For Patrick, A Chance to be a Centrist

The turbulence of the election ended in a surprisingly familiar place: Massachusetts’s exceptionalism. The Commonwealth, Vermont, and Connecticut were the only states that elected only Democrats as congressmen and governor. Deval Patrick’s success gives the governor, unlike President Obama or more marginal Democratic governors, a freedom to choose his own path. If he chooses to be a pro-growth centrist, he can provide a model for Democratic resurgence in 2012.