The man who can ease Patrick’s pain

The last few weeks have been painful, and I’m not talking hip surgery.

That’s why I’m so pleased you agreed to help me win reelection in the 2010 governor’s race.

My transportation secretary, James Aloisi, is resigning after nine short but chaotic months. Between us, Aloisi’s departure is not such bad news. Now, he gets all the blame for the awkward and expensive unloading of Dan Grabauskas as general manager of the MBTA. Unfortunately, the headlines about Aloisi’s “decision’’ to leave reminded everyone just how wrong I was to appoint him.

What was I thinking? That someone who was part of the Big Dig culture - and profited handsomely from it as counsel - could be repackaged as the White Knight who rescued the state transportation system from the debt he helped incur?

It might have worked, if only Aloisi didn’t savage, then steal, that “reform before revenue’’ line from Senate President Therese Murray. When Murray gets a bee in her bonnet, ouch. Before you know it, she’s on the radio, calling me “irrelevant.’’

My education secretary, Paul Reville, has the opposite of a Michael Kineavy problem. Instead of deleting e-mail like the mayor’s chief political advisor, Reville sent an embarrassing blast to Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester. In it, Reville urged Chester to approve a Gloucester charter school proposal for what can only be described as political reasons.

“It really is a matter of positioning ourselves so that we can be viable to implement the rest of our agenda,’’ Reville wrote.

Memo to Reville: “Positioning ourselves so that we can be viable’’ is not exactly what voters thought I meant when I promised hope, change, and a different kind of politics.

But to really feel my pain, you must keep up with the bloggers over at bluemassgroup.com. Just like Kitty Dukakis, they are not so happy with my decision to name Paul Kirk as interim US senator.

The Net-roots are as precious to me as the grassroots were to Michael Dukakis. They helped elect me. They believed in me. So did Kitty.

They defended me from the cynics in the mainstream media. So did Kitty.

Occasionally, they question my judgment. Kitty never did.

When they get anxious about some decision that suggests incompetence, John from Abington soothes them. (That is blogger code for John Walsh, the Democratic state committee chairman, who was the field organizer for my campaign). When he was chief of staff, Doug Rubin would also take time to assure my blogger friends of the purity of my politics. Unfortunately, purity is a harder sell for Rubin, now that he is working for Steve Pagliuca, the Bain partner, Romney supporter, Weld and Bush contributor, who is running for Ted Kennedy’s seat.

Now, these bloggers seem to believe that a three-term governor and onetime Democratic presidential nominee should have been appointed to the interim Senate seat, instead of a Kennedy family friend. As David Kravitz, one of the bluemassgroup.com founders, wrote: “If Kirk is appointed, most people in MA will say, “Who?’’ And then shrug their shoulders, secure in the knowledge that, once again, a backroom deal has been cut that makes a DC power broker even more powerful and that makes some other well-connected folks happy, but that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the people.’’

What’s worse than a woman spurned? A liberal blogger burned. And that brings us back to your important role in my reelection.

The latest Suffolk University/7News poll shows that 56 percent of those surveyed said that “someone else’’ deserves to be elected.

Yet, in a head-to-head between you, me, and Republican Charlie Baker, I’m on top with 36 percent of the vote.

It’s real important to keep you in the race, and out of any negative news that can marginalize your candidacy.

Cahill defectors will go to Baker. So, stay strong, Tim.

In the meantime, here’s my new campaign slogan: Tim for Governor. With him in, I win.

Thanks again,

Deval Patrick

Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com.