Which of these candidates is not like the others?

When State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70 (D-Cambridge) and State Rep. Mark Roosevelt '78 (D-Beacon Hill) were the only Democratic candidates for the governorship of Massachusetts, observers complained that the two candidates were too similar.

This resemblance was hardly surprising, considering that the two have worked together on Beacon Hill before and have both focused on education reform.

But now that former State Sen. George Bachrach (D-Cambridge), currently a lawyer in private practice, has entered the race, another viewpoint has emerged.

In a televised debate on WLVI Sunday night, Barrett and Roosevelt offered similar outlooks on education reform and crime. But Bachrach assailed the other candidates' positions on those issues and others.

At the beginning of the debate, all candidates responded almost identically to the questions of moderator Jonathan P. Keller. They Criticized the policies of Government. William F. Weld '66 and portrayed themselves as different from the state's last Democratic gov- ernor, Michael S. Dukakis.

"This is beginning to be a bit of a love festhere," Bachrach said at the time.

But the period of agreement was short-lived,with disparate opinions emerging when Keller movedinto the issue of crime.

Both Barrett and Roosevelt support the "threestrikes and you're out" approach to crime proposedby President Clinton in his State of the Unionaddress. Under this proposal, individuals facelife imprisonment after their third conviction fora violent crime.

"We're for less violent street crime, and we'regoing to get tough," Barrett, a former defenseattorney, said in the debate.

But Bachrach, a former prosecutor, advocatesgiving violent criminals only two chances beforeimprisoning them--and then only until they reachage 35.

He defended his position Sunday night byasserting that individuals generally displayviolent characteristics only from ages 15 to 35.Bachrach added that tax dollars could be spent onbetter projects than "geriatric wards" for agingviolent criminals.

While Bachrach said statistical evidencesupported his claim, he failed to cite any studyin particular.

David M. Osborne, Barrett's campaign manager,said yesterday that the statistical evidenceBachrach used was flawed.

Osborne added that Bachrach's proposal iscounter-productive.

"We're a bit confused about George'sproposal--it's a modified two strikes and you'reout," Osborne said. "There are some people who areinveterate [violent] criminals even after age 35."