Diehl's debate performance respectable, but Healey did nothing to squander lead in polls

There are good reasons to believe that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Maura Healey's super-comfy lead in the polls is no illusion.

This is Massachusetts, where Donald Trump and most things Republican are widely loathed, abortion rights are widely supported, and the social safety net is not considered an abomination. And in Wednesday night's gubernatorial debate televised on NBC10 Boston, Healey - to use her preferred basketball point guard analogy - found all her favorite spots on the court.

A word cloud of her rhetoric would be dominated by three boldface words: TRUMP, ABORTION and INVESTING.

Healey did nothing to hurt herself or squander any of that big polling advantage. Unless a significant number of undecided voters and soft Healey leaners actually skipped "Jeopardy" and the Bruins opener to watch the thing.