Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) published a presidential announcement video Thursday, throwing his hat into the ring after nine candidates have already entered and left the race.
In his campaign video, he emphasized his humble roots growing up poor — or “broke,” as his grandmother preferred — on the South Side of Chicago. He said that he was the first in his family to go to college and law school, hitting hard the idea of the “American dream” that he said has become harder to achieve.
He acknowledged the other Democrats who have already been running for months. “I admire and respect the candidates in the Democratic field,” he said. “They bring a richness of ideas and experience and a depth of character that makes me proud to be a Democrat. But if the character of the candidates is an issue in every election, this time is about the character of the country.”
Patrick is facing considerable headwinds in his attempt to gain some traction in this race. For one, he has little name recognition and lacks the deep pockets of someone like a Tom Steyer, who could essentially self-fund his way into pseudo-prominence.
He’s also extremely late to the game — he’s already missed a slew of Democratic debates, an important stage for lesser-known candidates to make an impression, and will certainly miss next week’s as well.
In addition, despite the couple handfuls of candidates who have dropped out, there are still tons of people running. It’s proven difficult for the lion’s share of the presidential hopefuls to get any attention, especially with impeachment proceedings sucking up media attention that would usually go to the campaigns.
However, he’s not the only one who felt that even at this point and against these odds, his voice needs to be heard. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also mulling a run, and filed his paperwork in Alabama last week.
Watch Patrick’s announcement video here:
