Long on civility, short on details in gubernatorial debate

SO WHAT can you say about the first live televised debate in the governor's race?

It was a close, civil, reasonable affair, one in which every camp can and will claim that their man did well -- and with some justification.

For my money, however, the themes that got particular attention -- job creation and the economy -- played best to the strengths of venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli.

Gabrieli has a big idea in his 10-year, $1 billion plan to encourage stem cell and life science research. Meanwhile, his talk about the need to reconfigure the school day and year, based on the work he has done for the last few years, lent him an expertise when the discussion turned to education.

And I thought he was refreshingly forthright when asked if he supported New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang's attempt to award diplomas to students who don't pass the MCAS.

''No, I don't agree with it," he said, noting that while he understood Lang's motives, the right move was ''to get those kids the skills," and not to give them a diploma if they don't have those skills.

The candidate who seemed not quite ready for prime time was independent Christy Mihos.

Mihos is running as a populist, and he has crafted his proposals carefully to appeal to the average guy -- removing the tolls from the turnpike, giving more local aid to communities, and reducing the cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts.

But beyond a repetition of his favored nostrums, Mihos didn't seem particularly well versed on the issues or very adept at answering questions. For example, probed about whether his proposal to freeze house assessments at what they are when someone purchases a home would really be fair to later buyers in the same neighborhood, Mihos really didn't acknowledge the tension, saying instead that his plan would help elderly homeowners.

Deval Patrick, an assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration and former corporate lawyer, was impressive in his willingness to say what he believes -- that the state can't afford to reduce the income tax from 5.3 percent to 5 percent -- but vague in other areas.

One answer showed both his strength and his shortcomings. Asked about his past suggestions that he might consider tax increases, he replied: ''I think at 5.3 percent, which is where it [the income tax] is right now, that is what we need and need to live within in order to restore local aid and to begin to fund so many of the services people say they want, which have been so drastically cut." So far so good. But he soon added: ''My issue is how we get past gimmicks as a way to govern and how we get to the root causes of some of the challenges we are facing and how we fund them in ways that are transparent and efficient."

That's one of those process answers that sounds good, but doesn't really say very much. Patrick described problems well, but often seemed to speak at a level of abstraction that avoided specifics, and instead called for better planning or striking a better balance.

As for Attorney General Thomas Reilly, he staked out the conservative side of the Democratic field, with his call for a one-year rollback of the income tax to 5 percent, though to my mind he hasn't provided a convincing explanation of how that could be done without scrimping on other priorities.

''I think taxes are too high, and that is my position," he said in one answer. Still, this viewer was left, again, suspecting that that position is more the result of political calculation than careful budget analysis.

Reilly also made a heartfelt overture to Springfield, his home town, in pledging to focus needed attention there. But he often seemed to fall back on the notion of his experience as a state officeholder without saying specifically what he would do.

All in all, watching, I found myself wanting a more detailed discussion than talk of cutting red tape or expediting permitting. For example, our unemployment insurance program is considerably more generous than those in other states, driving our already high business costs even higher.

But though Governor Romney has offered a reasonable plan that would pare company costs by about $100 per employee per year, the Legislature hasn't acted.

Thorny issues like that didn't even get mentioned last night.

Scot Lehigh's e-mail address is lehigh@globe.com.