Thursday, 4:30 PM
Governor on menu at annual roast
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff
The comedian Tony V has already struck one quip about the governor from the script he is writing for a politician.
Three other would-be jokesters called Democratic consultant Michael Goldman Wednesday to test the appropriateness of barbs they planned to aim at the new chief executive during South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast Sunday.
Until last weekend, Deval Patrick had set himself up as the perfect target for fellow politicians at the notoriously sharp-tongued roast. The jokes about the Cadillac, the fancy drapes, and the $72,000 aide to the first lady were almost writing themselves.
But after last weekend’s somber revelation that Patrick’s wife is suffering from depression and exhaustion, organizers and observers say, the rhetoric may be toned down a bit.
"The line between being funny and going over the line is very tenuous in this particular set of circumstances," Goldman said.
As for Patrick, the roast presents an opportunity for him to disarm his critics with self-deprecating humor -- and to show he can take a little ribbing, according to longtime observers of this ritual. Patrick suggests he’s ready.
"I’m going because I think I’m on the menu," said Patrick, who announced last week that he would scale back weekend events to spend more time with his wife.
Senator Jack Hart, a Democrat from South Boston who hosts the annual breakfast, said he thought Patrick would be treated more gently than Governor Mitt Romney.
"I think there will be some good-natured fun," Hart said, "but because he’s a Democrat and because his wife’s ill, I think people will be less harsh with him."
The South Boston breakfast, a longstanding political tradition, is supposed to serve up two hours of laughs at the expense of those running the state. But the pressure can terrorize politicians, and their aides, who have to think up something to say that is edgy and funny but stops short of being offensive.
Eric Fehrnstrom, a former spokesman for Romney, said the Republican governor spent a lot of time preparing for the breakfasts because he understood that his performance there was "at least as important" as the reaction to a major policy speech. He said Romney will not attend the breakfast this year.
"It’s Deval Patrick’s turn in the hot seat," Fehrnstrom said by e-mail.
