An aggressive Deval Patrick campaign is playing candid camera with gubernatorial rival Charles D. Baker, collecting an arsenal of videotape in the hopes of exploiting political bloopers such as a recent Brockton stop that shows Baker speaking to a paltry crowd.

Baker’s campaign has swung back in the video war - leaking grainy photos of Patrick events and footage capturing rowdy supporters of state treasurer Tim Cahill crashing a Baker event in Quincy.

“YouTube clips can be major game-changers given the 24-hour news cycle and how heavily campaigns invest in Web technology to communicate with their base and disseminate information,” said Mike Harrington of Baseline Strategies, a consulting group composed of former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown operatives. “Their only goal is to capture an opposing candidate in a macaca-like moment like the one that sank former U.S. Sen. George Allen.”

Allen, a Virginia Republican, famously used the ethnic slur to refer to a volunteer from political opponent Jim Webb during a 2006 campaign rally. The videotaped comment quickly went viral and Allen later apologized.

Footage of Baker’s June 4 event in Brockton shows the GOP candidate on his “Had Enough” tour at the Campanelli Stadium entrance with a dozen supporters and little else. Baker shakes hands with the group, and as he begins to speak, the camera slowly pans in a circle to reveal a barely there audience.

“Based on the unemployment numbers, I know it must be hard to believe for Deval Patrick, but a lot of our supporters have to work during the day,” said Baker spokeswoman Amy Goodrich of the embarrassing turnout that day.

UPDATE: Charlie Baker talks to Howie Carr; Tim Cahill talks to Tom Finneran and Todd Feinburg. Plus, more from the Globe, Cape Cod Times, New York Times, State House News Service, and the Herald.

It's an upbeat storyline that would have been hard to imagine a year ago.

The Democrats who came to Worcester on Saturday to endorse a rebounding Deval Patrick were genuinely enthusiastic about their candidate — and energized about the prospect of marching into the fall campaign behind him.

Part of that ebullience came because Patrick rallied the troops with a terrific speech, one that offered a pointed critique of rivals Charlie Baker and Tim Cahill and provided a clear rationale for reelection.

But inspirational oratory is an arrow Patrick has long had in his quiver. What’s striking is how different he now is from the thin-skinned, tin-eared, quick-to-bristle novice of the first two years, a man who seemed to think he had been elected all-powerful CEO, and who often viewed political niceties as beneath his notice.

The early Patrick reminded many veteran political veterans — including, word is, an older Michael Dukakis — of a young Michael Dukakis. That is, of the Duke that Democrats unceremoniously dumped in the 1978 primary, in no small part because he had acquired a reputation as a haughty know-it-all.

So what accounts for Patrick’s transformation?

First, he has come to understand the job better. “He’s figured out the rules of the game,’’ says one friend.

Elected on a platform of expanding services, Patrick is also said to have reconciled himself to the reality of an ongoing budget crisis and to have resolved to focus on making government work better within those constraints. Meanwhile, two recent aquatic outpourings — March’s diluvian rainfall and May’s MWRA water-main break — showcased a governor who has learned to lead.

Second, he has developed a much thicker skin. That has meant accepting that in public life you’re often damned if you do and damned if you don’t, and that the best course is just to shrug it off and keep moving forward.

Third, a more patient and less petulant Patrick has steadily put together a very solid record. No, he’s still not the full-speed-ahead reformer I’d like, but it simply can’t be said that he’s been unwilling to rock Beacon Hill’s constituency-group Love Boat.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EDT for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our scheduled guests are authors Roger Lowenstein and Joan Biskupic. Plus, more from the Globe, Howie Carr, WBUR and the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From the AP, Globe and Holly Robichaud.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Phoenix, Globe and Herald.

Just days before the Gaza flotilla, Jews were attending to a smaller but more proximate fight: State Treasurer Tim Cahill, who is campaigning as an independent for governor, charged that Deval Patrick’s May 22 visit to the Muslim American Society’s (MAS) Saudi-funded Roxbury mega-mosque was a case of “pandering” – and of not taking the threat of terrorism seriously. In response, the MAS – which is called by federal prosecutors “the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America” – gathered a few hundred people at the mosque and did what it does best when critics raise concerns about who are the trustees and what do mosque leaders teach Boston Muslims about Jews, gays, women, Christians and America. The mosque leaders ducked the questions and charged their critics with bigotry. The MAS lambasted Cahill.

As if on cue, media stenographers dutifully took down and reported the bigotry charge against Cahill as though it was obviously true. And, again as if on cue, prominently noted and photographed was kippah-wearing Rabbi Eric Gurvis, hugging Bilal Kaleem, who heads MAS.

The real story is what actually happened during the governor’s visit?

Inside the mosque, the MAS asked Patrick to consent to seven “recommendations.” With one reservation (it’s not only Muslims whose bosses need to know about their prayer times), the governor accepted all seven. Most controversial is that the MAS (“overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood,” please recall) handed over a $50,000 check to a member of state Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office to fund a program to train Massachusetts police officers in “sensitivity.”

Who handed over the check? Imam Abdullah Faarooq, who is a graduate of University of Massachusetts and an American convert to Islam. Faarooq is also a supporter of two Boston area radicals, one facing trial for and the other convicted of trying to kill Americans.

Be sure to read the entire piece.

UPDATE: More from the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald and the Worcester Business Journal.

Governor Deval Patrick, whose reelection prospects appeared dim just months ago, heads into this weekend’s state Democratic convention with the political wind at his back and his party increasingly confident he can mount a strong campaign to win a second term.

Patrick’s resurgence has given hope to the some 4,000 delegates arriving at the Worcester conclave today that the party can weather the political turbulence and anti-incumbent fervor affecting state and national politics this year. Republicans believe this is their best chance in years to make major gains in Massachusetts.

With the governor controlling the state party machinery, the Democratic convention, while endorsing Patrick and a slate of other candidates for the five other constitutional offices, offers little drama. The marquee events will be Patrick’s speech to the delegates; his participation, with Victoria Reggie Kennedy, in a tribute to her late husband, Edward M. Kennedy; and contests for the endorsement for state auditor and state treasurer.

The party gathering comes as several recent polls show Patrick with a double-digit lead over Republican Charles D. Baker, with independent Timothy P. Cahill, the state treasurer who left the party last year, falling deep into third place after a withering blitz of attack ads launched by the Republican Governors Association. Pat rick’s lead in the surveys reflects several good months for the governor, during which the economy has been rebounding and he was able to play high-profile leadership roles in the spring floods and the drinking water crisis.

All the while, his two rivals squabbled, driving their poll numbers down, as Patrick — returning to the energetic politicking that won him the 2006 race — hit the campaign trail. After making several political missteps during a period when the economy appeared to be crumbling, Patrick’s poll numbers had collapsed last year to the point that some analysts were convinced he could not get reelected.

“The momentum is clearly on his side at the moment,’’ said Michael Shea, a Democratic media consultant. “The stars seem to be aligning in his favor, and he seems to have hit his stride.’’

Still, the governor’s race has five long months left, and Patrick’s standing could shift again by the fall.

Patrick’s only opponent for the party’s nomination had come from the left, when social activist Grace Ross launched her candidacy earlier this year. But, as Patrick rallied his liberal base in recent months, she was forced to drop out after being unable to collect enough voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.

UPDATE: More from the Globe and GateHouse News Service.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe, the Herald and WBUR.

THIRD UPDATE: From the Globe, AP, the Boston Herald, Howie Carr and WBUR.

Gov. Deval Patrick expressed skepticism Tuesday about a tough Senate-approved crackdown on illegal immigrants and questioned if the state could afford to pay for the new measures, even as he acknowledged he hadn't read the 22-page budget amendment.

Patrick said if the plan simply reaffirms steps the state is already taking, he's not sure it adds anything to the debate.

But Patrick declined to say whether he'd support or veto portions of the measure that go far beyond current law, including the creation of a hot line to let residents report suspected illegal immigrant workers.

"It will be interesting to see if anyone is going to fund the staffing for that hot line," Patrick told reporters before heading into a meeting with legislative leaders Tuesday.

Supporters of the wide-ranging proposal haven't been able to say how much the various measures would end up costing taxpayers.

"We have more than enough to do enforcing existing state law on a whole host of areas," Patrick said. "The idea of having limited state resources take on federal responsibilities does not seem to me to be practical."

Patrick isn't the only top figure on Beacon Hill distancing himself from the Senate plan, which is intended to clamp down on the ability of illegal immigrants to obtain a range of state services from Medicaid to public housing.

Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo also said he hadn't read the Senate measure.

"Right now I couldn't say if I like parts of it, all of it, none of it, whatever. I think it's much too premature," DeLeo said before heading into the same meeting. "I haven't even looked at it."

Attorney General Martha Coakley also questioned the cost of the plan.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EDT for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our scheduled guests are authors Marvin Rogers and Christopher Horner. Plus, more from NECN, State House News Service, the Herald, the Globe and Michael Graham.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe, Wayne Woodlief and Herald.

Independent Timothy Cahill on Thursday accused Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" and "pandering" to the Muslim community by meeting with its leaders and supporting their requests.

In a statement, the state treasurer and 2010 gubernatorial candidate noted Patrick met with more than 1,000 Muslim leaders last weekend and indicated support for a variety of their initiatives.

They include having law enforcement officers meet with leaders to expand cultural awareness and urging employers to let Muslims leave work early on Friday afternoons for prayers.

The statement was one of the strongest yet from Cahill, himself a former Democrat now courting conservative voters in what is distilling into a three-way race with Patrick and Republican Charles Baker. The most recent poll in the race showed Patrick opening a double-digit lead on Baker, with Cahill plummeting following a $1 million negative ad blitz by the Republican Governors Association.

Baker, too, is courting fiscal and social conservatives.

"I fully support equal protection under the law for every American, regardless of race or creed, but this is political correctness run amok," Cahill said.

Noting two Muslim-Americans recently were arrested in Massachusetts in connection with the attempted Times Square bombing, Cahill added: "Gov. Patrick should stop playing politics with terrorism and focus on protecting all the citizens of this commonwealth."

The treasurer said Patrick should "look radical Islamic terrorism full in the face, call it what it is. ... Additionally, the governor must urge the leaders of the Muslim-American community to finally police these rogue elements and help apprehend those who would do us harm where we all work, raise our children and live our lives."

Just one question: Did the room where Patrick spoke to these religious leaders feature Art Deco couches?

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Mike Durant.

SECOND UPDATE: More from WBUR, the Globe and Herald.

THIRD UPDATE: From Howie Carr and Joanna Weiss.

A top Bay State Republican is taking aim at Gov. Deval Patrick’s labeling of GOP attacks on President Obama as approaching “sedition,” saying that Democrats often defended their own broadsides against the Bush administration as the “height of patriotism.”

“Today’s criticism is nowhere near the vitriolic and vicious rhetoric that was aimed toward the last president,” said Bush family confidant and GOP national committeeman Ron Kaufman, referring to former President George W. Bush.

“In fact, (Obama) is getting the least amount of criticism over the past two or three presidencies,” said Kaufman, former White House political director for Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president.

Patrick, a close friend and ally of Obama’s, said at a Suffolk University Law School event that he’s taken his share of criticism over the years, though not to the extent of what Obama is going through at the hands of Republicans.

“It seems like child’s play compared to what’s going on in Washington, where it’s almost at the level of sedition,” Patrick said.

As the Herald reported yesterday, Patrick has emerged as a more combative candidate in recent weeks as he battles for re-election.

Charles Baker and Tim Cahill, take it away!

UPDATE: More from Red Mass Group, Todd Feinburg, Boston Globe, HotAir.com, Michael Graham and the Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Red Mass Group, David Bernstein, Boston Globe, Fox 25, Holly Robichaud and Howie Carr.

THIRD UPDATE: From the Globe and David Paleologos.

Gov. Deval Patrick’s flashy Cadillac sedan, a symbolic, $46,000 faux pas from his first weeks in office, is parked this re-election year.

It’s been replaced with a workmanlike — but even more expensive — official vehicle.

The governor is now almost exclusively ferried around Massachusetts by State Police troopers driving a $52,000 Chevrolet Tahoe.

In a nod toward the environment, the vehicle is a gas-electric hybrid, but it’s also a roomy sport utility vehicle gaining favor with political leaders balancing their personal comfort, public image and support within the green community.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a fellow Democrat, has ditched the cramped Ford Escape hybrid he drove for his re-election campaign and replaced it with his own black Tahoe. And Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., traded the Chrysler Town & Country minivans he used for years in favor of another Tahoe hybrid.

The governor’s staff denied any concern about the election-year optics of campaigning from a luxury vehicle, saying Patrick began transitioning to the SUV last summer as he underwent hip replacement surgery.

"There are a number of reasons, including the additional space that made it easier to travel after his surgery, more room for staff or others who may travel with him from time to time, and the fact that it is a hybrid vehicle," said Kyle Sullivan, the governor’s communications director. The Cadillac is rated at 18 miles per gallon, the Tahoe at 20-21 miles per gallon.

The Cadillac, a DeVille DTS, replaced a Ford Crown Victoria used by Patrick’s predecessor, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney. Its two-year lease cost taxpayers $1,166 per month, almost double the $623 monthly charge for Romney’s car.

The pricey upgrade came amid stories about the new governor’s use of a State Police helicopter, as well as his decisions to spend $27,000 redecorating his office and $72,000 for on a staffer to handle his wife’s scheduling and interview requests.

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald and Globe.

Last fall, Patrick administration officials publicly touted the potential to create thousands of jobs in their aborted attempt to use federal stimulus money to build a controversial pedestrian footbridge near Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Internal state e-mails released yesterday revealed another urgent force driving the $9 million project: football season and accommodating the owners of the home team.

“The Krafts want this bridge prior to next season, so we are looking at a completion of 12/31/2010,’’ wrote the project’s manager, Christine Mizioch, when asked by fellow state transportation planners about the project’s deadline. (Another staff member points out in a subsequent e-mail that the date would miss much of the season.)

Thousands of e-mails related to the project were released yesterday, more than five months after they were requested by the Globe and other media under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, which allows 10 days for compliance. The e-mails show direct input from the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots, the stadium, and the surrounding property. The Krafts’ consultant was even put in charge of preparing construction bid documents, according to the e-mails.

The Patrick administration ended up pulling the footbridge over Route 1 from its list of stimulus projects in December, after complaints from federal highway officials and from Vice President Joe Biden’s office that use of public money on a project connecting two private properties would create a bad image for the stimulus program.

The Patrick administration says it remains committed to using economic development money for the project because it is essential to long-term aspirations to bring a corporate headquarters to the area.

“There’s been a lot of private investment down there, and more to come,’’ said Jeffrey B. Mullan, state transportation secretary.

Mullan said yesterday that involvement from private interests in state construction projects is not unusual. He said property owners near public works projects often prepare designs, though the state issues final construction bid documents, a procedure it will follow if the bridge gets built. He cited public safety on game days as a factor.

“There’s no denying that there’s a lot of people crossing that road on game days,’’ he said. But, he added, investment is the bigger factor driving the project.

As state officials pushed plans to fund the bridge in October, Kraft and his wife contributed $12,000 to the political accounts of Governor Deval Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, and the state Democratic Party.

UPDATE: More from WGGB-TV and John Fund.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Howie Carr and John Sivolella.

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday blasted Arizona’s new immigration law, accused his gubernatorial opponents of grandstanding on the issue, and said supporters of such crackdowns were “trying to invent a villain for political purposes.’’

Addressing a roundtable of reporters from ethnic news media outlets, Patrick offered some of his most extensive comments to date about a highly charged debate that has flared in the governor’s race.

“Let me be clear: As long as I have anything to say about it, there’s not going to be an Arizona law in Massachusetts,’’ he said. “I can’t see such a thing passing our Legislature. But if it did, I would veto it.’’

Patrick said he would not, however, follow Boston’s lead and divest state funds from Arizona in protest.

Arizona’s new law requires police officers, “when practicable,’’ to check the immigration status of people they reasonably suspect may be in the country illegally, during a stop for some other offense.

The governor also sharply questioned the motives of those pushing a separate measure that nearly passed the Massachusetts House last month, which would have barred public benefits for illegal immigrants. Patrick said residents are “justifiably concerned’’ about illegal immigrants receiving benefits, but said Massachusetts already has a “whole host of screens’’ to ensure services are given only to those who are eligible.

“It makes me question what is motivating some of the proposals right now,’’ Patrick said. “And I don’t think those motivations are entirely above board. I think they’re about stirring up fear. I think they’re about demonizing people and trying to invent a villain for political purposes, and I don’t think that’s the way you govern.’’

Pointing out that two of his opponents in the governor’s race — independent Timothy P. Cahill and Republican Charles D. Baker — supported the House bill, the governor said, “Some of the ideas, I think, are really more about grandstanding and not about how we show humanity.’’

Rick Gorka, a Baker spokesman, pointed out that the measure seeking to block illegal immigrants from state benefits failed by an unexpectedly close 75-82 vote in the Democratically controlled House.

“Fifty-nine Democrats in the House agree with Charlie Baker that the state should not be giving services to illegal immigrants except in emergency situations and those involving a child,’’ Gorka said in a statement. “Whether it’s in-state tuition breaks or driver’s licenses, Deval Patrick continues to show he’s clueless when it comes to protecting the taxpayer.’’

Patrick has supported granting in-state tuition rates to graduates of Massachusetts high schools who are in the country illegally and granting driver’s licenses to all adults who pass the tests, regardless of their immigration status.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EDT for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our scheduled guests will be authors Robert Whitaker and Ishmael Jones. Plus, more from Scot Lehigh, the Globe, Herald and Red Mass Group.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Holly Robichaud, the Boston Herald and NECN.

THIRD UPDATE: From Todd Feinburg, Howie Carr, Brian McGrory and the Boston Herald.

President Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick have long been linked by friendship, their status as path-breaking African-American politicians, and their campaign themes of hope and change. Now the two have something else in common: lucky breaks.

In 2004, when Obama ran for the Senate in Illinois, he was the beneficiary of two opponents who flamed out in marital controversies and a Republican nominee, Alan Keyes, who lived in Maryland. This year, Patrick has not one but two opponents, and so far they are drawing mostly from the same pool of conservatives and independents. That gives him an opening to save his job -- but it's no sure thing.

A Rasmussen poll a month ago showed Patrick, 53, with just 35 percent of the vote. Republican Charlie Baker, 53, a former health insurance executive and state budget official, and independent Tim Cahill, 51, the state treasurer, were in the 20s. Obama had a 56 percent approval rating in the state, but Patrick's was 10 points lower.

Baker, running second right now to Patrick, is a Republican in the singular Massachusetts mold: He supports abortion rights and gay rights, including gay marriage, and chose a gay running-mate for lieutenant governor -- state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei. Taxes and spending are their main points of difference with Patrick, who signed a 25 percent increase in the sales tax. "Four more years of drift, overspending, tax hikes, and one-party rule on Beacon Hill will be devastating to our economy," Baker said last month when he was officially nominated. Given Patrick's missteps and a political landscape heavily weighted against incumbents, particularly Democrats, Baker should be in better shape. But Cahill, a former Democrat who was elected statewide as treasurer, has made the race a three-way tug-of-war.

UPDATE: More from the Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From Jim Geraghty, Red Mass Group, the Herald, the Globe and David Freddoso.

Gov. Deval Patrick pocketed thousands for his re-election campaign from Barletta employees at a company-hosted fund-raiser earlier this year in what one observer says could muddy the governor’s image because the company is under scrutiny for its part in this week’s water pipe catastrophe.

“This would look a lot better if he handed (the investigation) to an outside agency,” said John C. Berg, a political professor at Suffolk University. “He’s looked good throughout this crisis - the last thing he wants to do is put that in peril.”

Barletta employees and their family members funneled at least $5,000 to Patrick’s re-election campaign at a fund-raiser they hosted at their Canton headquarters Jan. 20, according to political finance records and the company.

Patrick spokeswoman Kim Haberlin said the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority - an independent quasi-state agency - will helm the investigation into what went wrong with the pipe.

“(Patrick) has been crystal-clear that if there is fault to be found, those responsible will be held fully accountable,” Haberlin said in an e-mailed statement.

State police scoured the Charles River yesterday for a 10-feet-wide steel collar that broke off the pipe only seven years after Barletta Co. officials installed it. The pipe is designed to last 50 years or longer.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EDT for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our scheduled guests will be authors S.E. Cupp and Ken Gormley. Plus, more from Red Mass Group and the Globe.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Michael Graham, Holly Robichaud, the Globe and Herald.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Cape Cod Times, Red Mass Group and the Globe.

Governor Deval Patrick could lose as much as $750,000 in public campaign finance money if his underfunded and longshot Democratic rival, Grace Ross, fails to make the party’s primary ballot, a development that hangs in the balance as the deadline for filing the necessary signatures arrives late this afternoon.

A community organizer and left-leaning activist, Ross appears to be struggling to get the required 10,000 certified voter signatures that would allow her name to appear on the Sept. 14 primary ballot.

Ross, Patrick’s only potential primary opponent, acknowledged yesterday that her campaign had been short of what it needs, saying it was not clear whether her volunteers had collected the names of enough registered voters, which would then have to be certified.

“I am not sure; we will see,’’ Ross said yesterday after dropping off what she said were 1,000 signatures to election officials at Boston City Hall. “We are certainly within reach. It depends on how we can get people to get them turned in and finish up the process.’’

Ross said that she had to launch a big push in the final hours before today’s 5 p.m. deadline, when Republican and Democratic candidates for statewide office have to file their nomination papers with city and town clerks, who then have a week to review and certify them.

If she gets on the ballot, she and Patrick, if they meet certain fund-raising benchmarks and agree to spending caps, would qualify to divide $750,000 set aside by law for public financing in the primary. If Ross is not on the primary ballot, Patrick, who could use the funds on television ads and mailings to build momentum toward the general election, would not have access to the money.

Patrick advisers say it is not clear that they would take the money anyway, because it would mean restricting their spending in a three-way race in which his two general election opponents are on pace to spend millions.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Tuesday night for a special edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our guest will be Mark Jurkowitz of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Plus, more from the Globe and Herald.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog regarding the Department of Justice being used as a political tool. Among the actions taken was a recent move to open an investigation into Partners Healthcare System of Boston, Massachusetts to determine if the hospital network violated antitrust rules in its contract negotiations with health-care insurers. The probes concern whether the network took steps that may have raised prices and allowed it to squeeze higher reimbursements from local health plans. At this point, the legitimacy of the investigation is undetermined because so few documents or evidence has come to light.

However, the political implications are clearer.

Massachusetts is Patient Zero when it comes to the debacle of government control of health care. Forcing health providers to lower prices in one state will chill the ability of other providers in other states to raise prices, thereby, presumably, making Obamacare marginally less of a disaster than it will otherwise become.

But there may be more political thuggery at work from the Boys from Chicago.

An early version of Obamacare was established in the state years ago (to the eternal heartache of Mitt Romney, Governor at the time). Current Governor Deval Patrick has defended the program despite the fact that premiums have vastly increased for that state's citizens and the constant drain on state finances has been unstoppable.

Patrick - a good friend and political ally of Barack Obama's - is in the fight of his political life as his reelection efforts are imperiled by, among other things, the financial problems of the state's healthcare plan. Patrick used David Axelrod as his campaign manager, as did Barack Obama. Now Axelrod has perhaps become the power behind the throne in Obama's White House. He has played a role in many Administration decisions. As befits the power behind the throne, his office is the closest office to the Oval one.

The Department of Justice effort can be seen as an attempt to chill premium increases in the state and, perhaps, lead to their rollback. This will help the fiscal drain on the state's finances and give a potential boost to Patrick's flagging efforts. He can use - as Obama often does - the straw man of health care providers as a political foil and blame them for the problems with the plan

An additional tactic may be at work. One of Patrick's most threatening opponents is health insurance executive Charles Baker, a Republican who had been the former president of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a full-service health benefits company serving many Massachusetts citizens. Any bad press regarding health plans, premium increases, market dominance and violation of laws would rub off on Baker.

It's one of those things that make you go hmmm...

UPDATE: More from the Boston Globe and Barbara Anderson.

The Bay State GOP’s gubernatorial great hope Charles D. Baker’s campaign, battered by low poll ratings, yesterday confirmed an abrupt change of campaign managers, but denied it’s in crisis even as opponents attacked a new negative ad as “desperate.”

“There isn’t a panic, there isn’t a worry here. It isn’t a shell-shocked campaign,” said Baker spokesman Rick Gorka. “We made a switch in one position.”

Tim O’Brien, who managed the disastrous 2006 gubernatorial campaign of Kerry Healey, has replaced Lenny Alcivar, who presided over a lackluster period that saw independent Tim Cahill emerge as a serious challenger, seizing the lion’s share of opposition limelight in the race to unseat Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick.

But Gorka said the split with Washington, D.C.-based Alcivar had nothing to do with recent polls showing Baker trailing a close third in a three-way race with Cahill and Patrick. He said Baker decided he wanted someone local.

Meanwhile, the Republican Governors Association began airing an ad attacking Cahill yesterday, immediately drawing fire for its negative tone, a sign some said of Baker’s vulnerability. The ad, which doesn’t mention Baker, accuses Cahill, the state treasurer, of having a “reckless fiscal record.”

Gorka said the Baker camp didn’t coordinate with the RGA. He pointed to Baker’s strong fund-raising and his recent convention win over Christy Mihos as evidence he is in “great shape.”

But Cahill said, “A million dollars (for an advertising buy) in April could be a sign of a desperate campaign. . . . People don’t usually go negative when they’re ahead. We were expecting some negativity, but we weren’t expecting it till the fall.” Cahill filmed a rapid response video yesterday refuting the attack.

Anti-tax crusader Barbara Anderson, who endorsed Baker this month, said the ad “appalled” her and she hoped Baker would issue a strong rejection of tactics she fears may backfire. Even a former consultant for GOP superstar U.S. Sen. Scott Brown blasted the ad.

UPDATE: Please join us Wednesday night at 8:00pm EDT for the latest edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio! Our scheduled guests are authors Lloyd Constantine and Tom Pauken. Plus, more from the Globe and WBUR.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Daily Free Press, the Cape Cod Times, the Herald and the Globe.