Lieutenant governors in Massachusetts do not become governors on their own.

They need a helping hand from the governor they serve with. If the help is not forthcoming, then the lieutenant governor is history.

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray is history. The only help he can realistically expect from Gov. Deval Patrick, despite Patrick's words, is Patrick showing him the way out the door.

Once considered the inside favorite to succeed outgoing Patrick in the Corner Office, Murray said last week that he will leave office at the end of his current term and not run for governor.

Hence the state, in another dubious first, has two lame ducks at the helm, since Patrick some time ago has said he will not seek re-election in 2014.

For Murray, it was a wise decision. But he had no choice other than simply to resign, which could still happen.

Murray's decision to take himself out of the governor's race came just six days before disgraced former Chelsea Housing Authority Chairman Michael McLaughlin of Dracut, a veteran Democratic political operative and fundraiser, was charged with four felony counts of concealing his highly inflated salary from state and federal regulators.

This is just the beginning of McLaughlin's legal problems, as both U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Attorney General Martha Coakley are conducting ongoing investigations of additional violations of law.

It also may be the beginning of Murray's legal problems as well, although a lot of pressure will be off now that he has taken himself out of the political picture.

McLaughlin is a political wheeler-dealer who over the years befriended numerous politicians, including Murray. McLaughlin, who by law was prohibited from political fundraising, nevertheless organized several fundraisers and political events for Murray at which housing-authority employees were allegedly pressured to kick in and attend. McLaughlin and Murray spoke constantly on the phone, and Murray was instrumental in getting McLaughlin's son a $60,000-a-year job.

How much about this did Patrick know?

Murray, who has been questioned by prosecutors, has attempted to put distance between himself and McLaughlin, maintaining that he hardly knew him, which Statehouse observers have had trouble believing. Everybody in Democratic Party circles knows McLaughlin.

As it stands now, McLaughlin, 67, faces serious jail time if he is convicted of the federal charges, and could face more state prison time if Coakley's companion investigation turns up more dirt.

Doubtless, with the harsh, eight-year federal-prison sentence handed out to former House Speaker Sal DiMasi, who was convicted of corruption charges, hanging in the air, McLaughlin will be pressured to cooperate with prosecutors asking "who can you give us?" in return for leniency. Going to prison is not something to look forward to at any time; at McLaughlin's age, it is something to dread.

For Murray, the office of lieutenant governor is turning out to be more of a curse than a blessing, more of a dead end than a road to higher ground. Everybody who runs for the office envisions himself as the next governor. It rarely happens, and when it does, it only happens because the incumbent resigns and gives the lieutenant governor the opportunity to become acting governor until the next election.

This was the case when Republican Gov. Bill Weld resigned in 1997 during his second term, ostensibly to pursue an ambassadorship. Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci became acting governor and then was elected to a full four-year term in 1998.

But Patrick apparently never had any plans to leave office early to give Murray the opportunity to be acting governor and get a leg up on his opponents. Patrick has his own political future to consider.

The only political figure to break out of the lieutenant governor's office on his own in modern Massachusetts political history was Sen. John F. Kerry, our new secretary of state. Kerry was lieutenant governor under Gov. Michael Dukakis for two years when Kerry successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1984.

Murray is no John Kerry -- but who among us is? Patrick, commenting on Murray's decision, called Murray "a magnificent lieutenant governor. He was my candidate (for governor). I've seen him in action. I've seen his intellect and heart and I hope his time will come." Murray, he said, was "a true partner."

It will be interesting to see how much of a partner Murray is, and how close the governor will stick to him, if McLaughlin flips and there is more fallout from the McLaughlin investigations.
