Patrick with family and Milton precinct captains

This evening an enthusiastic throng of Milton residents gathered on election eve at the Hoosic Club to rally for a local resident who lives just up the street, Governor Duval Patrick.

The crowd was loud, boisterous, and excited to see their candidate enter the hall with speakers booming the The Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (which you can hear here.) The Governor was joined by his family some of whom had come from California to be by at his side as he seeks another 4 year term.

His neighbor State Senator Brian Joyce introduced US Senator John Kerry who urged the crowd “not to turn the clock back on this country. . . we are a great piece of American history . . . and [Patrick] has been a superb governor of Massachusetts.”

Ms. Diane Patrick, the governor’s wife spoke warmly of Milton, its diversity and the care and support friends and neighbors had shown to her and the family over the years. “It’s personal.”

Her husband echoed that sentiment when he took the stage, reminding the group that there is nothing wrong with kindness and that in troubled times people should “turn to each other, not on each other.” What keeps him going is what he perceives to be people’s “fundamental hopefulness.”

Here are some photos of the event. Click on an image for a larger version.