Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick defended his chances in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary next month while on Greater Boston Wednesday, pointing to the number of undecided Democratic voters who remain.
“I keep meeting people who keep asking me that same old narrative about being late, and I ask them if they’ve decided, and they say ‘No,’ and I say, ‘I’m not late for you,” Patrick told host Jim Braude during a sit-down interview.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll released this week showed Patrick polling at less than one percent in the Granite State, but Patrick emphasized that the poll also pointed to a significant number of undecided voters.
The poll found that nearly 24 percent of people did not have a favorite candidate yet, and that almost half — 47 percent — of those who had a first choice candidate might change their mind before the primary.
“Other candidates have been out there for months and spent millions … and they have not locked it down,” he added.
The Suffolk/Globe poll showed a tight race for the top between Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with the point difference between all four falling within the poll’s margin of error.
Patrick stressed to Braude that he plans to stay in the race for the South Carolina primary regardless of how he does in New Hampshire.
The former Massachusetts governor also called on his fellow Democrats to embrace a long-term vision that extended beyond 2020, pointing for comparison to impact that conservatives have had on American political life in recent decades.
“We have to take the long view,” he said. “The other side – the hard right, the radical right – have brought us to this point in terms of how we’ve treated out democracy for a long time as if it would tolerate limitless abuse for a long time without breaking – the gerrymandering, the money, the voter suppression, the appointments on the court – because they took the long view.”
“We’re going to have to decide today,” he continued, “whether the America we are is the America … we want to be — one that is about equality, opportunity, and fair play — and take the long view there.”
He added, “If we don’t bring people in and build our coalition over time and secure that as the ideal worth reaching for, we’re in big trouble.”