Election mystery: where was Mitt? By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor For a political junkie such as myself, this weekly deadline constitutes the "best of times" and the "worst of times." It's the best because I find few public events more completing than hotly contended political races and we were in no shortage of those this year. It's the worst because the elections fall on the worst day of the week for me, a Tuesday. That means anything I do will have to wait for the new additions. My goal is always to try to present some color and details that might have been missed elsewhere by my colleagues in the local press. So this column is one I have to write before the fact and yet it will appear after the fact. I think I will be safe in wondering two things: where the heck was Mitt Romney for his lieutenant governor and where were the two Democrats who had pledged party unity? Now one of the political conventional wisdoms is that candidates of a party all need to support the winner. Inter-party factions can hobble the candidate in the final race. So I had to wonder just where Tom Reilly and Chris Gabreili were since the primary? If making sure a Democrat was sitting in the corner office in January, you would have thought each of them would have done something to help. Perhaps they did and we're not aware of it, but I doubt it. More pressing though for the Republicans is the governor's lack of presence in this race. Kerry Healey had to run on and from her record all at the same time a fairly difficult proposition. Healey, like any other lieutenant governor or vice president, had to identify herself with the accomplishments of her administration, but also carve out a separate identity. It's tough to do all that when you're saddled with a governor who is more interested in running for president and making fun of Massachusetts than being the chief executive of the Commonwealth. I wonder if Healey would have been better off if she had simply admitted the Mittster was a liability and that he had nothing to do with her campaign. One thing that has been running through my head is whether or not negative ads in general are effective ways to boost your own popularity and credibility as a candidate. Generally one would think candidates would want to be identified with their own positive message rather than being the person pointing a finger at someone else. Negative ads though have indeed won elections and they are tempting weapons in the arsenal. What was your favorite? Some of the Healey ads bashing Deval Patrick or the response ads that came from groups supporting Patrick? Of course, my favorite had to be the "heads up the butt" spot from Christy Mihos, the man who seemed content to be a spoiler in this election rather than a truly viable candidate. Mihos had some good ideas; they were over-shadowed by his relentless baiting of Healey. One reason I wanted to talk to Healey was to get a sense of what she had accomplished and what she wanted to do. Unfortunately, she did not campaign as much in the western part of the state as other candidates did I'll get more letters about that statement and her campaign never responded to e-mails I sent concerning her availability. As I write this I'm looking forward to the final drama of Election Night. As you read this, we all are looking forward to moving this state ahead no matter who is governor. This column represents the opinions of its author. Send your comments to mdobbs@reminderpublications.com or to 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028.