E-Mail This Article to a Friend In the mix Who wants to be a Democratic candidate for governor? Also, Mitt Romney’s mysterious abortion shift, and Democratic lieutenant-governor candidate Deborah Goldberg starts fast. BY ADAM REILLY

WELCOME TO Massachusetts state politics, where everything’s all soupy these days. Incumbent Republican governor Mitt Romney (who can’t make up his mind on abortion) faces a would-be challenger in Democratic attorney general Tom Reilly (who can’t make up his mind on gay marriage or the death penalty). Then there’s the bigger Romney unknown: whether he will seek re-election or opt out to pursue the White House is anyone’s guess. Which must be irksome to Romney’s prospective Republican successors — including Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, Harvard Pilgrim jefe Charlie Baker, and District of Massachusetts US attorney Michael Sullivan — all of whom are locked in a kind of limbo until Romney makes up his mind.

The situation on the Democratic side is muddled in its own right. Secretary of State Bill Galvin hasn’t declared, but appears likely to run. After ruling out a bid several months ago, Congressman Mike Capuano now seems to be suffering from decision-making anxiety. Congressman Steve Lynch’s name recently popped up as well. And then there’s Romney’s fellow millionaire Joe Kennedy, the ex-congressman who vowed not to run, but keeps tantalizing those who wish he would. The only sure thing besides Reilly, at this point, is Deval Patrick, the Chicago native and former Clinton-administration civil-rights enforcer who supports gay marriage and opposes the death penalty, and who threw his hat into the ring in April.

CAPUANO STARTED the recent flurry of Democratic unrest. On Saturday, May 14 — the same day Reilly, Galvin, and Patrick told state Democrats convened at their annual convention why they’d like to be governor — the Boston Globe reported that Capuano’s firm decision to abstain from the gubernatorial race might not be so firm after all. Earlier this year, after a protracted and very public Hamlet act, Capuano had ruled out seeking the state’s top job; now he said he would "see how things develop." Tucked into a bigger story on the state Democratic convention in Lowell, this could have been idle chatter on Capuano’s part. But a few days later, again in the pages of the Globe, Capuano hammered Reilly for his vague stands on gay marriage and the death penalty.

Next, the Globe published an op-ed by Kennedy that advocated opening the Commonwealth’s high-earning state-pension fund to state residents. Kennedy didn’t mention running for governor in his column; instead, he just plugged a proposal which he’d recommended earlier this year, and which was already under consideration by State Treasurer Tim Cahill. Still, writing the op-ed kept Kennedy in the public eye and honed the economic-populist persona he could use in a future campaign. Finally — and most recently — Lynch hinted he might run in an interview with CBS-4 reporter Jon Keller. Lynch promptly backed off his remarks, but the damage was done.

Why the sudden interest? After all, the current Democratic field is reasonably promising. Several polls show Reilly beating Romney in ’06, and the AG’s fundraising has been solid so far. Granted, Patrick has less cash and lower name recognition. But he raised a good deal of money in May, has considerable personal wealth that could be funneled into his campaign, and has already energized the party’s liberal wing with his Kennedy-esque calls to remake politics.

One part of the answer: Reilly’s early struggles. Whatever his strengths, it’s clear that the AG has a Kerry-esque knack for taking muddled stands. Reilly’s position on gay marriage was confusing to begin with (see "Social Distortion," News and Features, February 18). Recently, it got even worse when — after urging Democrats to "move on" at the state convention in Lowell — Reilly said he would keep using a controversial 1913 law to ban out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Factor in Reilly’s equally ambiguous position on the governor’s new death-penalty plan (Reilly said Romney’s proposal came at a bad time, but added that he would "probably" sign it into law as governor), and some Democrats are fretful. "The closer you get to the Democratic primary, the more glaring the weaknesses of Reilly become, even though he’s the clear-cut front-runner," says one prominent Democrat.

Reilly’s missteps aside, Capuano, Kennedy, and Lynch may have their own reasons for keeping their options open. As a former mayor of Somerville, Capuano is likely chafing at the constraints he faces as a Democratic legislator in a Republican-dominated federal government. And given Capuano’s support for gay marriage — and his fondness for clear, aggressive stands — he may be genuinely irked by Reilly’s equivocating. "Mike is a very direct guy, and he always means what he says," acknowledges Steve Grossman, the former Democratic National Committee chair who headed Howard Dean’s presidential campaign and is backing Reilly in ’06. "He’s the most Howard Dean–esque type of candidate out there: ready to spurn caution and stand up for principle, and willing to accept the result in the court of public opinion."