The Hiller Instinct: Gov. Debate Recap

"I had no idea what sort of drama I would get into as I got into this race, because I've never done this before," said Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker.

"I never expected, two weeks ago, to lose my running mate. It's unprecedented in Massachusetts political history, but you have to deal with it,” said Independent gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill.

"The dialogue seems to be focused on records, and who's been less honest, or who's made bigger mistakes in the past," said Green Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein.

"There is a way, sort of a style of politics, at large out there, which is all about winning, winning at all costs no matter what, it's gotta be that," said Gov. Deval Patrick.

Charlie baker, fighting to catch Gov. Patrick, has a plan to change the tone:

"It's about jobs. This whole thing is about jobs, and that's what I'm going to spend the next 18 days talking about," said Baker.

Unless the governor can make Baker keep talking about Harvard Pilgrim:

“While talking about single handily turning around the company, in fact, Harvard Pilgrim got the rules changed so they could count liabilities as assets," said Gov. Patrick.

After the debate, an attitude check for the two top candidates:

"No, no. We've got two more weeks, we're going to use those two more weeks," said Gov. Patrick when asked if he would prefer the election was today.

“I feel like I've been reading an 800-page book and there's thirty pages left to go, and I'm kind of curious to know how it's all going to end,” said Baker.

I can tell you how this debate ended: with very few--if any--votes changing, which means Charlie Baker missed another opportunity to move up, and he's running out of opportunities.

I’m Andy Hiller, and that’s my instinct.

(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)