The election for the next governor of Massachusetts is still a year away, but a group of Tufts students is already on the front line.
Junior Mitchell Robinson and about ten other Tufts students went to Boston University Monday night to see Democratic candidate Deval Patrick. Robinson is the leader of the state-wide Students for Deval.
In an October poll by the University of Massachusetts, Deval trails frontrunner Tom Reilly, the Attorney General, by double digits, but is only slightly behind current Governor Mitt Romney.
At 8:05 p.m., Patrick stepped onstage in the stage of a small auditorium in the Photonics Center, shaking students' hands along the way. He was introduced to an audience of about 100 student Democrats, mostly from BU, but also from Tufts and Northeastern University, by BU Assistant Dean of Students Alan Ward.
Patrick spoke for 25 minutes before taking student questions.
He emphasized that his campaign should be seen through the issues and have a statewide interest, rather than as a campaign to get the first black governor of Massachusetts elected.
Patrick talked about business, the economy and education in the state.
Massachusetts is "first in football and 47th in spending on higher education," he said.
As a solution, he suggested a more comprehensive education approach - one that would start before kindergarten, if necessary.
Patrick repeatedly criticized Democrats for not taking a stronger lead in issue debates, especially ones involving the economy, and attributed a decreasing public confidence to this weak leadership.
"I see people losing faith in the American dream," he said. "Democrats have got to get comfortable again... talking about the private economy."
Patrick concluded his speech by saying that the poor handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis was a demonstration of the lackluster effort by current politicians to take care of all American citizens.
"Those people abandoned on their rooftops after Katrina were abandoned before that storm," he said.
Robinson helped organized the event and helped create a student chapter of the campaign on the Tufts campus, let by freshman Jennifer Bailey.
About 75 to 100 Tufts students have signed up to volunteer for Patrick, Robinson said. The group - not associated with the Tufts Democrats - hopes to bring Patrick to campus next semester.
"The idea is that students need to become more involved in the political process," Robinson said.
Patrick has made it a priority to visit a number of colleges and universities, Robinson said. "This is a grass roots campaign we are running," he said. "[Patrick] is making sure he's getting students involved."
Robinson started organizing Monday's speech three weeks ago, and he also helped put together a program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst this past weekend. At that event, Patrick, Reilly and Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) spoke.
In Patrick's campaign office, Robinson works with a handful or interns from Tufts, some of which got the position through the Political Science Department's internship course.
As an intern, "you're going to be treated like you are part of the campaign," Robinson said. "I'll do anything from working on policy to going to fundraisers."
Robinson chose to work for Patrick over Reilly because he sees it as an opportunity to support a politician who, rather than speaking as a Democrat or Republican, speaks for himself. He described Patrick as "strong, moral and clear."
"You want to pick the candidate who is the best candidate for the people of Massachusetts," Robinson said. "And not one who has just been in office the longest."
