'Deval For All' joins crowded Dems in presidential race
**EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: RESENDING WITH UPDATED VIDEO OF DEVAL PATRICK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND A SOUNDBITE FROM HIS APPEARANCE ON 'CBS THIS MORNING'**
With the first primaries just weeks away, another democrat is jumping into the president race. This time, it's former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who announced the news in a video released on Thursday.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK SAYING:
"This time, it's about more than removing an unpopular and divisive leader -- as important as that is, but instead for you."
Then, Patrick headed to Concord, New Hampshire to add his name to the ballot just before registration for that state's primary closed.
A close ally of former President Barack Obama, Patrick, a 63-year-old African-American, joins nearly 20 other candidates seeking the nomination ahead of next year's election... among the heavyweights -- former Vice President Joe Biden, and two liberals: U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Also this week, former New York City Mayor and current billionaire Michael Bloomberg made preparations for a possible run.
Patrick, the Harvard-trained lawyer and two-term former governor was a managing director of the Boston investment firm Bain Capital. He resigned on Wednesday, a company spokesperson said.
Appearing on 'CBS This Morning', he billed himself a unifier.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK SAYING:
"I've been waiting for a moment like this my whole life... There is an opportunity right now for big ideas, as big as the challenges we face, and in the crafting and development of those ideas to bring us together."
His candidacy will face a steep uphill climb... all but the top five candidates have failed to garner more than a few percentage points of support in state and national polls.
Some fear the last-minute additions are a sign of party volatility and that the strength of front-runner Joe Biden's candidacy may be weakening.
