NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with former Gov. Deval Patrick

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

CHUCK TODD:

Welcome back. There's been some big news out of Iowa this morning. A new Des Moines Register/CNN poll shows Mayor Pete Buttigieg surging to the top in Iowa among likely Democratic caucus-goers. Buttigieg is at 25%, nearly a double-digit lead over his nearest competitor. He's gained 16 points since September. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden have slipped significantly. And they're bunched together with Bernie Sanders. The poll suggests that Democrats, at least in Iowa, may be, at least, searching for an alternative to Warren, Sanders, and Biden, perhaps a more-moderate one, which is exactly the space Deval Patrick would like to occupy, when he entered the race last week. And the former Massachusetts governor joins me now from San Diego. He got up early with the time change. He is learning the rigors of this presidential contest. Governor Patrick, welcome back to Meet the Press.

DEVAL PATRICK:

Indeed, I am, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD:

I know it's early.

DEVAL PATRICK:

How are you this morning?

CHUCK TODD:

I'm good. Let me just start with that.

DEVAL PATRICK:

Thanks for having me.

CHUCK TODD:

Pete Buttigieg, I would argue, is essentially making similar arguments you have about bringing the country together, that this is a bigger moment than a specific policy issue here, nostalgia over there. I'm not, I mean, when you hear your message, and I hear what I've heard from Pete, Pete Buttigieg, I think, well alright, isn't your message already represented?

DEVAL PATRICK:

Well, first of all, I want to thank you very much, Chuck, for having me on. And I was just listening to your previous segments. And it feels a little jarring to be talking about politics, given the gravity --

CHUCK TODD:

It does.

DEVAL PATRICK:

-- of what you were talking about just now. I have tremendous respect for Mayor Pete, as I do for Senator Warren, for the vice president, and other -- the other candidates, who are friends of mine, and whom I talk with in the course of the race. My, my entry into the race isn't about them. And I'm not trying to climb on top of them, in order to do what I want to do and what I think I can do. I think that I have a, I have a record of being a bridge-builder. And I think that's pretty important at a time when not just the party, in some respects, but the nation is deeply divided and divided, frankly, around issues that -- where we have remarkably, a remarkable amount of overlap, in terms of economic anxiety and social tensions, which we have experienced at different times in our history. I also have a range of life experience and professional experience which enables me to come at problem solving through -- from a bunch of different perspectives. And you've seen that. And I want to tell the American people about that in Massachusetts.

CHUCK TODD:

You come, you come -- you're a preparation guy, though. You strike me as somebody that you want a plan in advance. You didn't get in. It's interesting. You were asked in June. You said you had "no regrets" not getting in. You were asked in August. You said, "My wife looks at it and says, 'I'm so glad you didn't run.'"

DEVAL PATRICK:

She does.

CHUCK TODD:

In October, you suggested an 11th-hour bid was highly unlikely. And Governor, look, I've been aware of efforts to recruit you for years. And it's always been my understanding that you just didn't want to put your family through this. So what changed?

DEVAL PATRICK:

Yeah. Well, first of all, you may know, Chuck, we were really close, I mean, like, you know, a week or two from announcing, a year ago. And just at the eve, literally, my wife was diagnosed with uterine cancer. And, and that had to be first priority. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in June. And I'm delighted to say that she is cancer free, praise God.

CHUCK TODD:

That's great. Excellent news.

DEVAL PATRICK:

She follows every put and take. It is, really. She follows every put and take, every news story, much more closely than I. And you are right. She has said, watching the debates and watching so many of our friends compete and contest and the friction that comes from that, that she was glad I was not involved at that time. But she's also been one of the ones listening closely and responding to folks who have said, "There is a lane for you." More to the point, there's a -- the nation needs experience, not just a sensibility around bridge-building, but actually some results in that respect. And you know, we are in crisis, in many respects, here, in America. And we used a crisis, in Massachusetts, to come out stronger economically, stronger socially, and more fair. And I'd like to see if those experiences and that aptitude and that skillset can be offered in service of our nation.

CHUCK TODD:

Look, it's not lost on people that, here you are, jumping in, when there's a fellow Massachusetts Democrat in the race. And it certainly seems as if you don't see eye to eye on ideology, necessarily. Why shouldn't your entry be seen as a bit of a vote of no confidence in Elizabeth Warren?

DEVAL PATRICK:

Well, I don't want to go there. Senator Warren is a friend of mine. And you know, she and her husband, Bruce, and Diane and I have spent time together privately and socially. And I am enormously fond of her and incredibly proud of the campaign she's run. It's been enormously disciplined, I think. But I think, you know, we have to -- we have to keep our eye on our shared goals and not get so hardened around our means. And I'll just healthcare as an example. You know, every single Democrat believes and is committed to delivering quality, affordable healthcare to every single American. Republican leadership are not. That's the point. How we get there, there will be and should be robust debate about that. You know, we've delivered, in Massachusetts, healthcare to over 98% of our residents. I still don't think there's another state in America that has gotten that far. And the whole business of trying to get system costs down --

CHUCK TODD:

Yeah.

DEVAL PATRICK:

-- is a national challenge. You can get there a couple of different ways. And certainly, having a public option, which is my preferred approach --

CHUCK TODD:

Okay.

DEVAL PATRICK:

-- maybe Medicare is that public option, that's a way. But the fact is, we can't -- no one party, no one candidate, has a corner on all the best ideas. And if you want to make a reform that lasts --

CHUCK TODD:

Yeah.

DEVAL PATRICK:

-- then you have to make room for other points of view to accomplish that ambitious goal.

CHUCK TODD:

I don't know if you're as independently wealthy as Michael Bloomberg. I assume you're not. I don't think many people are.

DEVAL PATRICK:

Is anyone?

CHUCK TODD:

But are you going to accept Super PAC money or Super PAC support? There's been a lot of speculation that, perhaps, some of your Bain partners or friends may end up helping put together a Super PAC to help you catch up. Not a lot of Democrats are crazy about Super PAC money. Are you going to swear it off or not?

DEVAL PATRICK:

I'm not, I'm not crazy about Super PAC money, either. I'm not sure that I'm -- if I understand the rules correctly, I can even have a say about that.

CHUCK TODD:

You can publicly discourage it.

DEVAL PATRICK:

But look, I think we need to do some catchup. So I think we've got to follow and find all sorts of above-board strategies to do that.

CHUCK TODD:

So if there is a Super PAC that supports you, you're not going to tell them to stop?

DEVAL PATRICK:

No, I'm not. I will say that I would like to see any contributions to such a PAC fully disclosed. I think dark money -- first of all, I think there's too much money in the system. And I'm going to have something to say about that, from a policy point of view, as we get a little further along. But if there is going to be Super PAC money that supports me, it should all be -- the sources of that should be fully disclosed.

CHUCK TODD:

Alright. Deval Patrick, former Democratic governor of Massachusetts, a crowded field, welcome, welcome to it. Getting up early in California, that, sir, I appreciate, as well. Stay safe on the trail.

DEVAL PATRICK:

That's a part of it, Chuck. Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source