Patrick meets voters in Salem
SALEM - The 10-year-old boy who briefly upstaged the Massachusetts governor appeared before the crowd of 300 in a tie, pressed shirt, and pleated pants. Jonathan Marrero recounted how upset he was when his elementary school cut its librarian and how he raised more than $2,000 to help restore funding.
"Not only can one kid make a difference," the child said as the crowd rose to its feet and began cheering. "But imagine a whole community."
"Thank you, thank you," the governor said, grinning widely, as applause died down. "I hope you are not running for governor in 2010."
Indeed, the boy had stolen Governor Deval Patrick's message of grass-roots, community activism, which Patrick is pushing this summer in a campaign-style tour featuring town hall meetings across the state. Scores of people crowded into a park near the Peabody Essex Museum in downtown Salem for the first of the meetings on Tuesday night. The second meeting is scheduled for tonight in Hull at the Bernie King Pavilion.
In an hourlong appearance in Salem, residents asked questions about a local power plant, funding for special education, and gas prices. The friendly audience listened intently as the governor highlighted recent accomplishments, such as an energy reform and a $1 billion life sciences initiative, and promoted a partnership he said he now enjoys with legislators he had clashed with in his first 18 months in office.
No one in the audience asked about his failed casino proposal that soaked up so much attention on Beacon Hill this year.
The event was much like a campaign stop, with Tom Petty blaring on the speakers as politicians, including the governor and Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, shook hands and walked to a makeshift stage. People held aloft hand-painted signs to promote their causes as Patrick stood in front of a large American flag.
Barney Keller, the spokesman for the state Republican Party, trained a video camera on Patrick the entire time, hoping to capture an embarrassing YouTube moment. The left-leaning website BlueMassGroup.com also had a representative there, blogging live. Local politicos, families, and teenagers whipped out disposable cameras to snap photos of the governor.
The town hall highlights the governor's efforts to take his message directly to voters. Patrick's operation frequently calls him "the governor of the whole state." He has reopened a Western Massachusetts office in Springfield.
By visiting communities, Patrick also is almost assured a prominently placed news story in local papers and can engage directly with residents instead of through a media filter that he suggested distorts his message.
"We need an active and engaged media for democracy to be strong," Patrick told the residents gathered in the Salem park. "But I need a direct relationship with you. You need to hear from me in unfiltered terms, and I need to hear from you in unfiltered terms."
Attendees seemed charmed by the governor. "He's here, he's interested, and he's listening," said Paul Wennik, 71, a retired music executive from Salem. "These municipalities are going through hell right now, and he's really committed. This is the most accessible governor I've seen in years."
Minutes after the event ended, the Republicans sent out a statement attacking it as a "gimmick."
"Governor Patrick still didn't explain why he has failed to deliver Candidate Patrick's promised property tax relief," Keller said.
But ultimately, Patrick's message was overshadowed only by the young boy, and the governor said he didn't mind at all.
"I wish we weren't asking 10-year-olds to go out and raise money to keep the librarian in the school," Patrick said to the crowd, and then turned to the boy. "I love that you stepped up."
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
