Gubernatorial debate turns nasty

In the nastiest debate of their campaign for governor, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey last night accused her Democratic rival, Deval L. Patrick, of not being truthful about his background as a prosecutor or about his role in defending a convicted rapist.

But Patrick struck back swiftly, charging Healey with being dishonest about what he called the failed record of the Republican Romney-Healey administration. He warned Healey not to "preach to me" and said she was only trying to scare voters away from him with false claims.

With the election coming Tuesday and polls indicating a wide lead for Patrick, Healey's aggressive challenge of Patrick's honesty sparked perhaps the most personal and heated exchanges yet in the five televised debates among the four candidates for governor.

Healey's approach last night contrasted sharply with her style in last week's debate, in which she softened her image after criticism for her attack ads against Patrick.

The back-and-forth began when Healey challenged Patrick on his assertions during the campaign that he had been on the front lines of criminal prosecutions during his tenure at the US Justice Department. She also accused him of lying initially about his role in defending convicted rapist Benjamin LaGuer.

"Deval, this isn't about whether or not you were a prosecutor," Healey said. "It's about telling the truth. It's about telling the truth, and that is something that a governor must do. A governor must be able to look the people of the Commonwealth in the eye and tell the truth, even when it isn't convenient. . . . You need to start telling the truth."

Patrick, visibly angered by Healey's charge, slammed her for running what he said was a negative campaign and accused of her trying to turn attention away from her administration's record of the past four years.

"You were better than the campaign you have run," Patrick told her. "But I will tell you that you spend all this time trying to distract us all from a record of failed leadership on the economy, on education, and healthcare, and then you stand over there and talk to me -- preach to me -- about telling the truth."

Still, her question put Patrick on the defensive, forcing him to outline his role as the chief of the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division from 1994 to 1997. The Globe reported last week that Patrick, despite saying he had personally prosecuted cases, rarely appeared in court during his tenure in the Clinton administration.

"Let me tell you what a prosecutor does, and [a] prosecutor's office does," Patrick said, going on to say that he had made many hard judgments about criminal charges and sentencing and had comforted and represented victims.

The hourlong debate, which included independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross, was sponsored by WHDH-TV, WCVB-TV, WGBH-TV, NECN, WBUR-FM, and The Boston Globe. It was moderated by Cokie Roberts of ABC News and NPR, and it took place in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory before a crowd that periodically cheered or jeered at the exchanges.

As he often does, Mihos added to the political drama, this time by abrasively hurling accusations at both Healey and Patrick.

"You're killing public education, Kerry; you have killed public education," Mihos said to Healey at one point.

At another, Mihos even joked that Healey had no chance of winning and said she should drop out of the race and back him instead.

"Christy, Christy, Christy," Healey responded. "Christy, I've got 50 good ideas to move this Commonwealth forward."

"And I've got one, for you to leave right now and I'll move it forward," Mihos said.

"You've got one idea, and Deval has none," Healey shot back.

Directing his fire at Patrick, Mihos said the Democrat would be beholden to unions and other special interests. Mihos then turned one of Patrick's campaign slogans on its head, saying: "You have said you're going to be the agent of change here. You're just politics as usual."

Patrick answered, "They're going to be sorely disappointed if they think there's some quid pro quo," a line he repeated several times last night amid charges that unions and other special interests would be expecting a return on their campaign contributions and other political support.

Late in the debate, which was the final, major televised forum this year, Mihos returned to the theme of truth-telling, accusing Healey of telling voters the Republican administration had not raised taxes, while property tax bills skyrocketed and the administration raised millions of dollars in new fees. "Why can't you tell them the truth?" he asked her.

"I'd just like to second what Christy said," Patrick added. "You talk about telling the truth. We've rolled the income tax back. We've paid for it with higher property taxes and fees. Everybody seems to get that, I think, lieutenant governor, except you."

Even Ross, who chided both Healey and Patrick for ignoring her and Mihos for most of the night, dropped her usual mild-mannered demeanor. She pointedly criticized Healey for her television ad that shows a woman walking in a dark garage and then shows Patrick making a complimentary comment about LaGuer.

"Are you not the person who ran an ad that retraumatized the women I know who have been raped?" Ross asked Healey, drawing both boos and cheers from the crowd.

Last night's debate, as every other has, also touched on the familiar themes of taxes, immigration, and accountability, with Healey trying to paint Patrick as a tax-and-spend liberal willing to spend state money on illegal immigrants, and Patrick blasting the Romney-Healey administration for what he said was its continued lax oversight of the Big Dig.

The two candidates also sparred again over the need for partisan balance on Beacon Hill, with Healey warning voters about one-party rule.

"I don't think people are excited about one-party rule in Massachusetts," Patrick shot back. "I think what people are excited about is leadership, and we haven't had that in some while here, and it shows."

The tough tone of the debate spilled over into the closing statements. In contrast to the standard wrap-up he has given in past debates, Patrick, who has tried to campaign on themes of hope and possibility, took a different tack last night, criticizing Healey for what he called the negative tone of her campaign.

"It's been a long and tough campaign, and I hope through all of the noise and negativity that people in this race have had a chance to take a measure of me as a candidate, as a leader, and as a man," he said. "I have not tried to build myself up by tearing anybody down. That's not who I am. I'm not trying to scare anyone into voting for me."

Healey countered by appealing to social and fiscal moderates and returned to the truth-telling theme to hammer her point home.

"I ask you to think about what it would mean to have Deval Patrick in office instead of me," she said. "And I want to let you know that I will always tell the truth, I will be a strong leader, and I will make sure that the people of this Commonwealth are protected."