Healey scolds volunteers for picketing Patrick
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey upbraided her volunteers yesterday for picketing Democratic gubernatorial rival Deval Patrick's home and began airing the most positive television ad of her general election campaign, amid signs that she faces a tough, two-week challenge to bring voters into her camp.
At a campaign stop, Healey acknowledged that some of her volunteers had "crossed the line" by appearing Friday in orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by prisoners and demonstrating in front of Patrick's Milton home and the residence of his campaign manager John Walsh, in Abington.
"I let it be known that is not what I want to have happen in the future," said Healey after a minor furor developed over the picketing. "I asked them not to do that in the future, and I do think that it crossed the line."
Meanwhile, her campaign released a 30-second ad that touts her as the "only candidate with a specific realistic agenda for change" and shows a beaming, casually dressed Healey moving through crowds and marching in parades, shaking hands and smiling.
The tone is in sharp contrast to the attack ad that her campaign began airing last week, which uses dark images and grainy footage showing a woman walking in a dark garage to her car. The voice-over describes Patrick's past support of a convicted rapist.
Healey's apology for the demonstrators and her new ad, coupled with an upcoming poll expected to show Patrick in a solid lead, has prompted speculation among political strategists and elected officials that Healey and her advisers are seeking to tone down the harsh rhetoric and buff up her image.
Tim O'Brien, Healey's campaign manager, insisted yesterday that he and other Healey strategists are not changing course and had long planned a new mix of ads. But he pointed out that Healey's task is particularly difficult because of forces beyond her control: the sharp decline in the GOP's national standing in the past year, Governor Mitt Romney's fall in popularity, and the generally negative feelings among voters about the direction that the state is headed in.
"From day one, we have been underdogs in the worst environment going," O'Brien said. "This is a race until the end. Right now, people are dating Deval Patrick, but when push comes to shove on Election Day, they will think twice about marrying him."
A Suffolk University-Channel 7 poll to be released today is expected to show Patrick has expanded his lead from its previous poll, with a spike in voters' unfavorable rating of Healey, in part because of the tough tone of the campaign.
Healey aides said their surveys show the race much tighter and insist that the ads attacking Patrick over his defense of rapist Benjamin LaGuer have been effective. They say they have no plans to pull the ad and have doubled the frequency of its airing.
They also pointed out yesterday that Healey, while pouring millions of dollars into her campaign, is now being outspent by at least 2-to-1 when considering the several independent groups that are airing ads that attack her and praise Patrick.
Healey, campaigning at a charter school in Boston yesterday, renewed her push for a one-on-one debate with Patrick. Patrick has said he opposes the idea of a one-on-one debate, and he repeated that stand yesterday, saying the four candidates on the ballot -- including independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow candidate Grace Ross -- should take part in any public debate.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. 
