The Hiller Instinct: Hiller Instinct: Democratic governor's debate preview

The three Democratic candidates for governor, Chris Gabrieli, Deval Patrick, and Tom Reilly, have each had a turn at the top of a race that still has three contenders and no clear winner...

"I share, and a lot of people share with me a sense that the same old thing from the same old insiders is not enough move us forward today, that politics as usual has got to change," Deval Patrick said.

Deval Patrick has charisma, a nimble campaign organization, and he's collected record contributions from voters.

His challenge tonight will be to meet the high expectations his supporters have for him, without turning off undecided viewers.

" I think voters are focused on results," Chris Gabrieli said. "That's what I think voters are fed up with. Money allows you it put your message in front of voters--it doesn't do a thing to make them decide whether they agree with you or not."

Say anything you want to about Chris Gabrieli, but he's certainly putting his money where his mouth is: spending nearly eight million dollars, much of it on tv ads. If you haven't seen them, then your eyes are shut.

His challenge tonight is to keep them all open. It's Tom Reilly who's given this race its drama...dropping from most likely to win to least likely. To move back up, Reilly has become the most conservative of the trio, trying to connect as a populist. The challenge for Reilly will be to prove he's driven by passion, not political positioning:

"We're going to have a Governor in this state who understands the lives of regular people, what they're going through, and who's going to work hard to make those lives better," Tom Reilly said.

Most voters have never seen these candidates together...and tonight is not only the first state-wide televised debate of this Primary campaign, it's also the last...making the stakes here even higher.

Break-throughs and break-downs could break open this race. With no Red Sox game on, there's no reason to miss it.

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