WORCESTER, OCTOBER 1, 2002 — The first person to interrupt Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney at Tuesday’s debate was not Treasurer Shannon O’Brien, the Democratic nominee, but a Green Party activist hollering about Jill Stein. " What about Jill Stein? " yelled the heckler moments before being escorted out of the Campus Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute by two burly state troopers. (Stein, interestingly, took a page out of the playbook of Ralph Nader, who attended a 2000 presidential debate in Boston from which he was excluded, then slipped into the debate seconds after the heckler was tossed out.)

At first Romney reacted coolly, telling the live TV audience that he had written a letter earlier in the day asking the organizers to include Stein and the other candidates for governor. (Romney was telling the truth. Of course, more questions for Stein, Independent Barbara Johnson, and Libertarian Carla Howell equals less heat for Romney.) It was clear a few minutes later, however, that the combination of the heckler and O’Brien’s aggressive approach toward him threw Romney off his rhythm. O’Brien, meanwhile, benefited from the interruption: she gained a chance to ask Romney another question during the Lincoln-Douglas-debate portion. Besides, O’Brien’s cautious and defensive posture usually renders her ready to handle moments of chaos.

Romney’s worst moment came when asked by O’Brien about his refusal to participate in more than three debates. " Let me say tongue-in-cheek that this is a very important issue, " he said. " But I’m going to say instead that all of our citizens get a good night sleep. And if we have to have them watching these debates, they will sit and get bored to tears and they’re not going to get a good night sleep. " The problem for Romney is not that he wants to take part in a maximum of three debates — one more than Senator Ted Kennedy gave him in 1994. Rather, Romney’s answer reinforced the impression that the Republican candidate’s approach to governing is one of noblesse oblige. Romney’s political ads showing him in simulated workplaces across the state — selling hot dogs, working in a Dunkin’ Donuts — have failed to catch on because they are perceived as patronizing to voters. O’Brien, unsurprisingly, tore mercilessly into Romney, accusing him of thinking that " the people of Massachusetts [are] not smart enough to sit there and listen to these issues. " Romney didn’t help matters when moderator Judy Woodruff of CNN stepped in after a heated exchange on vouchers to get him to move on to the next question. Romney spoke over Woodruff and said, smiling, " Okay, great, thank you. " The words were perfectly polite, but the candidate appeared to be taking the moderator lightly.

After the debate, reporters swarmed around Romney from all sides and asked him about the exchange. " I don’t have the best punch lines in the world, " Romney told them. A reporter could see a line of moisture above his upper lip. Yes, Romney, contrary to popular belief, does sweat.

While journalists mobbed both Romney and O’Brien, Stein stood quietly in the back. Her exclusion, she noted, meant that " critical issues " weren’t raised during the discussion: " How about growing economic disparity despite a decade of a booming economy? How about the transition in the economy to a low-wage service economy? How about the environment and our health? How about clean elections? " As an example of where she offered a different perspective, she raised her approach to economic development — something the two candidates had actually discussed. While she and O’Brien both oppose special tax cuts for corporations, Stein was much more vocal about it and used a specific example to emphasize her case: Fidelity’s announcement Monday that it was laying off 1695 workers. If she is elected, tax cuts " will be for truly providing jobs — not to pay off for layoffs. Fidelity is still getting their $100 million tax cut, " Stein said. " Fidelity had already been cutting jobs. [O’Brien is] not going to offend her big-money sponsors. This is the problem of candidates running on big money. "

When Stein finished speaking, she went off to find Romney to apologize for the heckler. Instead, she found Romney adviser Charles Manning. " We expected our supporters to be aboveboard tonight. I’m really sorry that there was a heckler tonight, " she said, adding that she " appreciated Mitt Romney putting in a good word for the more democratic debates that we very much need. "

So in the end, if Stein had been included, she likely would have needled O’Brien. Romney got the worst of all possible worlds Tuesday night.