The Washington connection

The people Deval Patrick has sought to help as a lawyer over the years are front and center in this year's campaign. But some of those people have received more attention than others.

The case of convicted rapist Benjamin LaGuer, for one, has dogged the Democratic candidate for governor for several weeks now. And now comes this little nugget: a letter purportedly written by LaGuer predicting a Patrick victory.

"I got a new district attorney taking office in Worcester as well as Deval Patrick probably as next governor. That song by Sam Cook, [sic] Change is Gonna Come, is starting to ring true," said a Sept. 17 letter apparently signed by LaGuer. Parts of the letter are blocked out in the copy obtained by the Globe, including the name of the recipient.

Patrick, for his part, has started to talk on the campaign trail about victims he has represented, including one in particular: Desiree Washington, a former Rhode Island beauty queen whom former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was convicted of raping in the early 1990s.

She filed a civil suit in 1992 in US District Court in Indianapolis, and Patrick was Washington's attorney. The suit was settled in 1995.

Patrick mentioned his role on Jim Braude's NewsNight show on NECN last week, and has made passing references to it in other public comments, leading some to wonder why he hasn't said more about it. "Mr. Tyson has begun to repay his debt to society for the crime he committed," Patrick said in 1992. "This suit is about his obligation to Ms. Washington."

ANDREA ESTES

A GOP convict too

Kerry Healey has tried to help a notorious con, too.

On July 14, she and Governor Mitt Romney signed a proclamation praising Edward J. MacKenzie Jr., a convicted drug dealer who wrote "Street Soldier," a memoir about his life of crime as an enforcer for Whitey Bulger. He later became involved with the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem, which runs the Swedenborgian Church on Bowdoin Street, across from the State House. At one point, its spending drew the interest of state Attorney General Thomas F . Reilly.

But none of that appeared to bother Healey and Romney, who signed a proclamation that reads: "As the director of operations for the Church on the Hill The Boston Society of the New Jerusalem, you have been a leader in sponsoring programs for Boston's youth and senior citizens. Your dedication to the people of Boston is deserving of acknowledgement of all citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

A spokesman for the governor's office later said the proclamation was a mistake. Other political figures also made proclamations on behalf of MacKenzie.

FRANK PHILLIPS

The mom vote

On the campaign trail, Deval Patrick frequently delivers personal stories about growing up on the South Side of Chicago.

But at a debate before the AARP last week, Kerry Healey's mom was in the crowd, and she got personal. Speaking to a group of seniors, Healey referred to her mother's struggles with housing as a reason she relocated a year ago from Florida to Massachusetts.

"We couldn't take care of her because she was too far away," Healey said. "My mom is 80 this year.

"I hope you don't mind me saying that, mom," Healey added, "but it's too late if you do."

The crowd laughed.

"I also want to say hello to Mrs. Murphy," Patrick said. "She came to a campaign event of ours. I know I won't get your daughter's vote, but I'm working on yours."

The crowd roared.

MATT VISER

All together now

It's on blue signs in front yards all across Massachusetts. It sits on bumper stickers and atop press releases: "Deval Patrick: Together We Can."

But there it is, too, on the top of the green flyers passed out by Grace Ross, only with different punctuation: "Together, we can!"

Ross, the Green-Rainbow Party candidate, insists she started using the slogan way back in February.

"We think Patrick stole it from us," said Colby Peterson, Ross's spokesman. "But we can't prove that, really."

Patrick earlier used "No Ordinary Leader," but at an event on March 11, the slogan "Together We Can" was on the backdrop behind him.

"It was on my website from day one," Ross said. "I don't think he exactly stole it, but, on the other hand, his staff has clearly seen it at my events. It may be something unconscious."

Ross said she doesn't mind. "It's one way I'm shaping this election," she said.

But the three-word slogan isn't all that original. It has also been used in campaigns run by Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and Doug Hutchinson, mayor of Fort Collins, Colo.

The slogan has also recently appeared on several construction projects run by the city of Boston as part of a $1.3 billion plan to revitalize neighborhood infrastructure. The name of the program? "Together, We CAN."

"We've used the tagline `Together We Can' since mid-March of this year, when Deval Patrick held a thank you event for over 2,000 supporters at Faneuil Hall," said Libby DeVecchi, a spokesperson for Deval Patrick.

"It symbolizes Deval's commitment to the grass roots and the fact that the campaign is about the people of Massachusetts, not just Deval Patrick."

MATT VISER

Contact the Globe's political staff at Masspolitics@globe.com.