A Curious Conflation

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick has resigned from the board of Ameriquest Capital Corporation, a company that his Democratic opponent Tom Reilly charged with ‘predatory’ lending. As is often the case in the Globe, the meatiest quotes are found near the end of the story. Here are a couple of paragraphs concerning the question of whether it is appropriate for a ‘progressive’ to serve on a corporate board:

Patrick said he had understood that his joining the ACC Holding board ''would make some people uncomfortable" and that political opponents would use it against him. He also noted that his role at two Fortune 100 firms, Texaco and Coca-Cola, where he served as general counsel, has drawn similar criticism. Patrick has defended Texaco when it faced water pollution allegations and defended Coca-Cola when it came under fire for human rights abuses at a plant in South America.

''Progressives are sometimes uncomfortable in principle with people who work for companies," he said. ''Political rivals try to make it an issue. But I still believe that lasting reform requires the effort of good people both outside and inside. Whether at Texaco, Coca-Cola or Ameriquest, I have never left my conscience at the door."

What is curious here is Patrick’s conflation of ‘progressives’ and ‘good people’. Is that a telling slip of the tongue? It seems so to me, and may explain why Patrick is so highly regarded within the dogmatic cloister of the Globe’s Op Ed department.