Passing the competence test

CHRIS GABRIELI looked and sounded like he could be the next governor of Massachusetts.

He was calm, collected, and competent. Indeed, competence, not ideology, was the heart of Gabrieli's presentation during last night's debate.

That did not work for Michael Dukakis when he was running for president in 1988; but in 2006 it could be the antidote to 16 years of Republican governors in Massachusetts.

Deval Patrick is the candidate who would most shake up the Bay State political establishment; he is a true outsider, and quite obviously not the face of your father's Democratic Party. Patrick had some fine moments during the debate, showing flashes of character, grace, and eloquence -- even to the point of helping his opponent when Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly targeted Gabrieli for attack. But the question posed by WBUR's Bob Oakes underscores a legitimate, post-primary concern: Is Patrick too far to the left, too liberal, to win a general election?

Patrick gave a strong response. ``I'm not running as a label," he said. He talked about his broad experience in the public and private and non profit sectors and said the key question should be, ``Can we change the culture on Beacon Hill?" But fairly or unfairly, this newcomer to the Massachusetts political scene has less than two weeks to fight the label of tax-and-spend liberal. And every time he backs away from the positions that won him an adoring voter base over the past year -- for example, his initial refusal to jump on the income tax rollback bandwagon -- he jeopardizes that base on primary day.

Responding to the same question, Gabrieli said voters do not care about Democrats or Republicans, left wing or right wing. What matters, he said, ``is if someone can do the job . . . if they can ``build a tunnel that doesn't fall on people's heads."

Mitt Romney promised a version of non ideological competence in 2002, and it worked well against Democrat Shannon O'Brien. Then Governor Romney got Potomac Fever, and in his effort to woo Republican primary voters, veered right -- past the ideological comfort zone of many Massachusetts voters.

But the idea of a competent, non ideological businessman who will make sure the Big Dig stops falling on our heads still has its appeal.

Reilly, who wasted much too time on attacks, has been trying to turn Gabrieli's personal fortune into a political albatross. The problem: Gabrieli does not look or sound like your stereotypical fat-cat millionaire politician. He is a more than a little geeky and actually appears most human when someone attacks his hefty bank account. Asked by WCVB's Janet Wu whether he is trying to buy his way into the governor's office, he listened to the roll out of money he has put behind various electoral bids and quipped ``sorry" to his wife, who was in the audience.

Yes, Gabrieli is ``buying" exposure via an onslaught of paid political advertising. But it's not like someone handed him millions at birth or through marriage. It turns out he is a smart man who built a wildly successful business. That is hardly a crime; indeed it is the American dream.

The AG had one good moment. That was when he stood up for the University of Massachusetts and the notion of investing in the state university system to promote stem cell research. But Gabrieli had a good rejoinder: investment, he said, should be based on merit, not politics.

Merit, not politics. Competence, not ideology. That sounds like the language of electability.

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.