I've been meaning to post about the governor's race, but it's gotten pretty dismal, and I'd prefer not to think about it. The dismality (dismalness?) comes from Kerry Healey's race to the bottom, as she seized on Deval Patrick's intercession on behalf of a convicted rapist to play the "soft on crime" card, devolving into a fairly controversial ad that is reminiscent of the Willie Horton ad that helped torpedo Mike Dukakis. Making things worse is that Healey's been spending pretty freely on ad time, so her spots are hard to miss.

Patrick didn't help himself in this by his lack of clarity as to his involvement in the case, saying he didn't know how often he'd written in the guy's behalf, when he did, or if he'd given money to help fund a DNA test. While some (Healey especially) have latched on to this as a sign that Patrick will open up the cell doors, to me it's another instance where Patrick is missing the ball when it comes to substance.

Patrick has had one ad air about his stance on crime, but it doesn't feature him. It features the Attorney General-presumptive, Martha Coakley. It does a decent job of pointing out Patrick's past and the deficiencies in the current administration's approach to crime, but it has one problem. It makes me want Martha Coakley to be governor.

In any case, Healey may have let the negative ads run a little too long. Polls had Patrick's lead down to the teens, but new numbers released yesterday put his lead back out in the mid-20s. Healey and Patrick have already sparred over the ads in the last debate. It'll be interesting to see what comes out in the next one.