A couple of folks in the GOP consulting world tell me they’re intrigued by the third-party option in this year’s Massachusetts gubernatorial election, state treasurer Timothy Cahill and his new running mate, former state representative Paul Loscocco. Last year, Cahill changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent because he felt “the Massachusetts Democratic Party no longer reflected his values and beliefs – fiscal responsibility, taxpayers first, and relief for the problems faced by the middle class.”

(Yeah, I had the same question: when did the Massachusetts Democratic party ever reflect those values and beliefs?)

But I’ve also heard good things about the GOP gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Baker, who appears to be on a tear when it comes to fundraising:

Baker raised $1.85 million over five months of campaigning, giving him three times more cash on hand than Patrick. That’s a fairly serious wake-up call for an incumbent Democrat who is best friends with a president. Some of Baker’s money is coming from traditional Democratic donors, including previous Patrick supporters.

Baker’s an entrepreneur and manager in the health-care industry who knows the ins and outs of that issue like few others.

For those who aren’t following this race, Deval Patrick is a charismatic African-American lawyer, managed by David Axelrod, who used phrases like “don’t tell me words don’t matter” and made bold, almost-too-good-to-be-true promises to reform government, only to disappoint the public with waste, corruption, and a sense that the team around the executive was more interested in the appearance of competence than actual competence.

Obviously, Americans outside Massachusetts have a hard time relating to those circumstances . . .