After Romney

Enough with the tired conventional wisdom that Kerry Healey was a better candidate than the campaign she ran. As the numbers this morning clearly show, she was a mediocre candidate -- at best -- and will not be heard from again.

Healey ran on a paper-thin resume, both in the private and public sector. She was never elected to anything on her own, and was a product of two men: Mitt Romney, who needed a woman on the ticket after shoving Jane Swift off, and her husband, Sean, whose checkbook helped muscle out better candidates.

A strong two-party system is as healthy for Massachusetts and its economy as it is for the nation. Romney arrived on the scene with great promise, but is leaving the Republican Party here in shambles. Not only are the Republicans yielding the governor's office for the first time in 16 years, but registered Republicans have fallen by 31,000 since Romney took office, and their legislative presence is at historic lows. But it worked out fine for him: He is now chasing the prize he really covets, the presidency.

Who will pick up the pieces after the fall? Harvard Pilgrim Health Care chief executive Charlie Baker is at the top of every Republican's wish list, a very short list indeed considering the party's other alleged leaders -- Wayne Budd, Gloria Larson, and Ralph Martin, to name three -- all endorsed Democrat Deval Patrick.

Baker would actually love to be governor, and thought hard about running. But Romney strung Baker along, refusing to give him a wink whether he was running for reelection or not. By the time Romney opted out, Baker knew he could never raise the money to keep up with Mrs. Sean Healey.

Baker has the resume Healey didn't have. He was a major player in the Weld and Cellucci administrations, having run both Health and Human Services and Administration and Finance. In nearly seven years at Harvard Pilgrim, he has helped return the state's second-largest health insurer to financial health from near ruin. He is the kind of moderate Republican who can get elected in Massachusetts.

In a real sense, the immediate future of the Massachusetts Republican Party lies with Patrick. If Patrick governs from the middle, proving he is not beholden to the unions and the hungry Democratic left that has been out in the cold for so long, he can leave Baker or any other moderate Republican with no oxygen to mount a credible alternative. But if he proves to be the spend-and-tax liberal Healey made him out to be, then the Republicans will have an opportunity to build a party Romney let rust. Watch Patrick's first key appointments to Administration and Finance, Economic Development, and Health and Human Services for where he is headed.

The Republican lock on Washington hasn't been good for the country, and bred an arrogance that the party paid for at the polls around the country yesterday. Democrats, now in firm control of the governor's office and the Legislature, face the same risk in Massachusetts. Which way from here, Governor Patrick?

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Neighborhood news: Speaking of elections, unhappy Harbor Towers residents are sounding a bit less disgruntled following the election of a new board. The main issue in the recent election was the renovation of the waterfront towers, estimated to cost between $65,239 and $277,134 per unit. Board cochairman Joseph Baerlein, a public relations executive, was among those not seeking reelection, leaving five of 10 members new to the board, a thankless job under the best of circumstances. Incumbent Ben Cole, who ran a campaign to get the repairs done immediately, lost. "All six people who won are committed to open communications and open board meetings," says resident Joanne Hayes-Rines. "I think in the not-too-distant future this will turn out to be very positive."

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.