Is Patrick Still on the Menu?

With ill wife, Patrick still on menu for St. Patrick's roast?


By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press writer
March 15, 2007 6:00 AM

BOSTON ?- The pricey Cadillac. The expensive drapes. The helicopter rides.

If ever a politician had offered up a boatload of comedic fodder for this weekend's St. Patrick's Day roast in South Boston, Gov. Deval Patrick had done it during his first eight weeks in office.

He acknowledged as much Monday, when he said, "I think I'm on the menu."

But all his missteps came before the news that Patrick's wife, Diane, was being treated for exhaustion and depression. Patrick's voice caught this week when he told reporters, "My wife is the center of my world."

That's leading speakers to check their jokes for appropriateness. It's also raising the question of whether ?- and to what degree ?- Patrick still is fair game at what is usually a merciless affair.

"There are certain subjects that are off-limits: abortion, child molestation, 9/11, the stuff Mel Gibson said," said local comedian Steve Sweeney. "But Deval Patrick is the governor, and part of my job is busting his chops."

Sweeney expects there will be no jokes about Diane Patrick, but her husband's decision to hire her a $72,000-per-year appointments secretary is another matter.

"If you don't satirize them, why elect them?" said the comedian. Sweeney is writing jokes for U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., a presidential contender planning to visit the annual breakfast.

"I like to see it as a fun-filled event, where there's good-natured ribbing as opposed to anything that's a harsh exchange," Hart said. "Certainly it will be a more solemn, what with Deval's wife, Diane, being ill, and certainly people will go a little easier on him, but I expect people will still have fun."

Patrick spokesman Kyle Sullivan confirmed that the governor will attend. Patrick is not hiring professional help to write jokes, Sullivan added.

Hart believes the event could indirectly generate a sympathetic firebreak for Patrick. Little more than two months into his first stint in elective office, he has been besieged with questions about his decision to upgrade his state vehicle from a Ford to a Cadillac, spend $30,000 redecorating his office and use a State Police helicopter more frequently than his predecessor, former Gov. Mitt Romney.

"Gov. (William F.) Weld used this medium to create in a lot of people out there, including lunchpail Democrats, a sense of likeability and endearment," Hart said. "I'm hoping Deval Patrick will see this as the same opportunity, to take the slings and arrows that come his way and respond in a way that makes people feel good about him."

Such was the case in 2003, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was criticized for not attending the roast just days after prostate cancer surgery.

Kerry made a surprise appearance, limping in to defend himself.

"I had some repair work done to my Shillelagh," the Massachusetts Democrat quipped.

The audience, which only moments earlier had been teasing him, embraced him with a roar of laughter.

Southcoasttoday.com