Or maybe, not
I don't know who cooked up the idea for this page one Globe article on what is alleged to be the last bastion of support for Gov. Deval Patrick, Western Massachusetts (home of the Taj Deval). But it's pitiful to think that, if the intent was to find a silver lining in Patrick's astonishing political meltdown, this was the best they could do.
The gist of the piece is that even as his popularity drops below dirt elsewhere around the state, "he is finding a much more receptive audience out west." Really? I doubt it. The Globe cites its own recent poll - showing Patrick with 53% approval in the west, the only region of the state where more than 40% approve of his performance - as proof of his regional popularity. But that poll only included 70 respondents from Western Mass., a sample so small, it's meaningless.
North Adams State Rep. Dan Bosley, no fan of Patrick's, damns him with faint praise, suggesting that Deval does well out west because “there’s not as much vitriol in the press. And there’s no talk shows." Translation: ignorance is bliss.
I don't doubt that many out west, notorious for feeling ignored by Beacon Hill, appreciate the attention Patrick pays to them, holding almost as many "official events" out there as he has in eastern Mass. OK, so maybe all those visits do dovetail nicely with access to the Taj, where he is said to be working away on the eagerly-awaited, sure-to-be inspirational book that could be his ticket out of any future need to cut ribbons in Pittsfield. But hey, attention is attention, right?
Maybe. Or could it be that if western Mass. residents were legitimately polled, their approval of the governor's work might more closely reflect the reality of life out there. Compared with a statewide jobless rate of 8.7%, as of July 1 the Leominster/Fitchburg/Gardner area was suffering from 10.9% unemployment; Athol, 10.8%, Springfield, 9.1%, up from only 5.8% a year ago; North Adams, a disastrous 9.5%, and so on. One bright spot: Amherst, at only 6.7% unemployment. (I do believe he could beat Tim Cahill there.)
"Showing up matters," the governor tells the Globe. Sure it does. So does failure.
