how did Romney help him get elected?
Simple. Because Romney sandbagged a viable successor to him in 2002 for Lieutenant Governor, Jim Rappaport, and supported instead an extremely unqualified Kerry Healey (who couldn’t even win a legislative seat in her hometown) because she was no “threat” to him, that when Romney decided to cut and run from his responsibilities when a 2nd term reelection was coming up, he dumped it all on the hapless Healey and went on his crusade for the Presidency (which apparently was the plan all along, he didn’t give a damn what vehicle he used to get there, nor what damage he left in his wake in his quest). Healey couldn’t campaign her way out of a paper bag, and she predictably lost in a landslide. Romney couldn’t have done a better job with handing the keys to Patrick and clearing a path for his victory.