I received an email from Don Berwick.
Dear Steve,
In the week that has passed since the Primary Election, I have received many emails and cards with kind thoughts and words of encouragement. Prompted by these and my own reflections, I’d like to share a few thoughts.
It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as a candidate for governor, and the 114,000 voters who supported me are, without doubt, a future force for change.
To all of you, I have one request now: join me in full support of Martha Coakley and the Democratic ticket on November 4th. Although we do not agree on all of the issues, I have no doubt at all that the Commonwealth’s future will be in excellent hands in a Coakley Administration. I cannot say the same about the prospect of four years under Charlie Baker and the Republican Party.
As for our efforts, I cannot thank you enough! My gratitude to all of those who supported me has grown ever stronger with the opportunity to rest and relax a bit. What you achieved on my behalf and on behalf of our shared agenda is amazing – far beyond usual expectations for a newcomer facing the uphill battle that we faced. I hope you feel proud.
We placed single payer health care on the map for our state and for the nation with more force than any prior political campaign in any state has managed to do. We stood firm in opposition to casinos for Massachusetts. We made the case for significant reforms in education, health care delivery, environmental stewardship, and criminal justice, as well as for world-class aims in our transportation system. And, most important to me, we highlighted poverty and inequality as the most important issues for our time, and articulated an agenda for the end of hunger, homelessness, and poverty in the Commonwealth. Together, we made it possible for candidates and the electorate to talk about these issues with heads held high.
I believe that the future well-being of the Democratic Party lies in its unapologetic and firm commitment to the progressive values that together we explored over and over again in this campaign: social justice, equality, and compassion in public policy. Our state and our nation are hungry for leaders who remind us all of our shared interest in these values and in human rights. The Democratic Party stands for those values and Martha Coakley will champion them.
Warmly,
Don
P.S. there have been many requests for the speech I gave on the night of the election. Click here to watch it.