The men, not the issues

THE DEBATE AMONG the three Democratic candidates for governor last night tried to emphasize the issues that divided them, but based on the wide areas of agreement, the primary election will be decided by voters' assessment of their different personalities and backgrounds.

The biggest disagreement is well known by now. Thomas Reilly wants to cut the income tax quickly to 5 percent, Deval Patrick doesn't, and Chris Gabrieli does, maybe, but with a complicated plan that depends on growth in the state economy. The Legislature will have the last word, and it believes -- wisely, we think -- that the state cannot afford an income tax cut at this time.

The debate on New England Cable News focused on healthcare and education, but on the former the candidates were unanimous in their faith that technology will curb healthcare costs. The next governor should push providers to move to electronic record keeping and prescription ordering. But it's naive to think providers will be able to set the standards and purchase the technology that will allow them to reduce expenses soon.

The candidates all endorsed improvements in public higher education. Patrick no doubt scored points with the Boston Teachers Union, which had endorsed him, by opposing an end to the charter school cap in the city. But like the other candidates, he endorsed the MCAS graduation requirement, although he didn't get as specific as Reilly, who suggested that it might be raised from 220 to 240 points with more extensive remediation.

Moderator R.D. Sahl uncovered the most intriguing difference when he asked about the upcoming legislative consideration of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. All three favored these marriages and opposed the amendment, but Reilly hoped it would be put to a vote in the Legislature, Patrick said the Legislature should scuttle it, even if this meant not taking it up, and Gabrieli straddled the issue, saying it was a legislative prerogative.

The differences, though marginal, were telling, and were amplified in their closing statements. Reilly was just a little more conservative on the social and economic issues as befits someone who struggled and climbed the ladder of the law from working-class roots in Springfield. Patrick was born lower yet rose higher, after being burnished in the liberal bastions of Milton Academy and Harvard. Gabrieli rose highest of all in terms of income, but deemphasized his wealth, and the gay marriage tangle, in favor of a can-do attitude. The views are much the same, but the men are very different.