Just read an interesting press release from the gubernatorial campaign of Juliette Kayyem, in which a standard-issue appeal for campaign donations got an intensely moralistic spin — and gave me an intense case of political deja vu.

Kayyem, of course, is widely regarded as a long shot to land the Democratic gubernatorial nomination next year. A Public Policy Polling survey in September showed attorney general Martha Coakley as the heavy favorite, with state treasurer Steve Grossman running a distant second and Kayyem lagging behind fellow long shots Don Berwick, Joe Avellone, and Dan Wolf. My man David Bernstein's latest insiders poll finds Coakley's lead may be a bit softer—but it still suggests Kayyem's odds of winning the nomination are slim.

Maybe that's why Kayyem is using the rhetoric that caught my eye. As you read her campaign's fundraising missive (all emphases in the original), see if you can spot a strong rhetorical affinity to another Massachusetts Democrat who struggled to be taken seriously early on:

Juliette began building her candidacy for Governor at her dining room table, which is where the cynical establishment said she should stay. According to them there wasn't room in this election for Juliette. However, Juliette didn't listen to them; she listened to you.

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Will you donate today to help us fight the cynics and build Juliette's campaign?

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Whether you can donate $5 or $500 your donation will fight back against the cynics and allow us to keep growing.

"[C]ynical establishment," "fight the cynics," "fight back against the cynics" … That's right! In this press release, Kayyem certainly seems to be channeling Gov. Deval Patrick circa 2006. Back then, Patrick used a potent combination of organizing and oratory to top then-Attorney General Tom Reilly in the Democratic Primary and Republican Lieutenant Kerry Healey in the general. His inexorable grassroots campaign organization was a huge asset--but so was his ability to cast his critics and opponents as small-minded, petty negativists.

For example, here's Patrick at the 2006 Democratic state convention: "Some in politics and some of the media, frankly, are dealers, peddling cynicism by tearing down anything positive and hopeful." And here he is speaking to then-Globe columnist Brian McGrory right before the September 2006 primary: "I'm up against not just a political establishment, but a very deep cynicism." (Patrick's fascination with cynicism didn't abate after he won office; for example, he railed against it midway through his first term and panned it in his first book.)

So, is Kayyem's decision to cast herself as Patrick's heir in the battle against cynicism intentional?

"Governor Patrick was told by the establishment that he couldn't become governor, and that he couldn't win re-election as governor," says Matt Patton, Kayyem's communications director. "It's that same thinking Juliette is running against … She's trying to stand up to the same old systems, the same old establishment, and push back."

Possible case in point? Former state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien's statement, on WGBH's Boston Public Radio, that with Coakley in the mix, "I just don't think there's room for another smart female in the race."