The Hiller Instinct: Hiller Instinct: Democratic primary poll

7News/Suffolk University poll - Democratic primary
Reilly - 36 percent
Patrick - 28 percent
Undecided - 33 percent

And Reilly tops the field against candidates from other parties, beating Republican Kerry Healey and Independent Christy Mihos, with 27 percent undecided. But Reilly's numbers aren't as strong as they sound,

Now we know what Tom Reilly was trying to laugh off this weekend, when he compared basketball's March Madness to his gubernatorial campaign:

"You know how the tournament goes, and how the teams go--they go from 64 to 32 to 16...kind of like my poll numbers..." Reilly said.

Kind of. While Reilly gets 36 percent primary support this month...that's down from 39 percent last month...and down even more, from 41 percent, last February.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey - (R) gubernatorial candidate
"One criticism I often hear is that I'm out of touch with common folks. Although I've been assured by my butler that this is not true."

That's no joke for republican Kerry Healey, whose loses in our poll to both announced democrats.

Prof. David Paleologos - pollster, Suffolk University
'The problem is that Kerry Healey hasn't defined herself. We asked the question, "what accomplishment do you remember the most?" About Kerry Healey, and 59 percent of people said nothing.

Christy Mihos - (I) gubernatorial candidate
"I love the commonwealth and I hate the way it's going..."

Independent Christy Mihos may be on to something.

Fifty-two percent of voters say they'd like to see an independent governor "for a change"...75 percent say they'd consider voting for a credible independent, and another 11 percent already say they will.

Prof. David Paleologos - pollster, Suffolk University
"Massachusetts is ready for an independent candidate. Today it's not Christy Mihos, but if he becomes credible, it could be, and Christy Mihos would be the Trojan horse that enables independents to take the governor's office in 2006."

This story has a bloody ending, because the bad blood that made Christy Mihos quit the GOP to run as an independent is putting blood in the water around Kerry Healey, and because Tom Reilly may not have stopped bleeding yet. I'm Andy Hiller, and that's my instinct.

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