Will Gov. Patrick Stay or Will He Go?

Despite his high-profile campaigning for Barack Obama, Gov. Deval Patrick maintained that he wasn’t going to bail on Massachusetts, unlike one recent, orange-toned governor who jumped to the national stage.

But after news broke that he was in New York signing a book deal on the day his casino proposal was officially defeated, we had cause to wonder if Patrick was poised to pull a Romney and flee the Commonwealth after only one term in the corner office.

Several Patrick aides have assured voters that Patrick plans to run for reelection. But today the governor himself finally went on the record about what he’ll be up to in 2010.

On this morning’s edition of Finneran’s Forum, the governor said that he plans to run for a second term. It’s the first time the words have come directly from Patrick’s mouth since everyone started questioning his plans after he signed his book deal.

Saying he’ll run again, uh, ups the ante for Patrick. (Sorry. Casino puns never get old.) If he simply sat back and allowed his lackeys to make the statements, he could easily scapegoat them as he hastily packed his bags on his way out of town. But now critics can go to the tape as they scream “but you promised!”

Does Patrick mean it, or will he take a cue from his BFF Obama’s pledge to run on public funds and renege on his word? Politicians are such a crafty lot.