CNN The Situation Room-Transcript

CNN The Situation Room-Transcript

BLITZER: All right, good advice from Doug Wilder, the former governor of Virginia.

Thank you very much for that, Mary.

My next guest, right now, is the only African-American governor currently serving in the United States, and only -- get this -- the second African-American governor since Reconstruction. He previously -- previously served in the Clinton administration as an assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is joining us now from Boston.

Governor, first of all, congratulations.

PATRICK: Thank you, Wolf.

(CROSSTALK)

PATRICK: It's great to be with you.

BLITZER: It's -- it's pretty shocking to think that there's -- you're the only second African-American governor in our country since Reconstruction. I know you have thought about that.

Why is it?

PATRICK: Well, I think there are probably lots of reasons. Some of them have nothing to do with race. I mean, the whole idea of throwing your lot in and -- to a political race, especially a statewide one, that are frequently bitter -- ours was unusually nasty, I think -- and exposing yourself and your family to all that much of a nonsense is something, I think, gives a lot of people pause.

But I think, here in Massachusetts, people saw my race. And I'm proud that they saw my race. But I'm also proud that they saw more to me than -- than the fact that I'm a black man. They saw a range of experience, including government service, and -- and business leadership, and nonprofits, and so forth. And they also saw a vision they shared that was a common vision for how to move our state forward.

BLITZER: When you were running for governor, did -- was there any incident, a racial incident, that occurred that was surprising to you? Or -- or was it really a colorblind race in Massachusetts?

PATRICK: Well, it's not right to call it a colorblind race, Wolf, for the reasons I said a minute ago. People saw who and what I was. It's just, they saw beyond that.

I think there were occasions where, you know, I would meet someone and they would say: I expected something different from you.

I can remember one person saying that they expected Al Sharpton and they found Colin Powell. And I -- you know, I guess I was intend -- that was intended as a compliment. I know it was intended as a compliment.

But the point is that there are all kinds of ways in which people were processing some of their own predilections and -- and preconceptions about what an African-American political candidate ought to be and ought to care about.

BLITZER: Let me get back to the first question. There are a lot of African-American mayors of major urban centers across the United States. And that's been pretty obvious the past 30, 40 years.

Why is it, if -- if African-Americans really can get elected in all sorts of major cities, they're still not getting elected governor?

PATRICK: Well, there are not a lot of them who have run for governor. So, I think, probably, if you took the -- the numbers who have run for governor vs. those who have -- who have won, that ratio would be pretty -- pretty good.

I hope there will be more candidates of color for all kinds of offices. In fact, I want more people who are, like me, new to -- to electoral office, to step forward, because we have got to take our rightful place in -- in -- in helping to shape the kind of society we want to live in. And being active in political campaigns and as candidates is a part of that.

BLITZER: Ken Blackwell ran for governor of Ohio, a Republican African-American. Lynn Swann, as you know, ran for governor of Pennsylvania, another Republican. Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, ran for the Senate, another Republican -- African-Americans, all.

Did they lose because they were Republicans or was there a racial element involved as well?

PATRICK: Well, you know, to tell you the truth, Wolf, I haven't followed their -- and didn't follow their races all that carefully. But I will say that my sense, certainly here in Massachusetts, and all across the country, is that people are hungry for change and they're hungry for a reason to hope.

They have had enough of this politics of fear and division and personal destruction. And they want a vision that a candidate is willing to lose the race over, that you're willing to -- you care about enough, you're willing to put everything on the line.

That's the kind of race we ran here. It was about inviting people who had checked out to check back in, to see their stake again in their own dreams, in their own struggles, and in their neighbors as well. And that was a winning strategy here. We won in a landslide. I think it's a winning strategy for candidates all over the country.

BLITZER: We heard Barack Obama say he's your friend.

PATRICK: He is, indeed.

BLITZER: I -- I'm sure he's -- you're his friend as well.

But are you supporting him?

PATRICK: I -- listen, I think he is a fabulous candidate. And I have relationships with other candidates, including Senator Clinton.

I do expect to get involved in the race, including in the primary, but, for the time being -- I have been in office less than two months -- I have got to concentrate on my knitting right here.

BLITZER: Who has a better chance of becoming a -- a president in this country right now, an African-American, like Barack Obama, or a woman, like Hillary Clinton? And you worked in the Clinton administration, so I know you're close to her as well.

PATRICK: Yes. I think -- I think the world of her.

I think the one who will win this presidential election in the general election is the one who has the clearest and most hopeful vision, a willingness to go directly to people, where they live and where they work, all around the country, and ask them to see their stake in that vision, and who conveys a willingness that they believe in something enough they're willing to lose over it.

I think that's what -- the kind of leadership that people all over the country are hungry for right now.

BLITZER: You have succeeded in Massachusetts. Mitt Romney, he's now running for the Republican presidential nomination. What do you think about Mitt Romney? Did he do a good job in Massachusetts?

PATRICK: Well, look, he and I have very different approaches to government. We have -- we have -- you know, I happen to believe that government has a role to play in helping people help themselves, that there is a place alongside personal responsibility for shared responsibility. I think there is much more that we have left to do here in Massachusetts to -- to build our economy, to ensure consistent excellence in the public schools, a lot of that work left undone.

I will say that -- that the governor deserves -- that Governor Romney deserves some credit for helping be a part of the coalition that brought us a health reform legislation, a very big and broad step forward. And I'm proud of that. It falls to us, now, to implement that -- that. And we are working on that very hard.

BLITZER: Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, thanks very much for coming in.

PATRICK: Great to be with you, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: I hope you will be a frequent visitor here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

PATRICK: Ask me again. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Thank you.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/20/sitroom.01.html