Deval Patrick, the former two-term governor of Massachusetts and the state's first black chief executive, formally announced a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Deval said in an announcement video on Thursday: "I've had the chance to live my American dream. But over the years, I've seen the path to that dream closing off bit by bit. The anxiety and even anger that I saw in my neighbors on the South Side, the sense that the government and the economy were letting us down, were no longer about us, is what folks feel all over America today in all kinds of communities. I am today announcing my candidacy for president of the United States
Patrick is a close ally of former President Barack Obama, and outlined a key ground rule of his campaign: he will not "climb up by tearing anyone down." He added: "We are going to compete and compete robustly, and we're going to compete not just by making this contrast, but we're going to show differences in the way that campaign."
