Race remark draws campaign barbs

The chairman of the state Democratic Party said yesterday that Republican Kerry Healey has come ``perilously close to race baiting" by raising immigration issues in the campaign for governor, a remark that prompted Democratic nominee Deval Patrick to distance himself from his own party's chairman.

Healey's campaign demanded that Patrick seek the resignation of Democratic Party chairman Philip Johnston over the remarks. Patrick refused, but said, ``Phil Johnston speaks for himself." Shortly after 8 p.m., Johnston repudiated his own remarks.

The unusual exchange took place on the second full day of the general election campaign, which pits Patrick, the state's first African-American gubernatorial nominee, against Healey, who is seeking to become the first woman to be elected governor in Massachusetts.

Healey has highlighted her stance on illegal immigrants, including her opposition to driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and her support for photo identification cards for voting.

Yesterday, a television reporter asked Johnston about the Healey strategy.

``I think the language that she's using borders on race baiting, and I think that's fear-mongering of the worst sort, and I think she ought to stop it and she should not run a campaign that plays to the worst instincts in people," he told WCVB-TV.

Asked about the comment shortly after 6 p.m. Johnston issued similar criticism to the Globe. ``It comes perilously close to race baiting, and I hope she will think twice about it and back off," he said. ``What she is doing comes straight form the Republican playbook since Richard Nixon right through Karl Rove. She should focus on the real issues facing the people of this state, like healthcare, education, and housing."

Healey's campaign seized on the remark, distributing a press release calling it ``disgraceful" and demanding that Patrick call for Johnston's resignation.

``We don't believe this is the type of campaign Deval Patrick intends to run, but failure to demand this resignation will demonstrate otherwise and indicate he'll do or say anything to get elected," Healey campaign manager Tim O'Brien said in a statement.

The remark distracted from Patrick's efforts to highlight his Central Massachusetts campaign yesterday.

Last night, Patrick said he would not call for Johnston's resignation, and he took issue with Healey's campaign.

``I haven't been in it long enough to have a view entirely on how Kerry Healey is running her race; I think she's a decent person," Patrick said in an interview with the Globe at about 7 p.m., while campaigning in Worcester. But he added: ``She is definitely going to be trying to take some pages out of the Republican playbook and concentrate on issues that divide us."

``Phil Johnston speaks for himself," Patrick said. ``This is our campaign, and our campaign has been and will continue to be a positive campaign, because frankly I think that's what the voters of Massachusetts are hungry for.

``Should we have called for Kerry Healey's resignation when she talked about overhoused seniors?" he asked said, referring to Healey's controversial remark in March 2005 that many senior citizens are living in suburban houses that are too large and expensive for them and that they should move into city and town centers to avoid rising property taxes.

Last night, shortly after 8 p.m., the Democratic Party issued a statement on behalf of Johnston.

``My comments today in no way reflect the position of the Deval Patrick campaign," Johnston's statement said. ``In reviewing my comments I now realize I may have gone too far. I have been concerned about how certain issues will be used by the Republican Party, and I let that influence my word choice."

Even before Johnston's remark, Patrick's campaign message was thrown off when a handful of Democrats appeared with Healey at a ceremony to sign a bill to crack down on sex offenders. The Democrats heaped praise on Healey for her role in passing the legislation that extends the statute of limitations on sex offenses.

After appearing with Healey at that press conference, state Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, a Democrat from Chelsea, told reporters that he was ``very concerned" that his urban blue collar constituents view Patrick as a liberal and that he has to abandon his liberal sounding slogans and move to the political center.

``It has to be more than `together we can,' " O'Flaherty said, invoking Patrick's campaign slogan that he used to appeal to the liberal base of the Democratic Party to win the gubernatorial nomination. He said his constituents would oppose Patrick's position to keep the cap on charter schools and also would reject his opposition to rolling back the income tax to 5 percent.

``What has to happen is he has to get rid of the notion that has been percolating around out there that he is a liberal, left-leaning individual that will bring Massachusetts back to what some have referred to as the Mike Dukakis era," said O'Flaherty, the House chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

During the press conference, O'Flaherty praised Healey not only for her work on the statute of limitations law, but on several other high-profile crime prevention bills. He said she had reached out in a bipartisan fashion to get the sex offender bill passed.

Three of the four Democrats who lauded Healey at yesterday's press conference -- Senator Steven A. Baddour of Methuen, Peter J. Koutoujian of Newton, and O'Flaherty -- supported Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly in the Democratic primary. The fourth, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, was neutral. All of them said later that they had no plans to endorse her.

Asked about O'Flaherty's comment, Patrick, while campaigning in Springfield, said that he cannot be pigeon-holed. He pointed to his corporate background as general counsel at Coca-Cola and Texaco.

``You can't be a so-called flaming liberal and sit and lead successfully in two of the largest corporations on earth and serve on a number of corporate boards," he told reporters outside City Hall in Springfield. ``I think what I bring is that I know a good idea when I see it, and then bring it to light."

Baddour, in an interview after the press conference, said that Patrick faces a stiff battle in his district, particularly in Methuen, where Democrats hold a 3-to-1 registration margin over Republicans.

In 2002, Romney led O'Brien by over 3,000 votes. To avoid a repeat of four years ago, Baddour said Patrick needs to move quickly.

``He has to take some of these liberal issues off the table and address them head on and explain his positions," Baddour said.

He is confident that Patrick has the ability to do that, Baddour added. ``He is an amazing public figure and has incredible ability to sway voters."

Scott Helman of the Globe staff contributed to this report.