Earlier this week, Kerry Healey called for the removal of Christy Mihos and Grace Ross from future debates. Her motive is pretty obvious: she stands to lose more votes to Mihos than Patrick does to Ross. By removing Mihos from the debate, she can marginalize him and maximize her votes.

The hypocrisy here is glaring. As the Globe reports, “In April, Healey sent letters to all the gubernatorial candidates, including Mihos, urging them to commit to the four general election debates.” She thought debates were a great idea then, but has changed her mind when faced with polling data. I deplore her actions, but I can’t say that I’m surprised.

Hypocrisy aside, what about the merits of the proposal? The Globe quotes Healey: “I think it’s pretty clear that either Deval Patrick or I am going to be the next governor of this state, and when people go to the polls, they deserve to know where we stand.”

It’s easy to agree that when people go to the polls, the voters should know where the candidates stand. But, even if you concede that Patrick or she will be the next governor, I disagree that the voters will learn more if they are the only two at the table.

When you only have two participants, they can avoid topics that make them look both look bad. In this case, both voices represent long-entrenched political interests. You won’t hear either of them talk about patronage. They won’t talk about ballot access controls. They won’t talk about real campaign finance reform. And, of course, they won’t talk about the Big Dig.

This is what Mihos and Ross bring to the process. They break the silence and talk about ideas that the leading candidates find uncomfortable. At this point of the electoral process it doesn’t matter who the next governor will be. At this point, the important thing is to get all of the ideas and all of the opinions and all of the plans out in the open.
I sincerely hope that Healey’s call for a 2-person debate falls on deaf ears, while her earlier call for full debates is heard by all.