Last night's Massachusetts gubernatorial debate was almost as much fun as a pro-wrestling cage match. Right from the start, the debate promised to be a good one. The moderator was none other than the pugnacious and cadaverous Chris Wallace, who recently got his comeuppance from Bill Clinton during an interview for Fox News. The opening credits also made it sound like each candidate was a prizefighter. All the audience needed was for the candidates to have catchy nicknames - Kerry "Ice Queen" Healey, Christy "Tan Man" Mihos, Deval "Smooth" Patrick, and Grace "Granola" Ross.
Democrat Deval Patrick, who wears the well-rested expression that comes with having a huge lead in the polls, didn't break a sweat. He didn't even need to make any grand statements. All he did was sit back and let Independent Christy Mihos do the Democrats' dirty work - making Republican Kerry Healey lose her cool. When Mihos attacked her, Healey attempted the political equivalent of sticking her fingers in her ears and chanting, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and she pretended that she and Deval Patrick were the only ones in the room (you can see a bit of this in the screen grab at left). She said "my opponent, Deval Patrick" so much that Fox 25, who aired and analyzed the debate, pulled a "Daily Show" trick and edited together an embarrassing montage of Healey trying to make Mihos go away by constantly referencing Patrick.
Her attempts to ignore Mihos only made him bolder. If his pumpkin-orange shade is any indication, he's not the kind of guy who will stay in the background. In the midst of a debate over illegal immigration, he shouted at Healey, "In November of '05, you said they should all go back, but in May of 2006, your husband gets a federal position, and then you're with George Bush on his issue that these people pay taxes!" Healey brushed him off by saying she wanted to respond to Patrick, yet again. But she shouldn't have expected a friend in Patrick, and he tossed the hot potato in her face: "I'd like to hear your response to Christy!" Healey snorted to Mihos, "I can't imagine what I would say. You make some interesting connections." On numerous occasions, Mihos would talk to Healey, and she wouldn't even look at him until forced to do so. Neither Mihos nor Green/Rainbow candidate Grace Ross liked being ignored, so the eventual Big Dig rumble became a tag-team extravaganza in which every candidate took a turn tearing Healey apart, and you can see that fight in full on Fox 25.
Sad to say, the fireworks obscured the real issues, and the candidates didn't get into the nitty-gritty of their proposals. Even though Ross doesn't stand a chance, she made the best point by reminding the politicians and the audience that they can talk all day about policies and proposals and committees, but what they need to be thinking about is the people they represent. Then again, this debate wasn't really about ordinary folks, as Shonda Schilling - wife of Curt - popped up to ask about education. (How's that for a random pseudo-celeb moment? Who knew Mrs. Schilling was a political groupie?) As entertainment, last night's debate was brilliant, but, as pure information, it was a letdown.
Post and screen grab contributed by Caroline Roberts
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