Healey's non-denial

Published Oct 16 2006, 03:15 PM by Adam Reilly

There was a fascinating phrase buried on page B7 of the Globe yesterday. At a campaign stop in Beverly, Kerry Healey had this to say about Deval Patrick's clear implication that her campaign was behind the Bernard Sigh story:

"We had absolutely nothing to do with the Herald's description of this information." [emphasis added]

Ponder that formulation for a moment. Healey's statement would be true if, say, her campaign had obtained Sigh's criminal history and anonymously delivered it to the Globe (which passed on the story) and the Herald (which didn't).

Healey's tepid remarks are especially striking because her campaign manager, Tim O'Brien, has been so much more emphatic. (Saturday's Globe quotes O'Brien as follows: "This campaign had nothing to do with the story. This is a wild accusation without any proof.") So why is the LG choosing her words so carefully?