POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: PATRICK’s public profile – BAKER’s backup – The MA-03 cash dash

PATRICK’s public profile – BAKER’s backup – The MA-03 cash dash

08/06/2018 07:00 AM EDT

By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @laurendezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Welcome to Monday.

PATRICK'S PUBLIC PROFILE - Deval Patrick continues to dust off his public profile both on the campaign trail and in the media ahead of 2018 — and potentially 2020. The former governor made a rare appearance on a Sunday show, appearing on CNN with Jake Tapper. Patrick called in from a video link in Aspen, Colorado, and waded into national Democratic issues while honing his stump speech as he takes some time from his day job to concentrate on the midterms, as Patrick put it Sunday.

"I think obsessing about the president's tweets and his rants really don't help anything and don't help anyone," Patrick said. "I think what we all want as Democrats and as Americans is leadership that brings us to each other, rather than on each other. That encourages us to look ahead and see our stake in each other. That's why I want to take some time from my day job and concentrate on the midterms and to help candidates that are focused on voters and focused on their lives to help themselves."

Patrick defended his work at Bain Capital, where he's managing director of the venture capital firm's Double Impact investment program since leaving the governor's office. "I have many longtime friends at Bain Capital, many people I know to be highly honorable folks," Patrick said. "I'm not a market fundamentalist ... but I do believe in opportunity. We need an economy that is expanding out so it reaches people on the margins, not just up. There is a right way and there is a wrong way to do that."

Patrick broke into laughter as Tapper asked about skepticism from Democrats toward him on the campaign trail in 2020: "Thank you but don't interview me as a candidate for 2020 yet. I'm not ready to be a candidate for 2020."

On President Barack Obama's circle urging him to run for president: "For a kid who grew up as I did, it's mind-blowing to have people seriously to me and about me that way," Patrick said. "And I wish my grandmother and my mother were alive. They would probably be the ones who would be the least believing of something like this. But right now my focus is on the midterms ... and on the fund."

Patrick said he would make a decision on whether he would run "in due course." "The speculation isn't helpful," he added. "It's incredibly touching, and I've had messages and encouragement from all over the country and some from around the world and from friends and from total strangers, and it's extraordinary. But I'm trying to keep my focus on my fund and on these small number of races where I've been invited to help and where I think I can be helpful."

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch:ldezenski@politico.com.

TODAY - Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash speaks at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Raytheon's new $72M, 30,000 square foot radar development facility in Andover - Rep. Joe Kennedy III will participate in a site visit of Keolis Commuter Services at the Widett Circle location. In the afternoon, he will tour the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Milford - Boston Mayor Marty Walsh swears in William Gross as chief of the Boston Police Department. Gross will be the city's first black police chief. Ceremony attendees will include state Attorney General Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and Treasurer Deb Goldberg.

ON THE STUMP -

- "As Charlie Baker revs up reelection campaign, help has already arrived," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe:: "... While Governor Charlie Baker has remained ensconced on Beacon Hill, his campaign machine has quietly hummed inside its Allston headquarters, building a staff of dozens and reserving swaths of air time as it prepares to jump-start his reelection just weeks before the Sept. 4 primary. He's getting help, too. A Republican-backed super PAC that poured millions into Baker's 2014 victory is splashing a cheery, 32-second spot across local televisions, touting his lofty polling and the state's humming economy."

- "Democrats for Massachusetts governor spar over resumes, hit Baker hard in Herald Radio debate," by Jordan Frias, Boston Herald: "Bay State Democratic hopefuls for governor Bob Massie and Jay Gonzalez sparred over who has the better resume and party support — but mostly how they'd both do a better job than Gov. Charlie Baker. The Boston Herald Radio debate [Friday] was a battle of progressives, with Gonzalez touting his experience as former Gov. Deval Patrick's secretary of Administration and Finance."

- "Democrat Tahirah Amatul-Wadud regrets voting for Scott Brown in 2012, says her progressive record speaks for itself," by Shannon Young, MassLive.com: "Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, a Springfield Democrat running in the 1st Congressional District, defended her record as a progressive this week, arguing that her work should speak louder than a vote she regrets casting in 2012. Amatul-Wadud, who is looking to unseat incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, of Springfield, in Massachusetts' Sept. 4 primary, confirmed that she voted for then-U.S. Sen. Scott Brown over Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 election -- a decision which she attributed the Republican's focus on veterans and both candidates being relatively 'new.'"

DATELINE BEACON HILL -

- "Baker vetoes child welfare reform, congestion tolling pilot," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service:"Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday made a dent in the flurry of bills that landed on his desk in the closing weeks of July, vetoing three and returning two with recommended amendments. The vetoed bills - which would have lifted a cap on welfare benefits, established a congestion tolling pilot program and raised the number of allowed hours a state retirees can work - each originated as policy sections in this year's budget, and Baker had previously returned them to the Legislature with amendments. "

- "DeLeo to become longest continuously service Mass. Speaker," by Sam Doran, State House News Service: "An era of turmoil and turnover in the state Senate has coincided with a period of historic consistency in the House, where Rep. Robert DeLeo on Saturday becomes the longest continuously-serving speaker in state history. The 14-term Winthrop Democrat will KO a record held since 1985 by the late Lynn Democrat Thomas McGee, father of current Lynn Mayor Thomas McGee."

- "Gov. Charlie Baker vetoes pilot program for cheaper tolls in off-peak hours," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "The Legislature, in its version of the state budget, passed a pilot program that would have reduced toll rates at certain times and locations to test whether congestion pricing could potentially reduce traffic. In vetoing the bill, Baker wrote that lowering tolls on the few roads that actually have tolls 'is not an effective response to road congestion, disadvantages those who must drive during the busiest times to get to work and school, and reduces the revenue available to maintain and upgrade those roadways.'"

- "Maine Gov. LePage claims Massachusetts toll collection practices unfair," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "Maine Gov. Paul LePage is accusing Massachusetts of highway robbery, equating the Bay State's out-of-state toll collection practices with a 'shakedown' of Mainers. 'What began in the spirit of cooperation between our states has resulted in the harassment of Maine citizens,' the oft-bombastic Maine governor wrote in a page-long letter to Bay State Gov. Charlie Baker."

- "Is the Republican Party Donald Trump's — or Larry Hogan's?" by Frank Bruni, The New York Times: "Frank Bruni: 'What's Charlie Baker doing right that you're doing wrong?' Gov. Larry Hogan: 'We're friends. We text back and forth. I say, 'Charlie, what do I have to do?' [Hogan's] approval rating was nearly 70 percent, according to Morning Consult, which ranked him as the second-most-popular governor in America, just one point behind Massachusetts's Charlie Baker — who, fascinatingly, is also a Republican in a Democratic stronghold."

THE TSONGAS ARENA -

- "3rd Congressional race driven by dollars big, small," by Chris Lisinski, Lowell Sun: "The candidates who top the field in fundraising -- including [Dan] Koh, Rufus Gifford and Lori Trahan, have raised the most from small-dollar contributions, but they also rely more on large donations than their opponents do."

- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK Gifford campaign to launch a weeklong 10,000-Door-Knocking-Spree, from the Gifford campaign: As part of their grassroots organizing strategy, Gifford and his team of volunteers will knock on 10,000 doors across the district in one week. Gifford says "I absolutely love knocking on doors and talking to voters—building those human relationships is my favorite part of the campaign. But I can't do this alone. It's 100% a team effort." He will announce the initiative later today in a video: https://youtu.be/DImAkgeXSZg

- Senator L'Italien is Actively Building Bench of Democratic Women Leaders, from the L'Italien campaign: "In the 2018 election cycle, Senator Barbara L'Italien (herself a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 3rd District), is continuing her commitment to elect women in down-ballot races. With the official announcement today of L'italien endorsement of Chelsea Kline for state senate, she has now endorsed 4 women in open Democratic primaries for state representative and state senate this year."

- Dan Koh picks up support from education leaders throughout the district, from the Koh campaign: "Today, five education leaders from across the Third District announced their support for Democratic congressional candidate Dan Koh. Koh received endorsements from Westford School Committee member Gloria Miller, Vice-Chair of the Assabet Valley Regional School Committee Peggy Ayres, Chelmsford School Committee member Barbara Skaar, Monty Tech Regional School Committee member and former Gardner School Committee member Matt Vance, and former Chelmsford School Committee member and longtime teacher Angelo Taranto."

- "Getting to Know MA-3 Candidate Juana Matias," by Alison King, NBC10 Boston: "As she campaigns throughout the Merrimack Valley, MA-3 candidate Juana Matias sees a lot of herself in the people she meets. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, she arrived in the country with her family in 1992 speaking no English."

THE WARREN REPORT -

- "Warren, hinting at 2020 run, slams 'racist' criminal justice system," by David Siders, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday called the criminal justice system 'racist ... front to back,' while further hinting at a potential presidential run. But [when asked what, if anything, had changed since her decision not to run in 2016, Warren replied, 'Two words: Donald Trump.'"

- "Progressives look to 2020 at Netroots Nation conference," by Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian: "The largest gathering of progressives in the country got under way in New Orleans on Thursday. A number of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have travelled to Louisiana for the event as they bid to tout their progressive credentials. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker will be in attendance over the next few days as Democrats begin to jostle for a primary race which has almost already begun."

WOOD WAR — Herald: "TRAGIC ... AND TOXIC," "People need to pay attention" "LIZ'S FOES FACE OFF"— Globe: "Some fear segregated schools will divide city," "A positive force, from an early age," "Seeing green around Orange Line," "Trump revises defense of son," "An age-old question on housing."

THE LOCAL ANGLE -

- "Boston's schools are becoming resegregated," by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "An alarming pattern of racial segregation has re-emerged in the Boston Public School system over the last two decades, according to a Globe analysis, largely the consequence of steps taken by city and school officials to allow more students to attend schools in their neighborhoods as they did prior to court-ordered busing. The resegregation of the school system, which many advocates have been monitoring with frustration for years, is raising fears that the city could wind up with the wide disparities ..."

- "William Gross, set to be sworn in as Boston's first black police commissioner, was an officer in the making, friends say," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "There were early signs, friends say, that Willie Gross, as a teenager on Esmond Street in Dorchester, could grow up to be a police officer. As Gross is set to be sworn in Monday as Boston's 42nd police commissioner, those who recall his upbringing and followed his career say that his historic appointment as Boston's first black police leader was years in the making."

- "Do you need experience as a prosecutor to be a good district attorney?" by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: "Ask one of the defense attorneys vying to become the next Suffolk district attorney if experience as a prosecutor matters and you are likely to hear the name Lawrence Krasner. A longtime civil rights attorney who spent much of his career suing Philadelphia police officers, Krasner became the city's district attorney in January even though he had no experience trying cases as a prosecutor."

- "DCR, carousel negotiations go round and round," by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: "One day last Summer, " Leo Roy, the commissioner of the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation, showed up at the Paragon Carousel across from Nantasket Beach in Hull with some ominous news. Roy's decision [to make the lease run month-to-month] was the beginning of a lengthy and sometimes tortuous negotiation process that is still far from over."

- "Press play: Five years later, John Henry is still writing the Globe's business case," by Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal: "Five years after the 68-year-old financier and his wife bought the region's largest media company, John Henry's ownership stands at an inflection point. With more than a dozen experienced newspaper executives gone over the past year, the success or failure of their efforts rests more squarely on their shoulders than ever before."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Maeve Duggan, MassINC Polling Group Research Director.

DID THE HOME TEAMS WIN? — Yes! The Red Sox came back to beat the Yankees, 5-4, and complete the four-game sweep, and Beyonce and Jay-Z knocked it out of the park while on the run for the second time at Gillette Stadium last night.

FRESH OUT OF THE GATE - THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE HORSE RACE: In the last minute scramble of legislation, the state appears to have made horse racing illegal, which means Lauren and Steve are off to the glue factory. But first, they speak with The Springfield Republican's Shira Schoenberg about the chaotic end of the Legislature's formal session, and what did and didn't fall through the cracks. Then former state senator Ben Downing returns to analyze the legislative process that led to the messy end of session, and we continue our tour de commonwealth with CommonWealth Magazine's Michael Jonas on the race for Middlesex District Attorney. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud

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