I get that question a lot because I think it presumes that I only made the decision that I wanted to be a part of this election cycle recently. In fact, I was ready to go more than a year ago. And about two weeks -- two and a half weeks before we were set to announce, my wife was diagnosed with uterine cancer. We -- we did the right thing, I think, for ourselves and our family by focusing on her and on that. I'm proud to say that when we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in the spring, she's cancer free, praise God. So that is great. And as I've watched the field, many of them friends, develop and offer their message, I do sense that there's still space for what I offer. And, in fact, as I've gotten out and around over the course of the last ten days or so, I think that path is even wider than I imagined.</s>CAMEROTA: And can you define that space? What is the space that you --</s>PATRICK: I can. I can. I can. So, first of all, I think, as a party, our candidates, all of our candidates represent ambitious agendas. And I think that's enormously important. I think that's exactly what the American people are hungry for right now, not just an antidote to the current president, but an agenda that is about what happens after we elect a Democratic president. But I think some of what's missing -- or let me put it this way, what I'd like to offer is the truth that is, I have a range of life and work experience in government, in the private sector, in not for profits that is about problem solving by building bridges. And I think it is enormously important to emphasize the opportunity to unify the country as we reach for these big and broad, ambitious goals, rather than saying our way or the highway.</s>CAMEROTA: Obviously, there is another person from Massachusetts running. So Senator Elizabeth Warren. And are you suggesting that she is saying, my way or the highway, that she's not building bridges in that way?</s>PATRICK: No, that's not -- that's not my point. I'm trying to be very careful because I am enormously fond and respectful of Senator Warren, that this campaign is not a critique of her or others. It is simply that my range of problem solving experience, my life experience is broader than most of the other candidates in the race. And I think it is important to bring that to bear, not just as a point of experience, but to make this point, Alisyn. You know, most people -- many people around the country feel unseen and unheard. And they -- even in the early states. You know, I was out in Iowa last week and they also feel very focused on right now but that sucking sound that happens the day after the caucus, when they feel again that we just fly over them, that we're not paying attention to them. There are folks in every community who understand that they are the focus or may be the focus of a campaign during election season, but that they vanish from the agenda in between. And what I bring that is different is not just a pledge to do -- to pay attention, to keep listening and learning and making sure that the agenda policy choices that we are making are actually responsive to their needs, not just in the here and now but for over a generation that I have actually tried to do that in my public and private life.</s>CAMEROTA: Governor, also last week, and I'm sure this is a mild sore spot, you had this event at Morehouse College. We have a picture of the nonexistent crowd that showed up. And so what went wrong here? I mean what -- what happened?</s>PATRICK: Oh, my gosh. We have, you know, we had just a terrific week where I think we just tried to do one thing too many. And our team, you know, I started out in New Hampshire and gone to California and then Nevada and Iowa and South Carolina and we were turning back to Massachusetts by way of Atlanta, D.C. and New York and we just tried to do one thing too many. We had a -- we had two things, including a flight scheduled on top of one another and didn't realize it until the last possible minute. So I owe -- I have apologized. I do owe the folks at Morehouse another opportunity to come and kick the tires on our campaign and on me, and I promise to do that before too long.</s>CAMEROTA: But do you think that that is, at all, indicative of the struggle to gain traction at this date and how will you make up for lost time?</s>PATRICK: Well, so, first of all, this was going to be hard no matter what. Ask any of the candidates who have been campaigning for months and years. It's still hard. Elections are about persuasion. And it's about talking about what your vision is and offering people that choice. I understand that. I'm prepared to do that work. I'm very clear eyed about it. I am also careful, by the way, not to let one picture or one experience define a campaign or define an individual. By the way, it's a bad habit we have to -- forget about elections, just in general, it's a bad habit we have trying to cram people into a box as small as possible so we can flick it off to the side. I've had a whole life of understanding that, you know, none of us fits in a box. None of the pictures we see are as simple or as obvious as they -- as they seem. And that ought to matter to the many, many people in this country who feel like they are only seen in a single dimension, if at all. And certainly that they aren't understood in the fullness of the challenges and opportunities they have at a policy level in Washington.</s>CAMEROTA: Former Governor Deval Patrick, great to talk to you. Really interesting to hear your vision.</s>PATRICK: Great to talk to you, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: We'll talk again.</s>PATRICK: I hope so. Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: John.</s>BERMAN: So you often hear people ask, what do swing voters think about impeachment? Often you hear people ask, what do Trump voters think about impeachment? That's all part of the story, but there's more. How have Democratic voters been moved by impeachment?</s>RICHARD KASER, PHILADELPHIA VOTER: I don't think he'll be convicted, but it all needs to be laid out, and the American people need to hear the full story.</s>BERMAN: More from the streets of Philadelphia, next.