Report: Deval Patrick Could Be President in Five Years

Photo via AP

As the Summer of Trump draws to a close and the Island of Misfits Toys comprising the Republican field compete by seeing who can misinterpret a dead president’s policies the loudest, the Democratic Party is gaining intrigue, and a face familiar to Bay Staters is at the center.

Former New York Times Magazine editor Ed Klein reports there’s talk amongst Democratic circles that President Barack Obama will endorse Vice President Joe Biden in 2016, but only if the Commander-in-Chief gets to pick his running mate. Obama’s preferred choice? Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick:

In this scenario, which Obama has not yet fully explained to Biden, Biden would promise to serve only one term in the White House, after which he would back his vice president to succeed him…As Biden’s vice president, Obama is said to favor former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a close Obama ally who is the first and only African American to have served as governor of the Bay State.

Klein reports that Obama wants an African-American on the Biden ticket, and Patrick fits the bill. Biden, who would be 78 by the end of his first term, would step aside and pave the way for Patrick in 2020.

The most colorful reaction to this scuttlebutt came from former Massachusetts Democratic Chairman Philip W. Johnston, who told the Boston Herald, “It’s completely crazy…It’s just nuts. There’s no way that anyone can take that seriously. It’s so convoluted. I don’t think they’re that well-organized.”

A spokesperson for Patrick did not return the Herald‘s request for comment.