More than a thousand supporters of Mass. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick ’78 flooded Faneuil Hall Saturday afternoon to hear the 49-year-old Chicago-native lay out his vision for the Bay State.

But in a race that is rapidly becoming a fight for the middle ground, the Patrick campaign is financially lagging behind its primary opponent. Patrick urged his supporters to intensify their fund raising efforts and resist partisan labels.

The 90-minute event, largely a celebration of Patrick’s vision and experience, challenged the grassroots campaign to bring more people and more money into the campaign. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the Patrick campaign was more than $3 million behind Democratic primary opponent Mass. Attorney General Tom Reilly.

“Each of you should raise $2,000 for the campaign that you haven’t raised already,” said Patrick. “I don’t care whether you get 4 people to give $500 each or 500 people to give $4 each... If you each raise $2000, we’ll eclipse the head start the insiders have.”

Money may not be the only problem for the former Clinton justice department official. The other Beacon Hill hopefuls are all rapidly claiming the race’s political middle ground.

Republican Lieutenant Governor Kerry M. Healey ’82 began distancing herself from current Republican Governor Mitt Romney back in December, when she announced her support for a law requiring all hospitals to offer emergency contraception for rape victims. Romney had earlier vetoed the law.

Reilly has also started competing for the moderate label, announcing in December that he was supporting a reduction of the state income tax to five percent. State Democratic leaders have continually opposed the tax cut.

Former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board member Christy Mihos recently joined the race as an Independent, and former Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate Christopher F. O. Gabrieli ’81 is considering entering the race in the near future, further complicating the fight for moderate voters.

On Saturday, Patrick, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1982, said he was not competing for labels.

“Who cares whether they call a program ‘liberal’ if it helps someone who needs help and it works. Who cares whether they call a tough fiscal judgment ‘conservative’ if makes good fiscal sense,” said Patrick. “Enough already with ‘the right’ versus ‘the left.’ Let’s focus on right versus wrong.”

Patrick’s vision included no specifics on how he would achieve his goals of universal health care and better public schools, but he insisted that by resisting cynicism and approaching problems with imagination and optimism, a better state could emerge.

Standing at “the cradle of liberty,” before portraits of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, Patrick invoked history to impress on the crowd the significance of their campaign.

“For three centuries, great movements for change have been launched and nurtured from Massachusetts,” Patrick said. “In each case, this is where the people of Massachusetts came in search of a reason to hope. And in every case, the people left this building to build a better future.”