Healey vows to shift from Romney's path

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey made clear yesterday that she plans to step out of Governor Mitt Romney's shadow and set a sharply different style of governing by attempting to establish a strong working relationship with the Democrat-controlled Legislature if she is elected.

In an interview on the eve of the state Republican convention, Healey promised to be an ''extremely hands-on, personally involved governor" with lawmakers to advance a frugal, pro-business agenda that is markedly more socially moderate than Romney's.

''Each governor is different," she said when pressed on whether she had a different governing style than Romney, ''and I believe that I would be an extremely hands-on, personally involved governor who would work with the Legislature to advance the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth."

Her description of the role she envisions contrasts with the image of Romney, who is seen by many legislators, special interest groups, and some business people as aloof and disengaged, except on a few issues such as healthcare legislation.

''I believe that my style is different, just by virtue of the fact that I'm a different person, but also that I tend to look for common interests with the legislators and build on those interests," Healey said.

Underscoring her differences with Romney, who is an abortion-rights opponent, Healey will join a ''Republicans for Choice" event at a Lowell restaurant Saturday, hours after she is expected to be nominated by the GOP at its convention in Lowell. Healey is on the host committee of the abortion rights group, along with former governors William F. Weld, Paul Cellucci, and former acting governor Jane Swift.

Republicans in Massachusetts, including Romney in his 2002 campaign, have won with socially moderate stances on abortion and other hot-button issues. Several past GOP governors also developed close working relationships with the Legislature. During his 2002 campaign, Romney pledged not to change the state's abortion laws, but last year he described himself as ''personally prolife," a shift to the right as he positions himself for a potential run for president.

Yesterday, Healey distanced herself from Romney's new program to use federal funds to teach sexual abstinence in the schools. He insists it will only supplement current sex education programs, but critics say the governor's program, using a faith-based organization, is pushing a separate abstinence-only curriculum, which they say is ineffective and undercuts other programs.

Healey would not fully endorse the governor's proposal and said she wants a ''standardized, comprehensive health and sex education curriculum" that is applied evenly in all schools and that includes abstinence and parental input.

Over the past several months, Healey has also moved away from the governor by declaring herself in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples and against his restrictive stand on stem cell research.

Some 2,500 party delegates will gather on Saturday at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell to officially make her and her running mate, former state representative Reed Hillman of Sturbridge, the GOP's endorsed ticket for the November election. Republicans are banking on Healey, with her family's wealth and her four years of holding a statewide office, to fend off the Democrats' latest assault on the GOP's 16-year grip on the governor's office.

Yesterday, Healey spoke in detail and with confidence about various public policy issues facing the state, appearing far more polished than when she emerged as Romney's running mate in 2002. She is seeking to become the first woman elected Massachusetts governor.

''My sense is that I have the ability to work cooperatively with the Legislature to get things done," Healey said, sitting in her office at her Boston campaign headquarters. She said she played ''a major role" in getting the anti-drunken-driving Melanie's Bill passed last fall and in the recent passage of a witness protection bill. Referring to the drunken-driving bill, she said: ''And that was, I think, a real test of one's ability to work in a bipartisan manner."

Asked if Romney's reputation for being aloof on Beacon Hill is fair, Healey said only, ''I believe the governor was very hands-on in the healthcare debate."

To be sure, Healey agrees with Romney on many issues, such as his opposition to an assessment on businesses to help pay for healthcare reform, limits on illegal immigration, a rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent, and the death penalty.

Even as she talked of working with the Democrats, who hold overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate, Healey also struck a combative tone when she said the voters needed a Republican in the corner office to pressure lawmakers to hold the line on taxes, promote business- friendly agendas, and push welfare changes.

Healey is expected to offer a tough partisan critique of the Democrats and their candidates during Saturday's speech to the convention. Aides said the lieutenant governor, painting herself as a fiscal watchdog, will draw sharp contrasts on economic issues, including tax policy and unemployment tax levels, and on crime, welfare, and immigration.

Democrats are expected to pounce on Healey for her defense last fall of the $1.2 million state tax break her husband's investment management firm received from the state for locating its headquarters in upscale Prides Crossing in Beverly. The program is designed to draw firms to economically distressed areas.

''I think, in retrospect, this was just an early example of the kind of personal politics and negative campaigning that we expect to see throughout the rest of this campaign," she said. ''And my husband's company, which is a public company . . . is completely separate from this campaign."

Healey also defended Romney's frequent absence from the state and brushed aside whether she held a double standard for having demanded US Senator John F. Kerry resign his seat during the 2004 presidential campaign because he had missed scores of roll-call votes in the Senate.

''The nature of an elected position to the Senate, or to the House, is to represent your district by voting on their behalf. And the senator at that time was missing key votes and missing the majority of votes," Healey said. ''Whereas, the nature of governor is that it is characterized by leadership and providing direction and oversight for the executive branch. And he and I, and our Cabinet members, and our commissioners and directors, together provide that stability, whether he is in the state, or whether he is traveling."

While Democrats view her as a formidable foe, the rest of the Republican ticket is one of the weakest the party has fielded.

In 2004, Romney and Healey vowed to revive the state Republican Party, fielding scores of candidates for the Legislature and raising record funds for the party's campaign operations. But the effort failed miserably.

''I think that it has been a challenge to convince people certainly to run against incumbents," Healey said. ''I think it's hard to recruit people to run against incumbents when oftentimes the impression is that incumbency is insuperable."