Deval Patrick has been doing a lot of listening since he announced his insurgent campaign for governor of Massachusetts.

While some have waited impatiently for him to make specific pronouncements on pet issues, he has spent time figuring out what he wants to say instead of spouting what he thinks people want to hear. One result is a ten-point economic program which is now available on the campaign web site, and is certain to get alot of attention in the political community and in the media over the next few days.

“If you share my vision and support these ideas, or have better ideas,” Patrick writes, “join us by signing up at www.devalpatrick.com. And in the style that has marked his campaign from the beginning, Patrick is soliciting comments and feedback.

Unlike most pols, Patrick sees politics — and indeed, governance — as an ongoing conversation. He knows that people are bored to death by wonkitude. Its not that people think public policy is unimportant; quite the opposite. But we all yearn for pols who speak in plain English about what they want to accomplish and how they want to accomplish it. We want pols who have a biggervision — and the skills and realism it takes to get there.

Patrick’s vision, skill and realism shows in his campaign. Starting early and with zero name recognition, he has systematically been speaking with and listening to people all over the state. Considering where he began, he is making tremendous progress. One of the innovative features of his campaign, continues to be his outreach to bloggers — few of whom have large readerships, but all of whom are engaged in turning this nascent media into a powerful engine of civic activism and democratic renewal. Patrick’s latest bloggerview was with The Progressive Blog, which describes itself as “an outlet for Progressive Students and Thinkers residing in and around Lynn/Boston.” Each bloggerview tends to have a ripple effect. Each one is written about by at least some fellow bloggers, thus reaching more readers and continuing the statewide conversation.

For example, Sco has some observations on Patrick’s latest foray into the blogosphere, and Left in Lowell has highlights.

Meanwhile. Patrick’s more traditional campaign appearance in Burlington was the subject of a major article in the Burlington Union.

Upstart liberal candidate Deval Patrick…. who is looking to become the first African-American governor in state history, made his pitch to voters here last weekend, touting an aggressive platform of education expansion and health care reform, while vowing to infuse the Democratic party with energy and hope.

“If the Democratic party doesn’t stand for anything, we will lose and deserve to lose,” said Patrick, …. “We need to stiffen our backbones and become the party of hope and opportunity again.”

One highlight of his appearance was the way that he underscored the difference between his view of government and that of the rightist cabal running the Bush administration. The Union continued:

“Patrick later blasted the federal government’s sluggish response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster but stopped short of saying it was the result of racism.

“What’s on display is the failure of a political philosophy, and that’s a philosophy that says everyone is on their own, particularly the poor,” said Patrick. “And I think that philosophy compounded to make both class and race factors in the [hurricane] recovery.

“If you want a closer look at the vision of government urged by the right, turn on your television and look at what’s going on on the Gulf Coast.

“You can’t say to people evacuate and not take account of the fact that some may not have the means by which to evacuate, and then say it’s up to them to do so,” he continued, adding that if a similar disaster befell Chicago when he was a child, “”It wasn’t a question of my family being able to hop in the car and dash out to O’Hare Airport and high-tale it out of town.” Patrick also criticized President Bush’s actions in the days immediately following the deadly storm.

“It’s important for leadership to show up,” he said. “I was astonished when I read that the president flew over [the region] in Air Force One. Someone asked me what I would have done differently, I said I would have gotten out of that airplane.”