Boston Herald/Fox 25 Debate

The first Massachusetts gubernatorial debate was Monday night. It was sponsored by The Boston Herald and FOX-25 TV and moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Republican Governor Mitt Romney, who allegedly has 2008 presidential aspirations, is not running for another term.

The candidates are Lt. Governor Kerry Healey, 46, (Republican), former Clinton Administration official Deval Patrick, 50, (Democrat), former Mass. Turnpike board member Christy Mihos (Independent) and astrologer (?) Grace Ross (Green-Rainbow Party). Some polls have Patrick with a 39 point lead over Healey. Mihos currently has about 5 points in the same polls. Ross has no chance of realistically winning although she claims to be leading all others with the 75 points if the people who do not vote or are not registered to vote are included!

I only caught the second half of the 70 minute debate. First the superficials: Kerry Healy looked great in a 1970’s style wide-open collar suit. Deval Patrick looked suave and smooth with a pink tie and dark suit. Christy Mihos was way over-tanned. Grace Ross wore a tie-dyed outfit. (She lists her birth date with the exact time — 11:03pm— for astrologers who may be interested.) From what I saw it was basically Patrick-Mihos-Ross vs. Healey. The issues I missed were education, taxes, and illegal immigration. The issues I saw were the Big Dig and fishing industry.

Lt. Governor Kerry Healey defended herself well against charges that the current administration “did nothing” in an attempt to clean-up the Big Dig mess. Romney and Healey were thwarted many times by the Massachusetts legislature in an attempt to gain control of the Big Dig. Christy Mihos appeared to have an “axe to grind” with Healey and Romney since he was fired from the Turnpike board by acting Governor Jane Swift in 2001. Although I think Healey defended herself well she was flustered at times. The question should have been asked of the other candidates what they would have done differently.

Patrick’s response to the “fishing industry” question was basically “keep them off drugs and have more treatment available.”

Basically nothing significant happened in the debate. Clearly I thought that Healey won given that it was 3 verses 1. Nevertheless, since “nothing happened” and no tough questions were put to Deval Patrick, and Patrick is in the lead, Patrick comes out the winner in this round.

On the most pressing moral issues here’s what I gathered on the two major candidates (and Christy Mihos) from other sources:

Deval Patrick (Democrat): Pro-“homosexual Marriage”, pro-abortion, pro-child sacrifice for stem cell research

Kerry Healey (Republican): Against "homosexual Marriage", pro-abortion, pro-child sacrifice for stem cell research

Christy Mihos (Independent): Pro-“homosexual Marriage”, pro-abortion

Photo: Deval Patrick, left, Grace Ross, Christy Mihos and Kerry Healey (Photo by Nancy Lane)
Tags: Massachusetts, Kerry Healey,Deval Patrick