This is really Jon's thing to gloat about but I feel like I should post about it anyways. Anyways, the Boston Globe reports the following today:

In private conversations, key supporters of Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly have long dismissed Deval Patrick as a minor impediment to winning the Democratic nomination for governor. Not anymore, after a lackluster showing in the party caucuses over the weekend capped the worst week of Reilly's political career.

For weeks, Reilly partisans had been spinning low expectations and conceding the convention endorsement in June to Patrick. The purpose was clear: Portray the organizational achievements of the lesser-known Patrick as an inside job by liberal activists and accentuate Reilly's strengths, both real (an almost 6-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage) and supposed (electability in November against the Republican nominee).

But following so closely behind Reilly's blunder in choosing a running mate whose tax and credit problems forced an abrupt withdrawal, the caucus results will be viewed in a different light, several Reilly campaign officials acknowledged in interviews.

Recent events also increase the likelihood that Reilly will be forced to spend heavily and spend earlier and to slug it out with Patrick if he is to win the September primary, said a Reilly adviser who requested anonymity.

Moreover, the caucus results demonstrate that Patrick's team is well on the way to establishing a statewide field organization for the fall primary.

''Tom realizes he's got to throw away the playbook and start anew," Senate President Robert E. Travaglini said after meeting Reilly over lunch with four fellow Democratic senators last week. ''The course of this campaign has changed," Travaglini said, describing himself as ''inclined to be supportive" of Reilly but not yet committed to his candidacy. ''In the eyes of some, he is no longer considered the front-runner."

I think this is a really positive development because in my eyes, Tom Reilly is just another boring old school Democratic candidate. He really doesn't have many ideas if any and he is just sort of a vote for being a Democrat. I do not think this is enough for Democrats and Deval really excites me as someone with something to say and some ideas that could move the state party forward. At the least, I would hope that even if Reilly gets the Democratic nod that the presence of Deval will force him to say something different and put forward some ideas. Still, I think Deval is really the type of fresh face that the Democrats need to start winning elections. This is a Democratic state and we should be winning.