Free-for-all in Faneuil Hall

Healey defended her latest ad, the second to criticize Democrat Deval L . Patrick for advocating on behalf of a convicted rapist, saying the spot raised the issue of Patrick's judgment. She said it was ``perfectly reasonable to debate" the subject because ``it makes Massachusetts less safe when you advocate on behalf of a brutal rapist whom you've never even met."

Patrick -- a civil rights lawyer, former assistant attorney general for civil rights, and corporate executive -- vigorously objected to her ad. He said that in addition to defending ``the unsavory defendant" at times, he also ``sent people to jail."

``If you'd come down off that high horse of yours some time and see how it actually works in the streets, I'd be happy to show you around," Patrick jabbed at Healey, who was standing next to him.

In the third of five televised debates, the tables later turned on Patrick, as Healey, the Republican, independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross accused Patrick of proposing a raft of new initiatives without explaining how the state could pay for them.

Set in Boston's historic Faneuil Hall, the debate was more freewheeling and engaging than prior encounters, with the candidates mixing it up, scoring points with nonstop, often sharp exchanges elicited loud responses from the audience.

Moderator David Gergen of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government was more referee than moderator at times, as he tried to maintain control of the hourlong debate.

With less than three weeks before the Nov. 7 election, the candidates are entering the crucial phase of trying to win the support of the dwindling number of undecided voters. Healey, who trails Patrick in public opinion polls, faced the double challenge of trying to draw sharp distinctions to the Democrat while defending the increasingly negative tone of her advertising. The subject dominated the debate's early moments.

Healey's latest ad says Patrick should be ``ashamed . . . not governor" for his remarks praising Benjamin LaGuer as ``eloquent" and ``thoughtful." Opening with a depiction of a woman walking alone in a dark garage, a narrator says: ``Have you ever heard a woman compliment a rapist."

Mihos, who has trailed the major party candidates in polls, mocked his own ads while criticizing the tenor of his opponents'.

``I thought my ad was a little bit offensive," he said, referring to an ad showing a cartoon version of himself asking state officials about Big Dig cost overruns and a depiction of state officials with their heads between their legs. ``I'm absolutely just disgusted, with 95 percent of the other people in Massachusetts, about these negative ads," Mihos said.

Patrick was roughed up later in the debate when the trio of opponents said his pledge to cut property taxes while expanding a host of state programs was unrealistic. ``You're just offering illusions; I want to hear a real number . . . not just sweet nothings whispered in my ear all the time," Mihos said.

``You don't have a plan," said Healey, who asserted that her Patrick's new spending initiatives would add $8 billion to a $25 billion state budget.

``You're a liberal. You should just come out and say I'm going to raise taxes. . . . You think you can spend your way to prosperity," Healey said, delivering one of her best applause lines of the night.

Patrick shot back: ``I wish you would read our proposals, instead of just the right-wing Republican playbook." He added a new element to his pledge to increase local aid, saying it would be conditioned on communities promising to earmark a portion for property tax relief.

Ross -- who advocates doubling the minimum wage, increasing taxes on the wealthy, and a single-payer, Canadian-style healthcare system -- said both Healey and Patrick have offered ``expensive" proposals and said she didn't see how either could pay for them.

Two more debates are scheduled with all four candidates, but Healey said last night that ``it would be wonderful if we could have a one-on-one debate between Deval Patrick and myself." The remark drew boos from the audience and a retort from Patrick, who suggested that it would be disrespectful not to include all candidates in future debates.

Healey drew criticism from all three opponents for announcing this week, with Governor Mitt Romney, a plan to remove tolls from the Massachusetts Turnpike between Route 128 and the New York state line. The rivals described it as a preelection ploy.

``It's very, very questionable coming as it does on the eve of the election," said Patrick.

Mihos, who while a member of the Turnpike Authority board three years ago, advocated the elimination of the tolls, said: ``Three weeks before an election, it was a political stunt. . . . That's a real illusion; they'll never see those tolls come down.

``This is not a political ploy," Healey answered, saying that Romney attained control of the Turnpike Authority through his board appointees only this summer. ``We have the money to pay off the debt, and we will pay off the debt. This is a certainty."

An independent commission is considering proposals to reinstate tolls and increase the gasoline tax to pay for the state's transportation infrastructure. A report is expected after the election.

The rivals continued to plow familiar ground on issues such as taxes, with Healey staking out her turf as the only signatory of a no-new-taxes pledge and supporting immediate rollback of the income tax from 5.3 to 5.0 percent, which would reduce state revenue by about $675 million a year.

In their closing statements, Patrick and Mihos each cast himself as the agent of change in the race. Ross said she would be the champion of the less fortunate.

It is time for a ``more positive, more forward looking vision of our future," Patrick said. ``. . . We have a choice to make and it's between the same old, same old or real change."

Rejecting suggestions that he is a spoiler in the race, Mihos said: ``Massachusetts desperately needs change. . . . You have an opportunity to send them a message up on Beacon Hill."

He likened his candidacy to the 2004 Red Sox, who came back from long odds to beat the Yankees to win the American League pennant and go on to win the World Series.

``I will make sure you keep your job and keep your home," Ross said.

Healey was pressed on Romney's habit of lampooning Massachusetts and its liberal political culture as he tours the country exploring a presidential run in 2008, and she was asked if she would ask him to stop.

``I love Massachusetts . . . in a way that someone who chooses their state loves it," said Healey, who grew up in Florida and went to college here. ``I'm going to work to make it a better place and would never criticize it."

Asked if she would call Romney on his criticisms, she said: ``I think he's probably heard your message loud and clear."

Three of the candidates also met yesterday at a midmorning debate sponsored by the AARP.

Last night's debate was sponsored by a news media consortium consisting of the Boston Globe, WCVB-TV, WHDH-TV, WGBH-TV, NECN, and WBUR-FM.

The next televised debate is set for Oct. 25, and the last is scheduled for Nov. 1.