New Healey ad again links Patrick, LaGuer
Message seeks women's votes
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, aiming squarely at women voters and their perceived fear of crime, launched a new ad yesterday about Deval Patrick's advocacy on behalf of convicted rapist Benjamin LaGuer.
The ad shows a woman walking in a darkened garage and replays footage of Patrick recently answering a television reporter's question about LaGuer: ``He is eloquent, and he is thoughtful; there's no doubt about that," Patrick said. The narrator then asks ``Have you ever heard a woman compliment a rapist? . . . Deval Patrick, he should be ashamed, not governor."
The hard-hitting ad drew sharp criticism from the Patrick campaign, which quickly rallied some 50 women supporters who gathered outside the State House, calling the ad ``fear mongering" and offensive to women.
``We are appalled; we are disturbed; we are disgusted," said state Senator Marian Walsh, a Democrat from West Roxbury. ``For many of us, it is the ugliest, nastiest, most disturbing commercial we have ever heard or seen."
``It is insulting to women," Walsh said. by asserting that ``we are not intelligent enough, not good enough to make a smart choice and a safe choice for our next governor."
Healey defended the ad, saying it details key differences between her and Patrick.
``He and his running mate frequently get on the side of the offender, working for reduced sentences for convicted cop killers or for trying to reduce the classification for sex offenders here in Massachusetts," Healey said. ``This is an orientation, and it is a pattern, and it is something that people need to know when making a choice in this race.
``Why does he insist on complimenting him at this point in time," she added.
Healey has been trailing Patrick among women, polls indicate. Several observers said the new ad appears to be a effort to close the gap.
``It's an amazing ad," said Carol Fanta-Hardy, director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at University of Massachusetts at Boston. ``It does follow the very troubling poll results that came out last week that show that women are reluctant to support her. Women are more likely to be Democrat, but they're not crossing party lines to support a woman. What's amazing about this ad is that it preys also on something that has been effective in national politics: safety and women feeling safe.
``The idea of walking through a dark garage is always something that women in general and men also think about, the safety of women in the dark corners of the world," Fanta-Hardy said. ``It's a very effective visual and resonates at a gut level."
The LaGuer case has dogged Patrick for several weeks since the Globe disclosed that he had written two letters to the state Parole Board on his behalf, in 1998 and 2000, and had donated to a legal fund set up to help pay for DNA tests. Those tests linked LaGuer to the crime. He was convicted of tying up and raping a 59-year-old Leominster woman in 1983.
Patrick said last month that, given the DNA test results, justice has been served in the case. Patrick has not recently advocated on LaGuer's behalf.
Wendy Murphy, a lawyer and victims' rights advocate who says she became a Healey supporter when she learned of Patrick's advocacy for LaGuer, said the ad raises issues that should concern all women.
``Violence against women is a huge political issue and it should be more of a priority," said Murphy, who called Healey ``a real leader" in advocating for victims and women. ``It's not the ads that are negative. It's the information. And that's not Kerry Healey's fault. It's Deval Patrick's fault. Voters not only have the right, but they had a need to know this information. It reflects not only a bias but an ideology."
But with its sinister tone and message, the ad could backfire, some observers said.
``I don't think viewers will believe that Deval Patrick is a friend of a rapist or promoted a rapist because he said he was smart and thoughtful. I'm sure he was. That's why he was able to con a lot of people," said Boston University journalism professor and media critic Caryl Rivers.
Mary Lauby -- executive director of the Jane Doe fund, the state's leading advocacy on sexual and domestic violence -- said she was angered by the ad, which she said mischaracterizes the nature of sexual assault.
``I feel outrage at this depiction of perpetrators when any victim advocates know that 90 percent or rapists and those who carry out sexual assaults are people known to the victims," Lauby said. ``They are not people who are lurking behind bushes or in dark corners waiting to pounce on victims."
``I heard the voice over and thought this commercial reflects a woman who does not understand victim issues," Lauby said. ``It does more harm to our effort to have a real dialogue about what the real problems underlying sexual and domestic violence. It terrifies victims to see this kind of stuff."
The Green-Rainbow candidate for governor, Grace Ross, decried the negative tone of campaign saying, ``If she [Healey] wants to represent all the people of Massachusetts, she needs to get away from politics that are divisive, because that's not leadership."
She also criticized Patrick for accusing the Healey campaign of leaking a story about the rape of his sister by her own husband without adequate proof. Healey has denied Patrick's accusation.
Ross said Healey's negative ads have set the tone of the campaign.
``The Healey campaign, rather than arguing about whether they got that [story] placed or not, should also be apologizing . . . for creating a climate that has gotten us completely away from real issues that affect real people's lives," Ross said. ``It is not leadership to go pointing fingers and to be looking up dirt on people."
April Simpson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 