The four Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts sat before a crowded Kirkland Junior Common Room to tell students why they deserved the “stepping stone” of Massachusetts politics last night, a half year before the Sept. 19 primary.

Campaigning for the office once held by former Democratic presidential candidates Senator John F. Kerry and ex-Governor Michael S. Dukakis ’60, the group of Beacon Hill hopefuls expressed agreement on every issue that was raised—from universal health care to same-sex marriage—leaving the race to differences of character and style.

Speaking to a room of students mostly registered to vote in other states, the candidates all capitalized on their life stories to show why they would be Massachusett’s strongest advocate.

Deborah Goldberg, former chairwoman of the Brookline Board of Selectmen, told students about her roots in the business world as a member of the family that founded the Northeastern supermarket chain Stop & Shop. Worcester Mayor Tim Murray recounted his struggles as a local official against a hostile Republican state administration. Child psychiatrist Sam Kelley spoke of his boyhood on a chicken farm and his adult work as medical director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

And Andrea Silbert ’86, a former Leverett House resident who co-founded a center that assists female entrepreneurs, said she still remembered “stumbling down the Kirkland stairs”—drawing laughter from the student audience.

All of the candidates criticized the current administration for failing to expand the Massachusetts economy.

“Are cities and towns better off now than they were four years ago?” asked Murrary, in a paraphrase of a famous Ronald Reagan line. “Absolutely not,” Murray answered.

Goldberg said she would “get Massachusetts going again.” Kelly, having earlier noted that his chicken farm duties once included shoveling manure, said he would work to “make it fertile for [high-tech companies] to be here.”

Silbert’s agenda extended far beyond the Bay State. She called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, saying the war was “something that we cannot win.”

But it was not clear how any of the candidates—if elected—could achieve their aims. As each Democrat noted, there is no official definition of the lieutenant governor’s authority, and the position has few formal powers.

“I’d be very surprised if Andrea Silbert did not run for higher office whatever happens in September,” said Brigit M. Helgen ’08, the College Democrats campaign director and organizer of the debate.

The students who helped put the event together acknowledged that the candidates were similar in their ideologies.

“One is not really more liberal than the other,” Helgen said.

“I think a lot of it is going to be personality,” said Robert D. Winikates ’08, the Massachusetts state political director for the College Democrats.

Three of the four hopefuls have Harvard ties. Silbert has degrees from the College, the Business School, and the Kennedy School. Goldberg is a Business School alum. And Kelley worked at Harvard’s McLean Hospital during his medical residency.

“One of these days you guys will be sitting up here instead of us,” said Kelly. “I look forward to it.”