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LOS ANGELES - "It is true that the other candidates have been out for a while...but it is by no means settled."
Former two-term Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is one of the most recent politicos to make a splash in the 2020 democratic primary race.
Although, perhaps, known by a smaller cross-section of America as compared to his rivals, including top-tier contenders like Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, Patrick argues he's most optimally positioned to oust President Trump because he brings a "reform-minded approach to every assignment."
Having relied on government assistance while growing up on the south side of Chicago, Deval believes himself to possess a "generational responsibility" to "build bridges," in remedying a myriad of nationally significant issues, including homelessness and income inequality.
"My mother, sister, and I shared one of two bedrooms...we had a set of bunk beds. So, we'd go from the top bunk, to the bottom bunk, to the floor every third night."
Patrick sat for an in depth interview with Elex Michaelson for the political show "The Issue Is:"
Patrick said he initially planned to announce his bid for the presidency a year ago, but eschewed his ambitions after learning about his wife, Diane's, uterine cancer. Now, she's cancer-free and his gut tells him that his window of opportunity has opened.
"It's not that I've always wanted to be president...it felt like there was a moment where I had a contribution to make."
Patrick hasn't yet qualified for any of the Democratic debates. But, he claims he mobilized voters from all 50 states in the first "2 to 3 hours" after the birth of his candidacy.
Healthcare reform, which finds itself prominently broached at every debate, is one of the marquee issues of his campaign. Deval played a significant role in crafting a Massachusetts healthcare program, which the Obama administration looked to as it drafted the Affordable Care Act.
Instead of endorsing the progressive Medicare-for-All plan, a policy that, by one estimate, would cost the American taxpayer a whopping 20.5 trillion dollars over ten years, Deval endorses a more moderate approach. He seeks to allow market forces to take the reins on this front.
"There is some value in having the tension that comes from government and the private sector trying to solve a similar problem...the private insurance market would start to think of ways to offer a lost-cost competitive option."
In a similar way, he supports harnessing the power of public-private sector partnerships to eradicate homelessness.
After testing out such a multifaceted program in Massachusetts, he asserts, "we were on the path to eliminating individual homelessness...shelter alone, in many cases, is not going to be enough."
While he enlists “relational organizing” to build his base of support, he assesses the current crop of candidates, including the recent flameout of California Senator Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Harris is an “extraordinary public figure,” he says.
“The debates themselves…as a way to inform the public about where you are and how you think, I’m not sure they’ve been as helpful as one would like.”
As we wrap our program, he pays tribute to his role model — his 6th grade teacher, who was the first to help him understand what it means to be a “citizen of the world.”
It's a “gift for any kid…from the South Side of Chicago.”
"The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson" is California's only prime-time political show. It airs on FOX 11 Los Angeles on Fridays at 10:30pm, on KTVU FOX 2 in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sundays at 5:30am & Sundays at 12:30pm on KCOP My 13 in Southern California.
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