Lt. Governor candidates clash at Suffolk

Hewing closely to campaign scripts, the candidates for lieutenant governor traded barbs Wednesday during their first face-to-face encounter this election season, a meeting in which they highlighted well-defined differences on taxes, health care, and the Big Dig and opened up – tentatively – about disagreements with their running mates.

During the most pointed moment of the debate, Lt.Gov. Tim Murray, running on the Democratic ticket with Gov. Deval Patrick, took aim at Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker, saying Baker’s decisions to raise premiums during his tenure atop Harvard Pilgrim Health Care were a “job killer.”

Baker’s running mate, Richard Tisei, shot back that consumers had a choice of health plans and that Harvard Pilgrim customers often ranked the insurer among the best.

“I don’t think there are any state services that are ranked number one in customer satisfaction,” he said. “People up in Methuen don’t have a choice about the sales tax,” he added, referencing the increase under Gov. Deval Patrick last year in the sales tax rate from 5 percent to 6.25 percent.

The debate was sponsored by Suffolk University’s Rappaport Center and moderated by Suffolk professor Al Roberts and State House News Service General Manager Craig Sandler.

Tisei was hard-pressed to identify an issue when asked to name one on which he disagrees with Baker. When pressed by a moderator, he cited his support for a transgender non-discrimination bill that Baker derided as the “bathroom bill” on the campaign trail, a description derided by the bill’s supporters.

Asked the same question, Murray said he and the governor keep disagreements “in the office,” but pressed for an example, he said, “I’ll come back to that.”

Later, Murray identified Cape Wind as an issue he was hesitant to support – Patrick has strongly backed the project – but said he’s since come to agree with the governor.

Former GOP state Rep. Paul Loscocco, now running as an Independent on the ticket with state Treasurer Tim Cahill, said he and the treasurer disagree on casino gambling, which he said he voted against repeatedly during his tenure in the Legislature. Loscocco said his issues, however, were largely about transparency and “the role of money” in casino operations.

“This is a good area we’ve had some frank discussion,” he said.

Rick Purcell, running with Green Rainbow candidate Jill Stein, said he agreed with Stein on “all matters” but said he often had to remind her to speak in simple terms because “regular people don’t understand the scientific talk.”

Tisei and Murray agreed that the Big Dig was a good idea, despite the cost overruns.

“Over the course of time, the Big Dig makes sense,” Murray said. “But it doesn’t excuse the fact that it was mismanaged.”

Tisei noted that he was caught in an hour-long traffic jam on his way to the debate. Without the Big Dig, he said, “I bet I would’ve been in a three-hour traffic jam rather than a one-hour traffic jam.” Tisei defended Baker against charges that he covered up the Big Dig’s true cost.

“The lesson that we’ve learned from the Big Dig is, don’t move forward with these projects, like the South Coast Rail” without a clear way to pay for it, he said, naming a rail project favored by the Patrick administration.

Loscocco didn’t take a position on the merit of the Big Dig but noted that it’s eaten up federal highway funds at great expense to tollpayers. Purcell, from Holyoke, called the project a “boondoggle” and said all of his opponents share in the blame.

One thing the candidates all agreed on: the job office of lieutenant governor should remain.

“Having a lieutenant governor and a continuity of government matters,” Murray said. “Having some continuity makes sense.”

He noted, however, “Some lieutenant governors have been the Maytag repairman up there.”

Loscocco said the issue of abolishing the office comes up every election cycle and is something “we really shouldn’t be focusing on.”

Tisei said the office’s merit “depends on what the relationship is between the governor and lieutenant governor.”

Asked to name the best idea an opponent had offered during the campaign, Tisei cited an unnamed candidate’s plan to deposit state funds into local banks that would lend money to small businesses in the state. Murray later attributed the idea to Steve Grossman, a Democrat running for treasurer.

Murray praised Baker’s call to cap state pensions, but said the Patrick administration had already embraced the idea. Loscocco said Baker’s push to bring the sales, income and corporate tax rates to 5 percent is a good idea.

Purcell couldn’t identify any issue he agreed with his opponents on, citing their support for casinos and lower taxes as issues he disagrees with.

“You guys are good guys. That’s all,” he said.

Purcell, a little-known candidate from Holyoke, livened the debate with sometimes-whimsical answers and pointed shots at competitors. He trumpeted himself as a candidate for the people, noted he lacks a college education, was born on the Arizona-New Mexico border and served in the U.S. Army.

“I don’t have a college degree, but I have life skills that nobody could imagine,” he said. “I’ve seen what war does to people.”

He closed the debate by describing himself as a “reiki master” and urged more civility in politics.

“We want the Buddha in us to reach out to the Buddha in you,” he said.

Purcell also jabbed at Murray’s claim of being visible all around the state.

“I’ve seen more of Tim the last six months than I did the last three years,” he said. After a pause, he added, “I don’t mean that in a negative way.”

As the audience laughed, Murray responded, “Rick, you’re good. That 50 or 60,000 miles in the Crown Victoria came accidentally.”

Purcell also drew laughs by repeatedly referring to his opponents as “bad boys” and “Beacon Hill Boys,” which he later erroneously abbreviated as “B.B.B.” He characterized the sparring between Tisei, Murray and Loscocco as “bad boys telling on bad boys.”

“That doesn’t solve anything,” he said. You’re both wrong.”