Deval Patrick just announced that he wants to overturn the restrictions on stem cell research promulgated by his predecessor, Mitt Romney.

It may be the first smart thing Patrick has done since he became governor.

The Democrat has not exactly impressed to date. He’s gotten mired in mini-scandals over his use of government funds to redecorate his office and his phone call to Bob Rubin on behalf of a mortgage lender on whose board he sat.

And he’s also been sidetracked by his wife’s serious struggle with depression.

For Patrick supporters, it’s all been disheartening.

Patrick needs to remind those loyalists that, for all his problems, he could be worse; he could be…Mitt Romney. The former governor’s approval ratings were in the low 30’s when he left office a couple months ago.

So this move to junk Romney’s ideologically-motivated restrictions on stem cell research is a smart one. It’s right on policy, and it’s right on politics—and it’s the first thing I’ve seen Patrick do that suggests there’s a functioning brain in his head.

Let’s hope the new governor is beginning to get his sea legs….