One spicy debate
START WITH a pair of polished major-party candidates for governor. Add a home-grown independent, plus one unknown from a radical minor party. Stir in a few questions from actual voters -- half celebrities, half ``real" people. Top with a nationally-known moderator flown in for the occasion. Mix together for an hour or so, and what do you get?
Answer: A lively, interesting debate that managed to cover a lot of ground and maybe even changed a few minds.
It changed mine about Christy Mihos. I didn't know he could be so articulate. He had previously struck me as passionate but disjointed, forever starting sentences but never quite finishing them. But he had no trouble making himself clear in last night's FOX25 debate.
Time and again he stressed the central message of his campaign -- the fecklessness of the two major parties: ``Republicans can't do what needs to be done," he said early on, responding to a question about rolling back the state income tax. ``Democrats won't do what needs to be done."
When he wasn't blasting Kerry Healey for calling Jane Swift, the former acting governor, a ``hero" for firing him from the Turnpike Authority board, he was dismissing the Romney/Healey legislative record: ``Your vetoes all get overridden," he said, ``because you don't work with the Legislature." He humorously brushed aside moderator Chris Wallace's suggestion that he is merely a spoiler who will prevent Healey from winning: ``Maybe she'll spoil my election," he said with a grin.
And even when I didn't quite know what he was saying, I understood exactly what he meant. How tough is it for entrepreneurs in this state? ``It would de-motivate a saint," Mihos said, ``to operate a small business in Massachusetts."
Mihos wasn't the only candidate who had a good night. So did Grace Ross, the Green-Rainbow Party candidate. Her party's platform puts her at the political fringe, but with her calm demeanor and clear answers, she more than stood her ground against her three better-known rivals. Not many Massachusetts citizens will be tempted by her invitation to vote for class warfare, but several of her rhetorical arrows found their mark.
Healey, Mihos, and Deval L. Patrick, she announced at one point, were among the top 14,400 income earners in America. Interesting if true -- and even if it doesn't win her any votes.
But it was Patrick who had the best night of all -- not because he performed brilliantly, but because he made no serious mistakes. And because Healey, under relentless attack by Mihos, never landed a serious blow on her Democratic opponent. If opinion polls were right, Patrick came into the debate with a commanding lead. I'd say he went out with one, too.
Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com. 
